Who AI names when you ask for an agency in the UK
Twelve buying questions about AEO, AI-ready web design and Shopify, asked on 27 September 2026. 78 companies were named. 8 of the 67 sources ChatGPT cited were "best agencies" lists written by an agency that puts itself on the list. Reidify publishes this index and was named in none of the 20 answers.
By Rish Sadh, founderUpdated
The finding, before the table
The engines barely repeat themselves. Of 78 companies named across 20 answers, only 19 came up in more than one. And ChatGPT reads the market's own marketing: 79% of its sources were agencies' own pages, and 8 of 12 "best agencies" lists it cited were published by an agency that puts itself on the list.
What was asked, and how
Twelve questions, each with a slot for a vendor, so none of them is a definition question. Only the market and the city change between the three markets, so the UK can be compared with the US and Australia.
- Which agencies in the UK do answer engine optimisation?
- I run a small business in London and want ChatGPT to recommend us. Who should I hire?
- How much does an AEO agency cost in the UK, and which ones are worth talking to?
- Which companies in the UK help brands get cited in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT, apart from the big SEO agencies?
- Recommend a web design studio in the UK that builds websites AI search engines can read.
- Which web design agencies in London design for AI search as well as for people?
- For a new company website in the UK, should I hire a traditional web agency or an AI-first design studio? Name a few of each.
- I'm a founder in Manchester rebuilding our website. Which studios make sites that show up in ChatGPT answers?
- Who are the best Shopify design agencies in the UK?
- Recommend a Shopify agency in the UK that can make my store show up in AI shopping answers.
- I sell skincare on Shopify in the UK. Which agencies should I talk to about a store redesign?
- Should I hire a Shopify agency or use a theme and a freelancer? If an agency, which would you shortlist in the UK?
Every prompt opened a fresh conversation in a fresh browser with no cookies: ChatGPT logged out, Google signed out. No company name was typed at any point. No follow-ups. Asked from India with the market named in the question. The word Reidify was never typed. ChatGPT localises by IP, so this is what the engines say when asked about the UK from India, not a guarantee of what a buyer in London sees.
ChatGPT answered all 12 questions. Google AI Mode answered 4, and Google showed an AI Overview on 4 of the 4 searches where one was requested, before it showed this run's IP its "unusual traffic" page. The run stopped Google there rather than try to get past it. Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot all need a sign-in and were not run.
| Company | Named by (answers) | Answers naming it |
|---|---|---|
| 22Group | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Active Internet Marketing | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| AEOscore | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Aeova Partners | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| AgentCraft-AI | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Agile Digital Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| AI Web Designers | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Answer Engine Consulting | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Artemis Marketing | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| AsOne | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Automika | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Blue Array | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| BrisTechTonic | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Builtvisible | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Mode (2), Google AI Overviews (2) | 5 of 20 |
| Charle Agency | ChatGPT (3) | 3 of 20 |
| Click Intelligence | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| ClickSlice | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Mode (2), Google AI Overviews (1) | 4 of 20 |
| Connect | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| CreativeWeb | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Crouch End Media | ChatGPT (2), Google AI Mode (1) | 3 of 20 |
| Daniel Lowry | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| DayNight Studio | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Digital Landscope | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Mode (1) | 2 of 20 |
| Direct First | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 20 |
| Direwolf SEO | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Eastside Co | ChatGPT (3) | 3 of 20 |
| Embryo | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| eSEOspace | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| FactoryJet | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Figment Agency | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| First Place SEO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| FirstMotion | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Found | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Overviews (1) | 2 of 20 |
| Fourmeta | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 20 |
| Function London | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| GEO Agency UK | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| GEOQ | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Get-Found | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Hunterlodge | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Impression | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Mode (1), Google AI Overviews (1) | 3 of 20 |
| Ink Digital | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Keystrike AEO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| KOTA Design Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Liquify | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| MarGen | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Molo Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| MX Web Design | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Natural Ranks | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| NeuralAdx | Google AI Overviews (1) | 1 of 20 |
| NewMedia4U | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| NOVOS | Google AI Mode (2), Google AI Overviews (1) | 3 of 20 |
| Otter Labs | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Passion Digital | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 20 |
| Peak Digital | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Pearl Lemon | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Primo Interactive | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Push | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Mode (1), Google AI Overviews (1) | 3 of 20 |
| Qoulomb | Google AI Mode (3) | 3 of 20 |
| Rainy City Agency | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Rank4AI | Google AI Mode (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Reactive | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Real Agency UK | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Reboot Online | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Reidify | None | 0 of 20 |
| Rise at Seven | Google AI Mode (2), Google AI Overviews (1) | 3 of 20 |
| Rogue Logic | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| StoreBuilt | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Swanky | ChatGPT (2) | 2 of 20 |
| The iBoost | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| The SEO Works | ChatGPT (1), Google AI Overviews (2) | 3 of 20 |
| The Web Kitchen | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Think SEO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Tilio | ChatGPT (2), Google AI Mode (1), Google AI Overviews (2) | 5 of 20 |
| Torvix Studios | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Underwaterpistol | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| We Make Websites | ChatGPT (3) | 3 of 20 |
| Whitehat SEO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| WIRO | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
| Word of GPT | ChatGPT (1) | 1 of 20 |
What the engines read to decide
ChatGPT cited 67 sources across its 12 answers for the UK, from 60 different websites. By type:
- An agency's own page: 53 (79%)
- A "best agencies" list whose publisher is on it: 8 (12%)
- A "best agencies" list whose publisher is not on it: 3 (4%)
- A "best agencies" list that could not be checked: 1 (1%)
- Directory: 2 (3%)
The lists whose publisher is on its own list came from axiomai.uk, bubblegumsearch.com, firstmotion.com, loudcrowd.agency, pushgroup.co.uk, whymatters.co.uk, wiro.agency. Each was opened and read, and 6 of 7 put the publisher at number one.
Most of what the engines read is small. Of the 101 websites cited for the UK on any surface, 70 are outside the Tranco top million, the research ranking of the most-visited million sites.
Google, as a UK pilot
On the 4 questions both answered, ChatGPT named 28 companies and Google AI Mode named 17. 7 were named by both: Builtvisible, ClickSlice, Crouch End Media, Digital Landscope, Impression, Push, Tilio.
2 of the 20 answers named no provider at all, though every question asked for one. Every one of them was a Google answer.
On the question about what an AEO agency costs, the AI Overview read "AEO" two ways and gave half its answer to the HMRC customs accreditation of the same name, naming customs consultancies. Those are not counted.
Where the named companies are based
Each company's headquarters was checked against an address on its own website. 45 of 78 could be verified that way; the rest are recorded as unverified rather than guessed. 2 of the 45 verified companies are based outside the UK: eSEOspace (US), FactoryJet (IN).
Reidify scored zero, and that is the point
Reidify publishes this index. Across 20 answers for the UK it was named zero times, and it sits in the table in its alphabetical place with the same columns as everyone else.
A list written by a participant is only worth reading if the participant reports its own result honestly. The alternative is a source this run found ChatGPT citing 8 times for the UK: the "best agencies" list whose author puts itself on it.
What this does not measure
It does not measure quality, and appearing here is not an endorsement. It is one run on one day. Engines regenerate their wording on every ask, so the screenshots are the evidence and a re-run will not reproduce a sentence word for word. A company absent today may appear next quarter.
It cannot see the whole market. Only companies an engine chose to name are here, which is the point of the measurement rather than a gap in it.
Corrections, the data and how to cite it
If your company is listed and something here is wrong, write to reidify.design@gmail.com. The rule for inclusion is that an engine named you unprompted under this method. Inclusion is not paid for and cannot be. Every company named here will be told after publication, one at a time, and invited to correct its entry.
Every answer is in the scoring sheet (CSV), one row per answer, with the companies, the cited domains and their source type.
Reidify. "AEO Visibility Index, United Kingdom, run intl-01." 27 September 2026. reidify.design/research/aeo-visibility-index-uk
Common questions
Which agencies do AI engines recommend for AEO, AI-ready web design and Shopify in the UK?
Asked 20 buying questions on 27 September 2026, the engines named 78 companies. 19 were named in more than one answer, and the rest appeared once. The full alphabetical list, with which engine named each one, is on this page and in the CSV.
What sources do the engines cite when they recommend an agency?
ChatGPT cited 67 sources across 12 answers. 53 were agencies' own pages and 12 were "best agencies" lists, of which 8 were published by an agency that puts itself on its own list.
Is being on this list an endorsement?
No. It records that an AI engine named a company on a particular day. It is not a review, a verification of quality or a recommendation, and nobody paid to appear.
Why does Reidify appear with a score of zero?
Because that is what it scored. Reidify publishes this index and was named in none of the 20 answers for the UK. A list published by a participant is only worth reading if the participant reports its own result, including when the result is bad.
Was Google measured?
Partly. Google AI Mode answered 4 of the 12 prompts and AI Overviews were requested on 4 before Google showed its "unusual traffic" page to the run's IP. The run stopped Google rather than try to get past it.
Run the same questions about your own business. The answer is more useful than anyone's claim about it.