We are hearing from more and more SME recruitment firms that client leads are coming through directly because AI engines are recommending them as strong niche specialists. I'm not referring specifically to Social Hire AEO clients here, but rather to excited messages we are getting from founders across the wider recruitment market.
This change is seismic. A recruiter can be introduced to a prospective client as a good choice for a particular sector, role or market before the client has even visited the agency’s website. When a hiring manager asks an AI engine which recruitment firms they should consider, a clear and credible specialist included in the answer may well result in them receiving a warm enquiry as a result - which is far more valuable than simply gaining a click from Google.
Social Hire specialises in AEO for the recruitment industry, and I'd like to share a useful place you can start if you're running a recruitment agency and want to take the first steps towards improving your AEO. It's not a major technical project. Rather, it is a straightforward check: what do AI engines currently understand about your recruitment firm (and what gaps exist that are costing us from being recommended to clients)?
How can you check what AI engines know about your agency?
Treat this as a sanity check, not a definitive ranking. AI answers can vary between platforms and over time. Your aim is to spot patterns: what the engines say about you, what they leave out and where their information appears to come from.
AEO check 1: What does AI say your agency does?
Go to a couple of your favourite AI engines. We recommend trying Google in Incognito mode, plus one other of your choosing. Start a fresh search and ask:
“What services does [your company name] offer and what makes them stand out?”
Read the answer as if you were a prospective client encountering your agency for the first time. Make a note of:
- Which services the engine identifies.
- The sector, roles and locations it associates with your firm.
- What it says makes you stand out.
- Whether the description is accurate, specific and current.
- Which sources it appears to use for its answer.
A clear and credible specialist included in an AI answer may well receive a warm enquiry.
Tony Restell, Founder, Social Hire
Most importantly, compare the answer with what you want to be known for. Does the engine mention your specialist expertise, the types of hiring challenges you solve or the markets you serve? Or does it give a rather generic description that lacks compelling reasons for why you should be chosen over any recruitment firm?
If a key specialism is missing, record it. The gap may point to information that is absent from your website, difficult to find, or not sufficiently supported elsewhere. If the answer includes an outdated service or incorrect location, note that too. You cannot assume the engine has understood your firm simply because your website describes it clearly to a human reader.
The sources are just as important as the wording. Check which pages or other websites appear to inform the answer. Are they current and authoritative? Do they describe your firm consistently? If the engine is relying on an old directory listing or a thin social media profile, that could help explain why its description is incomplete and you’re not being recommended.
AEO check 2: Does AI recommend you for your niche?
Next, start a fresh search in those same AI engines. Ask:
“Which recruitment agencies would you recommend in [your country] for [the industry / specialist role]?”
Be precise about the market you serve. A firm specialising in senior engineering recruitment, for example, should test a question about that specialism, not only a broad query asking for recruitment agency suggestions.
Note whether your agency appears in the recommendations. Also record which competitors are mentioned, how the engine describes them and which sources it draws upon for their credentials.
If you do not appear, ask a follow-up question:
“Why haven’t you included [your company name] among the recommendations?”
If you do appear, ask:
“What makes the other agencies stronger recommendations than [your company name]?”
Treat the response as a useful prompt for investigation, not as a complete or objective explanation of how the engine has made its decision. AI answers may vary, and their explanations do not necessarily reveal every factor involved. Still, they can help you identify what may be missing from the information available about your firm - and therefore point you in the direction of what to prioritise addressing first.
Look for gaps between what the engine says about your expertise and credentials and what you would want a prospective client to understand. Does it recognise your strongest niche? Does it overlook relevant experience, services or locations? Are the firms it recommends supported by sources you have not yet got yourself appearing in?
Again, pay attention to both the narrative and the sources. Note what is being used to support your own credentials, if you are mentioned, and what is being used to support the other agencies. This can show you where your firm’s online presence is providing strong, consistent evidence, and where it may be thin or unclear.
What should you do with the results?
Keep a simple record of your searches: the platform, question, date, answer, sources and anything inaccurate or missing. That gives you a practical baseline to revisit after you have made improvements.
Then focus on the clearest gaps first. For example, check whether your website explains your specialism in plain language, whether the relevant service pages are easy to find, and whether your agency’s external social media profiles and review sites describe the same markets and expertise. Any inconsistencies in what’s said about you on different sites and directories can really hurt your results. Also, make sure this important information is specific and current. A general claim to “connect great people with great companies” may not tell an AI engine, or a hiring manager, which roles you recruit for or why your agency is a good fit.
Be careful about drawing firm conclusions from one search. Different wording, locations or AI engines may produce different answers. One missing recommendation does not prove that your agency lacks expertise; it means that the engine did not recommend you in that particular search. Repeating the checks across a couple of engines and relevant niche questions gives you a more comprehensive view.
What is the next step in AEO for recruitment agencies?
These two checks are important housekeeping before you launch more fully into AEO work. They will not fully optimise your recruitment agency for AI answers, but they can give you valuable indicators of the most obvious gaps in what AI engines know about your firm, and help you identify some of the quickest opportunities to address first.
Thereafter, consider following the more comprehensive advice we shared here on Onrec to fully AEO optimise your recruitment agency. Or get external help with managing all of this, as appropriate.
