See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
See where AI search recommends you, and where it recommends a competitor instead.
MacRAE’S founder, Hugh Owen, recognized early the rise of AI and digital acceleration. His vision defines MacRAE’S as a future-ready growth partner.
For around twenty years, there was one meaning to being found: you had to reach page one, gain the click, and then make your case on your own website.
The chain is now broken. In early 2026, around 68% of Google searches resulted in no click. According to a Pew Research study, when an AI summary is displayed, people click on a result only 8% of the time rather than 15%. A step in the research process which used to take place on your website is now carried out within the answer before anyone gets to your site.
That is to say that a machine is making the pitch on your behalf, drawing on anything it can locate about you; if the information it has about you is meagre or inconsistent, then the machine will choose another person. It’s not personal.
Answer Engine Optimization determines what the various tools pick up and the degree of confidence with which they use it. Since ‘AEO Agency‘ has become a term that is almost universally employed, even though the actual work involved differs, we examined the way that firms in Canada organize this service and ended up selecting ten that are worth knowing about.
An AEO Agency structures your content, data and citations so AI tools can read your business clearly and use it inside their answers.
It tends to matter most there, since buyers now research suppliers through AI tools long before they contact anyone.
The two figures mentioned above are not exceptions; various independent studies have examined the same behaviour from different points of view.
| Top organic result lost roughly 58% of its clicks on queries showing an AI Overview | 300,000 keywords, Search Console data | Ahrefs, February 2026 |
| Organic click-through fell from 1.76% to 0.61% when AI Overviews appeared | 25.1 million organic impressions, 42 organizations | Seer Interactive, November 2025 |
| AI Overviews appeared on roughly 48% of tracked queries | 9 industries tracked over a year | BrightEdge, February 2026 |
| Traditional search engine volume predicted to fall 25% by 2026 | Analyst forecast | Gartner, February 2024 |
When you look at them together, it’s pretty clear that ranking has not ceased to matter; it has only stopped being the entire issue.
Now almost all Canadian agencies have a page featuring AI. That isn’t a criticism, merely the result of the market catching up. However, when you’re shopping, four things tend to tell you more than the pitch does.
The following ten examples are in no particular order since different configurations are suitable for different types of business, and a business setup that is inappropriate for one company might be the clear choice for another.
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
MacRAE works with B2B, industrial and manufacturing brands in Canada and the United States, and its AEO Services are designed to be added onto an existing SEO programme rather than replace it. The way this is framed is more important than it may at first appear. Since industrial buyers still use Google a lot, it is aimed at ensuring that the company appears when someone enters a search query, asks a question using a voice assistant, or poses the question to an AI tool.
The agency deals with this using a system known as the AI Visibility Engine, the engine examining the visibility gaps on Google, ChatGPT, Bing, Perplexity, LinkedIn, voice search tools and industry directories and then focuses on the pages and listings nearest to conversion.
Services listed on its site include:
As regards timelines and placement, the company’s own AEO page makes it clear that no agency can guarantee a placement in an AI answer since each platform decides independently which sources to cite. It also points out that the results depend on a website’s existing authority, its technical condition and the depth of its content. This is a helpful indication in a field where guarantees are often loosely given.
Appropriate for B2B and industrial companies that have long buying cycles and wish to incorporate AI visibility into their SEO and web initiatives rather than treat it as a separate experiment.
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Windgrove is one of the very few Canadian companies that specialises in AI visibility and no other area; its public materials focus on getting brands featured in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Grok, and the list of services is based on the same principle: AI visibility audits, knowledge base and entity structuring, authority content, citation building, prompt coverage research and the weekly tracking of citation frequency.
Suitable for: Those founders and growth teams for whom SEO is already taken care of and who would like to have a dedicated AI visibility feature with prompt-level reporting.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Parachute originally specialized in web design and development, and has since developed a structured GEO and AEO range based on that foundation. The services it mentions are AI visibility audits, prompt testing, structured data work, authority building and performance tracking.
Suitable for: Companies that require custom design or development and have the same team handle AI search work.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Nine Peaks bases its approach on an AI-first SEO framework, incorporating AI at every stage of the process from keyword analysis to content optimization. Since it is a more recent entry on this list, its messaging is more directly focused on AI than that of companies which have been around for a longer time.
Suitable for: Businesses that are willing to work with a younger agency in return for a highly AI-oriented strategy.
Location: Pickering, Ontario
Search Engine People, one of Ontario’s more established search agencies, has introduced a special AEO service page and presents this development as an evolution of its current search services rather than as a departure from them.
Suitable for: Those organizations which wish to have an established search partner and regard AEO as the next stage in their existing program.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
dNOVO mainly focuses on service businesses and incorporates AI search optimization as a key aspect of its core services, which include SEO, paid media, and web development.
Suitable for: Professional and local service businesses that want a single team to handle search, ads, web, and AI visibility.
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
The agency, which is a Google Partner and has a solid presence in e-commerce and SaaS, includes its AI tools and AI search services as part of a wider digital program rather than offering them on their own.
Appropriate for: e-commerce and SaaS companies that manage multiple channels and would like AEO to be part of their offering.
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Bluehat provides its services in both English and French, a feature that is more important than people realize when it comes to the Quebec market since the AI responses are generated in each language separately. Rather than adopting a flashy approach, the company has taken a steady one, focusing on improving its existing search capabilities.
Suitable for: Companies that want visibility in both official languages and are managed by a single team.
Location: Mississauga, Ontario
Kinex is a full-service digital shop that provides services in the areas of web design and search, aiming to incorporate AI-driven search capabilities into its range of offerings.
Appropriate for: Businesses that are planning to build or rebuild a website and would like AI readiness to be taken into account as the site is being developed, rather than waiting until afterwards.
Location: Toronto and Montreal
The product Let’s Get Optimized has its origins in local search, and its AI aspect follows that path, with its application directed toward voice queries and location-based searches. The offering includes bilingual capability.
Suitable for: Businesses that operate in multiple locations and provide local services, since most of their revenue comes from “near me” type questions.
Top 10 AEO Agencies in Canada
| MacRAE’S | Mississauga, ON | Built into an AI, SEO and web program | B2B, industrial, manufacturing |
| Windgrove AI | Vancouver, BC | The entire business | Founder-led B2B with SEO handled elsewhere |
| Parachute Design Group | Toronto, ON | Core service line beside design and dev | Custom web builds needing AI search |
| Nine Peaks Media | Toronto, ON | AI-first framework across SEO | AI-led approach, newer team |
| Search Engine People | Pickering, ON | Dedicated page within a search practice | Established, ongoing search programs |
| dNOVO Group | Toronto, ON | Marketed alongside SEO, PPC and web | Service businesses wanting one partner |
| seoplus+ | Ottawa, ON | Component of a broader program | E-commerce and SaaS, multi-channel |
| Bluehat Marketing | Montreal, QC | Efficiency layer within SEO | Bilingual English and French markets |
| Kinex Media | Mississauga, ON | Part of full-service digital | Site builds and rebuilds |
| Let’s Get Optimized | Toronto and Montreal | Applied to local and voice search | Local and multi-location businesses |
The scope differs from agency to agency, but the elements listed below are repeatedly encountered. You should use this as a checklist when comparing proposals.
| AI visibility audit | Tests what the engines currently say about your brand and your category |
| Entity and knowledge base structuring | Makes sure every model reads your business the same way |
| Structured data and schema | Gives machines a clean, labelled version of your content |
| Answer-shaped content | Definitions, comparisons, FAQs and technical explanations written to be quoted |
| Citation and listing work | Directories, profiles and databases the models lean on for verification |
| Prompt research | Maps the real questions buyers ask, not just the keywords they type |
| Tracking and reporting | Citation frequency and share of voice, alongside your usual SEO metrics |
If a proposal omits tracking, you need to find out why; otherwise, no one will be able to tell whether anything has moved.
That last one is the tell. A range with reasons behind it is a better sign than a confident date.
The Canadian AEO is being introduced early, and most companies providing it are using practices they already had in place. That shouldn’t be seen as a criticism of anyone; it’s just the way a market that is only two years old develops.
The issue isn’t which agency is best in the abstract. Rather, it is a matter of choosing the one that fits with what you are purchasing. If you want AI visibility and SEO included, a specialist is the right choice. But if you are an industrial or B2B brand and the technical content, directory presence, and search all feed the same sales pipeline, a more integrated solution will usually be better for you.
In either case, we’re preparing a shortlist of features for these tools right now, whether or not you are included.
Author
Tanvir Singh Chawla is an accomplished sales and marketing leader with over eight years of experience across the automotive and digital marketing industries. Currently the Digital Strategy Lead at MacRAE’S Digital Marketing Agency, Tanvir specializes in developing and executing high-impact digital strategies, demand generation campaigns, and client success ... Read More
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