AEO and GEO for food and beverage brands: getting cited in AI recipe and product answers
How food and beverage brands can position recipe and product content to be cited when someone asks AI for a recipe idea or product recommendation.
4 min read
A common misconception treats GEO as requiring an entirely separate, specialised execution capability best outsourced wholesale to an agency — in practice, most of the actual work is content and structural refinement that an existing, capable in-house content team can execute directly with appropriate guidance.
What most teams get wrong about this decision
Treating GEO as requiring an entirely new, specialised execution function, rather than recognising it as a set of structural refinements applicable to work an existing content team already does, leads to unnecessary agency spend on work that could often be handled internally with proper training.
Where external expertise genuinely adds value
- Initial training and knowledge transfer on the specific structural practices covered throughout this series.
- Periodic, specialised measurement and competitive benchmarking, given the current tooling and testing complexity involved.
- Strategic guidance on prioritisation and evolving best practice as the field continues to develop.
Outsourcing all of GEO wholesale to an agency often means paying someone else to do work your own content team could learn to do directly, at a fraction of the ongoing cost, with the right initial training.
A hybrid model that generally works well
In-house execution of the ongoing content and structural work, combined with periodic external input for specialised measurement, competitive analysis and strategic guidance as the field evolves — this generally captures the genuine value of external expertise without unnecessary ongoing execution cost.
When full agency outsourcing does make sense
For organisations without any existing in-house content capability at all, or those wanting to move very quickly without building internal capability first, full agency execution remains a legitimate, if generally more expensive, option.
Frequently asked questions
Can a small in-house team realistically execute GEO work without specialist hires?
Yes, with appropriate initial training on the structural practices covered throughout this series — this is genuinely learnable content and editorial skill, not a requirement for deep technical specialisation.
How much external guidance is reasonable to budget for?
A modest, periodic engagement — quarterly strategic review and measurement support — often captures most of the genuine value external expertise provides, without the cost of full ongoing execution outsourcing.
Does this in-house-favouring conclusion apply equally to every organisation?
Organisations with strong existing content capability benefit most from this approach — those genuinely lacking any content function may reasonably need more comprehensive external support initially.
If you want help deciding the right in-house versus agency balance for your GEO work, talk to our team.
The takeaway
Recognise that most GEO work is content and structural refinement your existing team can execute directly — the more valuable external input is often periodic, specialised guidance and measurement, not full outsourced execution.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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