Proposals for AI search work have started to look alike. Most mention ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, and most say the brand will appear in AI answers. Two proposals with almost the same wording can still lead to very different monthly work. A clear checklist makes it easier to compare AI SEO services for Malaysian brands before any contract is signed.
One point is worth checking before anything else. The proposal should state which buyer questions will be tracked across the AI platforms.
Why Many Proposals Look the Same
Interest in AI search grew quickly over the past two years. Many providers responded by adding new names to existing SEO packages. In several cases, the monthly tasks inside those packages stayed largely the same as before.
For a marketing team, this makes comparison harder than it should be. One proposal may include crawler checks, tracking across platforms and work on outside listings. Another may offer four blog posts a month and a keyword ranking report, yet use the same AI terms in its summary.
Looking at the fee alone will rarely reveal this. Reading the scope line by line usually will.
The Scope Checklist
Marketing leaders can use the points below to review AI SEO services for Malaysian brands offered by different providers. Each point should be written into the proposal or contract.
- An agreed list of buyer questions, usually around 20 to start with, reviewed every few months.
- A benchmark of results for those questions on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, with competitors included.
- A review of the robots.txt file, firewall and server settings. Security tools sometimes block search crawlers without the site owner knowing.
- Checks that key pages are indexed by Google and allowed to show snippets. Google needs both before a page can appear in AI Overviews.
- Changes to important pages so that each one answers its main question in the first two sentences.
If a point is missing, it can be raised in the next meeting. Some providers include it in practice but leave it out of the document.
Which Promises Should Raise Concern?
Any promise of a guaranteed position in ChatGPT answers is a warning sign. The same question can produce a different answer an hour later, and no agency controls that.
Some tactics also appear in proposals even though Google has said they do nothing in Google Search.
- Creating an llms.txt file or similar files written only for AI tools.
- Splitting long pages into small sections for AI. Google already finds the relevant part of a long page.
- Rewriting existing pages purely for AI readers.
- Adding special structured data for AI features. Google states that none of its AI features require it.
- Building mentions on websites that are not genuine. Google applies its spam systems to its AI features as well.
When most of a proposal rests on items like these, the client is paying for tasks that are unlikely to move results. Real customer reviews and accurate business listings tend to count for far more.
Timelines That Make Sense
Some changes show up quickly. Fixing crawler access or rewriting the opening lines of a key page can affect AI answers within a few weeks. Being named for competitive questions, such as which provider is best in a crowded category, usually takes several months of content and outreach work.
A sensible proposal sets targets month by month, so early progress can be checked. Claims of fast gains across every question deserve a careful second look.
The proposals worth signing are often the least decorated. They show the question list, the starting benchmark, the planned fixes in order and a sample report. A proposal that cannot show its question list leaves the client with no way to judge whether the service is about AI search at all.