When a prospect asks an assistant for an agency, you are not on the list
Where each engine got its answer
Six of the questions Single Grain lost, asked exactly as written, with the sites each engine cited.
“most recommended digital marketing agency”
ChatGPT (API)
- g2.com
- clutch.co
Perplexity
- 6smarketers.com
- analyticsinsight.net
- +3 more
Gemini
- webtonic.io
- solved6.com
- +1 more
“who is the best digital marketing agency for ecommerce”
ChatGPT (API)
- clutch.co
Perplexity
- mayple.com
- forbes.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- thriveagency.com
- silverbackstrategies.com
- +3 more
“best digital marketing agency for SEO”
ChatGPT (API)
- clutch.co
Perplexity
- thecmo.com
- dataally.ai
- +3 more
Gemini
- primaryposition.com
- seoprofy.com
- +2 more
“best digital marketing agency for B2B”
ChatGPT (API)
- clutch.co
- staging.clutch.co
Perplexity
- blendb2b.com
- beomniscient.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- prweb.com
“compare digital marketing agency options”
ChatGPT (API)
No sites citedPerplexity
- thebusinessrover.com
- onely.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- clutch.co
- solved6.com
- +2 more
“how much does SEO cost”
ChatGPT (API)
- adency.org
- strategyc.io
- +1 more
Perplexity
- collaborada.com
- forbes.com
- +3 more
Gemini
- fastdigitalmarketing.com
- gomega.ai
- +3 more
Asked on : ChatGPT (API) openai/gpt-5.4-mini · Perplexity perplexity/sonar-pro · Gemini google/gemini-3-flash. Engines answer differently over time; this is what they said that day.
Clutch on 25 of the 30. Then agencies' own pages.
Single Grain was named on three of the twenty-one questions that never mention it. Under the answers sat Clutch, cited on twenty-five of the thirty questions, Reddit on fifteen and G2 on eight. ChatGPT cited Clutch on four of the six questions above, and nothing but Clutch on three of them. The agencies that were named came with pages of their own: Thrive's site was cited on eleven questions, SalesHive's on ten, WebFX's on nine, First Page Sage's on eight. In this category the profile with reviews decides who is in the running, and a page that names the buyer's industry decides who is quoted.
Cited most
On how many of the 30 questions each site was cited. Claimable ones are directory profiles the business can claim and correct.
- clutch.co Claimable 25/30
- reddit.com Community 15/30
- thriveagency.com 11/30
- saleshive.com 10/30
- webfx.com 9/30
- g2.com Claimable 8/30
- firstpagesage.com 8/30
- featuredcustomers.com 4/30
- gtm8020.com 2/30
What the report said to do
The tasks this run filed for Single Grain, each with how many of the lost questions it answers.
answers 13 questions
Own your listings on clutch.co, g2.com
On 13 of the questions you lose, the assistants cite a directory rather than any business's own site. Those listings are the answer buyers are being shown.
answers 12 questions
New page answering “most recommended digital marketing agency”
answers 3 questions
Answer “who is the best digital marketing agency for ecommerce”
on singlegrain.com/services/seo/
answers 2 questions
Answer “who makes a good digital marketing agency”
on singlegrain.com/about-us/
Where the answers about agencies & consultancies come from
On each profile you claim, write the name, address, phone and website exactly as the site has them.
Clutch
Claim itCited on 25 of the 30 questions — by ChatGPT for “most recommended digital marketing agency”.
- Create the free profile, or claim the one Clutch already has, from Clutch's Get listed page.
- Fill in the services, the industries you serve and your pricing, and ask recent clients to leave a review.
G2
Claim itCited on 8 of the 30 questions — by ChatGPT for “most recommended digital marketing agency”.
- Claim the agency's profile on G2: it is free, and G2 checks a work email.
- Fill in the services you sell and a description in the buyer's words; invite recent clients to review.
Reddit
CommunityCited on 15 of the 30 questions — by Perplexity for “most recommended digital marketing agency”.
Threads are quoted as word of mouth. Nothing to claim: answer as yourself, and say who you are.
What buyers ask, and the page that answers it
Buyers ask: “best digital marketing agency for ecommerce”
Answer it on: A page for each industry you serve
What it has to say: Clients in that industry, named with permission, what you did and the results, with dates
Markup: Organization, with the industries in knowsAbout
Buyers ask: “how much does SEO cost”
Answer it on: A pricing page
What it has to say: A range for each kind of engagement, and what moves it
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “who makes a good digital marketing agency”
Answer it on: The about page
What it has to say: How you would judge an agency, and how you meet it
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “compare digital marketing agency options”
Answer it on: A how-to-choose page
What it has to say: What to ask any agency, how you work, and who you are not right for
Markup: none needed
Buyers ask: “digital marketing agency in Chicago”
Answer it on: A page for each office
What it has to say: The address, who works there, clients nearby
Markup: Organization, with an address for each office
Buyers ask: “is [agency] any good”
Answer it on: Clutch and G2
What it has to say: Verified client reviews, and the services and industries you list
Markup: none needed
Questions
- Should we sell this service to our own clients?
- That is who Passcite is built for, and it is fair to ask us to prove it works on our own kind of business first. Run your first report on your own site before you run one on a client's.
- How do agencies package this?
- Usually as an audit up front and then a monthly retainer covering the fixes and the before and after. A client report carries the monthly part — built once, a new edition after each scheduled run — and on the Agency plans it goes out under your own name and logo.
- What does it cost us per client?
- Plans are credits, and a client is a brand: its 10 prompts asked twice a month are 20 credits, and an article is 10. Agency is $149 a month for 1,000 credits across up to 500 brands, with the totals across all of them.
- Can our clients see it directly?
- Through a link you send them: a report, or a client report that always opens its latest edition. On the Agency plans it carries your name and logo and can wait for your review first; client logins are being built for Agency Plus.
- Will you contact our clients?
- No. We do not contact anyone's clients, and that is not going to change.
- What if our client's site is on Wix or Squarespace?
- The diagnosis works identically; only the publishing differs. The pages are written all the same and wait for your approval, then are copied into the site — rich text, HTML or Markdown — and the rest of the list comes as tasks with steps. The platform pages say what each one lets you change.
- Ecommerce brandsDiscovery is moving into the conversation, and a brand that is not named in it does not get the visit at all.
- Restaurants & hospitalityThe decision is made minutes before the booking, by someone standing in a city they do not know.
- Courses & educationThe buyer is making a decision about several thousand dollars and several months of their life.
- Plumbers, electricians & home servicesAn emergency call is decided in under a minute by someone who will call the first name they are given.
Run the same test on your own agency, or a client's
The run above asked 30 questions. A brand tracks up to 200 prompts, a credit a prompt on each report.