Tendou Research · 18 October 2026
Who writes the pages
AI answers cite?
An AI-generated agency shortlist can draw on a supplier’s own marketing, a sponsored article or a marketplace. This small pilot opens the sources behind actual agency-choice and pricing answers, so a buyer can check the evidence before choosing a provider.
Original six-question diagnostic
Of 24 selected cells (six questions × four platforms), nine were not attempted after platform failures. The seven completed answers did not name Tendou or visibly cite its website. That is a dated observation, not proof of permanent absence. The unavailable and unattempted cells are unknown.
A separate US-under-US$200 question produced one completed Gemini answer and one Google search without an Overview. It is reported separately and is not an expansion of the original baseline.
Recovered source examples
A citation is not automatically
an independent endorsement.
We opened 42 visible citation buttons across four saved Gemini answers, recovering 12 distinct URLs. The table below classifies selected sources checked against their published pages, plus one pricing source from the separate budget question. Other recovered URLs remain in the CSV without an inferred classification. We do not calculate a share of all sources from this partial collection.
Tendou sells related services and has a commercial interest in this topic. These examples assess the source’s authorship and disclosure, not the quality of the agency’s work.
On a phone, scroll the table sideways to read each example.
| Question group | Published source | Source type | What a buyer should notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore provider question | First Page Digital | Supplier-authored roundup | Lists its own agency. Its authorship is useful context, not independent validation. |
| Singapore provider question | BestSEO | Supplier service page | Describes its own GEO/AEO service. Check the actual quotation and stated currency. |
| Singapore provider question | Stridec | Supplier marketing article | Its dated article and current commercial pricing page list different packages. |
| US provider question | Thrive | Supplier-authored roundup | The publisher includes its own agency in the list. |
| Malaysia provider question | Marketing-Interactive | Disclosed sponsored article | The page explicitly identifies Rankpage as sponsor. |
| Malaysia provider question | Sortlist | Agency marketplace / directory | Agency profiles and matching are a different source type from independent editorial. |
| Separate US budget question | The Affordable SEO Services | Supplier pricing page | Its AI SEO Starter is listed at $299/month, outside the prompt’s US$200 budget. |
Source links were recovered from the original saved answers later on the same date. Recovery time is not a new answer date. This table is a selection, not a complete source-frequency ranking.
A practical price check
Open the offer,
not just the answer.
The separate question asked for managed SEO and AI search optimisation for US small businesses under US$200/month. Gemini named The Affordable SEO Services. Its AI SEO page lists a Starter at $299/month; its separately labelled WordPress and Shopify SEO offers are different services. The cited AI offer does not meet the stated budget.
This is one observed mismatch, not proof that every answer or every provider’s price is wrong. Check the currency, setup fee, minimum term, included work and current quote. A cheaper monitoring tool and a provider making changes for you are different purchases.
Our agency-selection guide compares published offers and the questions to ask. US businesses can use the tool, agency and managed-subscription comparison.
Before buying
Check the source.
Then check the fit.
- Authorship: is this the provider’s service page, its own roundup, a marketplace or an editorial article?
- Disclosure: is a sponsor or commercial relationship explicitly identified? Do not infer payment when none is disclosed.
- Offer: does the linked page actually sell the service, market and budget described in the answer?
- Evidence: are client examples dated and scoped? A provider’s own claims are not an independent audit of its outcomes.
- Implementation: who will change the website, approve facts and verify the work?
Google’s AI search guidance describes ordinary SEO and indexed, snippet-eligible content; it does not require a special AI schema or text file. Eligibility does not guarantee selection. This pilot does not establish which ranking signals caused any answer.
Method and limits
A small pilot.
A traceable record.
Questions: six unchanged registry questions covering provider choice and pricing for Singapore, Malaysia and an intended US context. The monthly-subscription price question does not itself specify a country; the CSV retains that limitation instead of silently adding one.
Observations: 18 October 2026, between 14:25 and 14:31 UTC for the original checks. Six Gemini answers and one Google AI Overview completed. Five of the six original Google searches showed no Overview. Two ChatGPT temporary-chat attempts failed to load and one Perplexity attempt met a sign-up gate. The other nine original cells were not attempted. The separate budget checks were captured at 14:36 to 14:38 UTC.
Context: Google and Gemini were signed in; personalization was not disabled. Google searches used recorded country/language parameters. ChatGPT used unpersonalized temporary chats in its default Medium mode. These are actual consumer-interface samples, not API simulations or controlled global rankings.
Sources: all visible source buttons were opened in four saved Gemini answers. Other completed answers have only partial URLs or labels. A recovered citation URL proves what link was shown, not that we independently verified every claim on that page. Explicit sponsorship is recorded only where the page discloses it. Gemini became unavailable during the remaining recovery; original answer statuses were retained.
Dataset: 26 rows: the original 24 selected cells, including nine marked not-attempted, and two separately labelled budget checks. Each row retains its exact question, platform, observation time where available, status, naming/citation observation, source-collection limits and recovered links. Personal account identifiers and conversation links are excluded.
Limits: one date, a small selected question set and uneven platform availability. It is not a representative market study, a complete four-engine benchmark, a source-frequency census or a causal experiment. No post-release visibility gain is claimed.
9 November 2026 · Singapore and Malaysia
What sources appeared
in five buyer questions?
We tracked five fixed buyer questions across four platforms. Google AI Overview, Gemini and Perplexity each returned five complete answers. None of the 15 named Tendou. The links captured from ten Google and Perplexity answers included no tendou.ai link. Gemini’s source destinations and all five ChatGPT results remain unknown.
- Google AI Overview, Singapore GEO. AI Studio’s own GEO page describes what the provider says it offers.
- Google AI Overview, Singapore search and AI audit. Heroes of Digital’s own audit page describes technical, content and AI work that a buyer can check against a quote.
- Perplexity, Singapore GEO. Semrush’s agency directory is a marketplace. Its listing terms require paid subscriptions for providers.
- Perplexity, Malaysia AEO. Marketing-Interactive’s Malaysia roundup carries a publisher disclosure that Rankpage sponsored the article.
These are links visible in this dated sample. The October pilot above uses a separate set of observations.
Related evidence
Continue with the
business decision.
Choosing an AI visibility provider ↗
Tendou’s published Singapore offer ↗
Earlier recommendation baseline ↗
Dated evidence ledger ↗
Client records and their limits ↗
Start with the questions
What do your customers
ask before choosing?
Bring your website, the services you actually sell and the markets you serve. Agree what will be tested, what can be changed and how unsuccessful checks will be reported.