When choosing a China GEO agency, compare how it understands your business, organises brand information and provides test evidence before comparing prices. Article counts, platform counts or a single screenshot of an AI recommendation cannot show whether a service addresses your customer acquisition needs.
A Hong Kong restaurant seeking mainland families and an equipment supplier seeking mainland buyers may both consider Doubao or DeepSeek. Yet their customers’ questions, enquiry channels and sales processes differ. An agency’s ability to distinguish these needs is an early sign worth examining.
Eight questions to ask before working together
1. Which customer group will you investigate first?
Ask the agency to define priority customers, locations and purchasing situations. “Families visiting Hong Kong who need a restaurant that takes reservations” is clearer than “everyone visiting Hong Kong”. Explain whom you can currently serve and which products or time slots you want to promote, so content does not attract unsuitable enquiries.
2. Which platforms and interfaces will you test?
A platform name is only a starting point. Record the app or website, language, date and search settings used. A third-party tool connected to a model may not produce the same results as the consumer app bearing its name. Platform selection should reflect your customers’ habits.
3. How will you define the search questions?
Request customer-need questions that do not name your brand in advance, such as “Which craft experiences in Hong Kong accept bookings?” Brand-name questions help check whether company information is accurate. These serve different purposes and should not be combined into a single “recommendation rate”.
4. Which verified facts will support the content?
Ask for a list of products, addresses, service coverage, prices and booking details that your team must confirm. Content needs a verifiable basis. Claims such as “Hong Kong’s best” or “guaranteed to work” cannot replace real differentiators. Confirm the identity and relevant experience of any founders or experts featured.
5. Are content publication and media coverage distinguished?
Website articles, third-party content placements, press release distribution and editorial interviews are different deliverables. Clarify channels, approval processes, retention periods and separately quoted work. Successful publication does not guarantee AI citation, and cannot be counted directly as a customer sale.
6. Can the report be checked against its evidence?
A report should retain the original question, test conditions, answer, sources and interpretation method. It should not show only the best result. Missing mentions, incorrect information and failed tests also deserve records, helping identify what to correct next.
7. How are the contract, payments and information responsibilities arranged?
Clarify the service term and payment schedule, who supplies and approves content, and which records you can retain afterwards. Instalments do not necessarily mean a monthly service. Comparing quotations against the same scope is more useful than asking only for a monthly price.
8. What can you commit to, and what must be observed?
Information preparation, agreed content and reporting can have defined delivery standards. AI recommendations, customer enquiries and completed sales depend on different factors. A sound proposal explains both work responsibilities and the limits of outcome commitments.
How One Marketing Solutions puts these questions into practice
One Marketing Solutions delivers China GEO through direct coordination in Hong Kong with execution support in mainland China. We first understand your brand and target customers, then plan content and monitoring primarily around Doubao and DeepSeek. This connects your actual Hong Kong operations with questions mainland customers may ask.
Content planning covers six areas: brand, products, location, customer needs, comparisons and pitfalls, and relevant people where appropriate. A restaurant’s family-friendly positioning, for example, should be supported by seating, menu, booking and transport details, rather than repeating “family-friendly restaurant” across articles.
We separately examine whether AI understands the brand, cites its content and includes it in relevant recommendations. Businesses can combine these observations with enquiry records to identify situations that matter commercially.
Frequently asked questions
Must an agency provide successful case studies?
Case studies help when their scope, timeframe and test methods are comparable. One brand appearance does not demonstrate sustained results. Where client details are not public, an anonymised report and a clear workflow can still help you assess the service.
Is broader platform coverage always better?
No. First confirm your priority customers and the depth of testing on each platform. The number of platforms unrelated to your customers should not determine your decision.
What information should I provide to request advice?
Start with your brand name, main products or services, target mainland customers and existing website or social pages. Explore our China GEO services and pricing (Chinese), or explain your business needs through our contact page.