CASE STUDY · OUR OWN AUDIT
We asked ChatGPT for the best AI SEO agency for MSPs five times. Our own page got us named twice, and last both times
Across five clean runs of "best ai seo agency for MSPs" on 17 September 2026, ChatGPT named GeoCited in 2. Both times it had read our MSP service page, and both times we came last on the shortlist. In the 3 runs where it did not read that page, we were not named. The roundup articles ChatGPT relied on most do not list us at all.
- SUBJECT
- GeoCited
- ENGINE TESTED
- ChatGPT only · temporary chat · Unpersonalized · web search on
- WINDOW
- 17 September 2026 · 1 prompt · 5 counted runs
Note on verification
Five runs is a small sample, and ChatGPT changes its answer from one run to the next, so read the ratios below as a snapshot, not a rate. All runs were on one account, one evening, with the browser's location showing Vandalur, Chennai. We could not see the exact web searches ChatGPT ran, only the pages it cited. We checked the three roundup articles it relied on by opening them on 17 September 2026. We did not verify the claims ChatGPT made about other agencies, and we repeat them here only as ChatGPT's words. We have no screenshots of the counted runs, because temporary chats are deleted when closed, so the figures below are drawn from our written log.
What we ran
One prompt, typed exactly as a buyer might: best ai seo agency for MSPs.
- ChatGPT temporary chat, signed in, with Unpersonalized mode on. That mode tells ChatGPT to ignore memory, plugins and custom instructions.
- A fresh chat for every run. No follow-up questions.
- ChatGPT used web search on every run without us asking.
- For each run we logged whether GeoCited was named, its position, who was named instead, and every page ChatGPT cited.
We ran it six times and counted five. The reason is below, and it matters more than it sounds.
The run we threw out
On the first run, the page said the chat would ignore "plugins and custom instructions". It did not say memory. The next time we opened a temporary chat, the setting had switched to Personalized. We changed it to Unpersonalized and kept it there for every run we counted.
That first run put GeoCited first of seven. It then closed with an offer to research "competitors for GeoCited", which only makes sense if ChatGPT knew who was asking.
So the only run that ranked us first is the one we can't trust. If an agency shows you a screenshot of ChatGPT putting them at number one, ask what mode it was taken in. Ours would have looked great.
The numbers
| Run | GeoCited named? | Position | geocited.io cited? | Agencies shortlisted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | 5 of 5 | Yes | TSL Marketing, MSP Sprout, MSP SEO Agency, Egochi, GeoCited |
| 2 | No | n/a | No | Jumpfactor, NUOPTIMA, First Page Sage, Tech Pro Marketing, JoomConnect |
| 3 | Yes | 6 of 6 | Yes | TSL Marketing, MSP Sprout, MSP SEO Agency, Jumpfactor, Tortoise and Hare Software, GeoCited |
| 4 | No | n/a | No | Jumpfactor, NUOPTIMA, TSL Marketing, MSP SEO Agency, MSP Sprout, Egochi, Lifted Websites |
| 5 | No | n/a | No | Jumpfactor, NUOPTIMA, Tech Pro Marketing, First Page Sage, Tortoise and Hare Software |
GeoCited was named in 2 of 5 runs and was last on the shortlist both times.
How often each agency made the shortlist:
| Agency | Runs shortlisted (of 5) |
|---|---|
| Jumpfactor | 4 |
| TSL Marketing | 3 |
| MSP Sprout | 3 |
| MSP SEO Agency | 3 |
| NUOPTIMA | 3 |
| GeoCited | 2 |
| Egochi | 2 |
| Tech Pro Marketing | 2 |
| First Page Sage | 2 |
| Tortoise and Hare Software | 2 |
| JoomConnect | 1 |
| Lifted Websites | 1 |
Twelve agencies appeared across five runs. No agency made all five. Jumpfactor came closest.
The pages that decided the answer
ChatGPT cited 12 distinct pages across the five runs.
| Page | Runs cited (of 5) | Lists GeoCited? |
|---|---|---|
| nuoptima.com/best-msp-seo-agencies | 4 | No |
| 100signals.com/best-seo-agencies-for-managed-service-providers/ | 3 | No |
| tslmarketing.com/msp-ai-search-engine-optimization | 3 | Own page |
| mspsprout.com/ai-seo/ | 3 | Own page |
| mspseo.agency | 3 | Own page |
| geocited.io/ai-seo-services-for-msps | 2 | Ours |
| egochi.com/msp-seo/ | 2 | Own page |
| thewesternnews.com/news/2026/sep/03/6-best-ai-seo-agencies-for-msps/ | 2 | No |
| answermaniac.ai/research/state-of-ai-search-msp | 2 | Not checked |
| nuoptima.com/seo | 2 | Own page |
| jumpfactor.net/msp-aeo-geo-services/ | 1 | Own page |
| liftedwebsites.com/seo-for-it-companies/ | 1 | Own page |
A page on nuoptima.com was cited in all five runs.
Why we lose when we lose
Look at runs 2 and 5. ChatGPT built both answers almost entirely from roundup articles: NUOPTIMA's list, 100Signals' list, Western News and an AnswerManiac study. It did not open a single agency's own MSP page on either run.
We opened the three roundups. None of them mentions GeoCited:
- NUOPTIMA's list, updated 1 August 2026, ranks twelve agencies and puts NUOPTIMA first. It says so openly: "NUOPTIMA built this list and appears on it." Jumpfactor is second.
- 100Signals' list, updated 4 August 2026, ranks nine agencies and leaves 100Signals off. Jumpfactor is first.
- Western News, dated 3 September 2026, lists six agencies. Jumpfactor is first.
That explains Jumpfactor. It made the shortlist in 4 of 5 runs, but ChatGPT cited Jumpfactor's own page only once. Its place in the answer comes from other people's pages. Ours can only come from our own page, because nobody else has written about us for this question yet.
When ChatGPT answers from roundups, we are not in the answer. When it reads agency pages, we sometimes are.
Why we are last when we are named
Getting read was enough to be named. It was not enough to be ranked.
Here is how ChatGPT described us when it did name us:
"GeoCited — unusually focused specifically on AI-search/GEO for MSPs rather than selling a broader marketing stack." (Run 1)
"GeoCited — Interesting if your only objective is 'make AI assistants mention my MSP when prospects ask who to hire.' Unlike full-service agencies, it says AI SEO/GEO is its sole service." (Run 3)
Both descriptions are accurate. Our MSP page says we sell one thing and lists what we don't do. ChatGPT picked that up.
The trouble is that ChatGPT's own buyer advice, repeated in almost every run, asks for the one thing our MSP page cannot show yet:
- "Actual MSP case studies" (Run 1)
- "Actual MSP case studies with attributable leads/revenue" (Run 3)
- "2–3 recent MSP case studies" (Run 4)
- "MSP case studies, AI SEO methodology, pricing, reviews, and evidence of actual results" (Run 5)
Our MSP page has no MSP client results. In run 4, ChatGPT described NUOPTIMA as offering MSP SEO and AI search "with published MSP case studies and measurable outcomes." Being specialised gets us described. MSP proof is what ChatGPT keeps asking for, and our page has none yet.
ChatGPT also wanted local SEO in the mix. It put local SEO on its checklist in 4 of 5 runs (1, 2, 3 and 5), and in run 3 it asked how an agency's AI work fits with "local SEO + Google Business Profile + service/location pages". We say plainly that we don't do local SEO. That is the right call for us. It will still cost us with any buyer who reads the answer literally.
What this means if you are an MSP shopping for this
- Ask how many runs. One run of this prompt showed us fifth, another sixth, and three left us out. All five happened on the same evening.
- Ask what mode the screenshot was taken in. The only run that put us first was the one where we could not confirm memory was off.
- Ask which pages the answer came from. An agency that shows up only through a list it wrote itself is a different case from one that independent lists include.
- Ask for MSP results, not AI results. ChatGPT asks for them. You should too.
What we are doing about it, since this is our own audit
- Getting onto the roundups ChatGPT actually reads. 100Signals leaves itself off its own list and judges agencies on AI search, so it is our first request.
- Putting MSP proof on the MSP page as soon as an MSP client agrees to be named. No invented numbers until then.
- Running this prompt again every week under the same protocol, including the mode setting, and adding each new set of runs to this page with its date.
What this does not prove
- Five runs, one evening, one account, one location, one engine. It is not a share-of-answer rate.
- It does not show that roundup placement will get us named. It shows that we are missing from the pages that decide most runs.
- It says nothing about Perplexity, Gemini, Claude or Google AI Overviews.
- Where we quote ChatGPT on other agencies, those are its claims, not ours.
Questions people ask about this
Does ChatGPT recommend GeoCited as an AI SEO agency for MSPs?
Sometimes. In five clean runs of "best ai seo agency for MSPs" on 17 September 2026, ChatGPT named GeoCited in two, both times last on the shortlist. It named GeoCited only when it read GeoCited's MSP service page.
Which agencies did ChatGPT recommend most often for MSP AI SEO?
In five runs on 17 September 2026, Jumpfactor made ChatGPT's shortlist in 4. TSL Marketing, MSP Sprout, MSP SEO Agency and NUOPTIMA each made it in 3. Twelve agencies appeared in total, and none made all five.
Why did GeoCited exclude one run?
The chat screen did not confirm that memory was off, and the answer referred to GeoCited as if ChatGPT knew who was asking. That run ranked GeoCited first, which is exactly why it could not be counted.
Why publish a result where GeoCited comes last?
Because it shows what decides this answer: the roundup articles ChatGPT reads, and MSP client proof. A result where we come first would hide both. We show clients the same thing.
Written by

Lourdes Paul Agilan runs GeoCited, a generative engine optimization agency. He works with B2B companies on how AI assistants describe and recommend them. He writes about that work here, and shares the experiments behind it. The tests that worked, and the tests that did not, written up the same way.
Sources
- ChatGPT (chatgpt.com), temporary chat, Unpersonalized, five counted runs, 17 September 2026. Run log held by GeoCited, available on request.
- 12 Best MSP SEO Agencies in 2026 (Compared) — NUOPTIMA, Alexej Pikovsky, updated 1 August 2026. https://nuoptima.com/best-msp-seo-agencies
- Best SEO agencies for managed service providers in 2026 — 100Signals, Peter Korpak, updated 4 August 2026. https://100signals.com/best-seo-agencies-for-managed-service-providers/
- 6 Best AI SEO Agencies for MSPs — Western News, Cristal Dyer, 3 September 2026. https://thewesternnews.com/news/2026/sep/03/6-best-ai-seo-agencies-for-msps/
- AI SEO Services for MSPs — GeoCited, modified 15 September 2026. https://geocited.io/ai-seo-services-for-msps
Want your own number, including the runs that go against you?
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