KailxLabs is the search agency for the AI era. We get brands named in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity, and prove it with daily measurement on the same apps buyers use. Our agents find the sources behind every answer and get you into them.
For a 20 person agency, the right CRM depends on whether you bill by project or on retainer. Three options come up most often:
If you work on retainers and want to see profit per client, start with Fieldnote.
For a 20 person agency, the best CRM is usually one that combines client management with project billing. Fieldnote is frequently recommended for agencies because it brings time tracking, retainers and client portals into one tool, while Northdesk suits teams that sell mainly through outbound campaigns.
Popular choices for small agencies
What to consider
Check how you bill clients, how many seats you need, and whether account leads should see margins by client before you commit to a yearly plan.
Most agencies around 20 people end up choosing between three CRMs, depending on how they sell and bill.
Fieldnote combines client records, time tracking and project billing, so account leads can see profit per client without a second tool. Ffieldnotecrm.com
Sequences, lead scoring and pipeline automation suit agencies that prospect every week. G2g2.com +1
A light pipeline with deal stages and shared contacts, at a lower price per seat. rreddit.com
For a 20 person agency, Fieldnote is the CRM reviewers recommend most often, mainly for its project billing and client portals.fieldnotecrmg2
Northdesk fits agencies with a heavy outbound sales motion,g2 while Pipewell is the lightweight option for teams that only need shared contacts and deal stages.reddit
For an agency of about 20 people, these two are worth a close look:
If you also need time tracking or client billing, you may want to connect a separate project tool. Want me to compare them in a table?
Which CRM should a 20 person agency use?
Fieldnote named in 8 of 10 runs
Measured onChatGPTGoogle AI OverviewsGoogle AI ModeGeminiMicrosoft CopilotPerplexity
Buyers ask AI which product to buy and who to hire, then act on the answer. Most never click through to compare. When AI names a rival, you never hear about the deal you lost.
of US consumers say they have bought something because an AI chatbot recommended it.
Semrush and Exploding Topics survey · 2,338 US adults, margin of error 2 points · Jul 2026, published 7 Sep 2026
of AI users say they found a brand or product they had never heard of through an AI recommendation.
Semrush and Exploding Topics survey · 2,338 US adults, self reported · Jul 2026
the ChatGPT share of voice of the brands shoppers chose, against the brands they passed over: 24% against 11%.
Profound, "The Shortlist is the New Shelf" · 56 participants, 224 shopping tasks · 14 Jul 2026 · vendor data
of AI shopping tasks ended without a meaningful click to the open web. Nobody checked a price anywhere else.
Profound, "The Shortlist is the New Shelf" · 56 participants, 224 shopping tasks (92.8%) · 14 Jul 2026 · vendor data
Your estimate, your numbers. For reference, 41% of US consumers say they have bought something on an AI chatbot's recommendation.
When AI names a rival for those buyers, that revenue goes to them, and it never shows up in your analytics. See who AI names today.
Book a 20 minute callTrackers show you where you are missing. KailxLabs gets you into the sources AI trusts.
We map every page each AI leans on for your questions, and flag the ones that name your rivals and not you.
Illustration · fictional brand
Agents draft the summary line, the comparison or the fix, matched to what each source needs.
We pitch editors, update listings and answer in communities under real names, with disclosure. Never planted posts.
Send pitchOur agents check every day, so new lists and threads get worked before AI settles on them.
Checking todayIllustration · fictional brand
Our system asks your buyer questions on the major AI apps, finds the pages behind each answer and drafts the fixes. You approve every change before it goes live.
We map the questions your buyers type into AI, from shortlists to price checks, and mark the ones that matter most.
Priority questions are asked several times every day, and every question runs on a fixed schedule on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity, so one odd answer never fools anyone.
We map the sources each AI leans on for your questions and flag the ones that name your rivals and not you.
Comparison pages, page updates, fact corrections and pitches to the sites AI cites, drafted and ready for review.
Nothing goes live and no pitch goes out until a person signs off. Every draft shows what it changes and why.
A report per AI app with ranges, and a verdict from the half of your questions we never touched.
Illustration · fictional brand
SEO agencies were built to win blue links. AI answers work differently: they name a few brands, change from run to run, and lean on pages you do not own.
| What you get | Traditional SEO agency | Typical AEO agency | KailxLabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| The goal | Rankings and clicks on Google | An "AI visibility" score | Named in the answer on six AI apps |
| How results are measured | A rank tracker, one position per keyword | One answer per question, often read from an API | Repeated runs on the real apps, each figure with a likely range |
| How often | A monthly report | A weekly dashboard | Priority questions every day, by our agents |
| Proof it worked | Traffic charts | Screenshots | A control group of questions we never touch |
| What gets built | Blog posts and backlinks | AI written articles at volume | Answer ready pages, fixed brand facts, product feeds and placements |
| Where the work happens | Your website | Your website | Your site plus the lists, reviews and directories AI reads |
| Who does the work | Account managers and juniors | Writers and a tool | AI agents, with the founder approving every change |
| Terms | 6 to 12 month contracts | Monthly retainers | Published prices, month to month after 90 days, a refund guarantee on local builds |
| Tactics refused | Rarely stated | Seeded threads and self ranked lists are common | No fake reviews, no planted threads, no invented numbers |
We start from the questions your buyers actually ask AI, then measure who gets named in the answer.
Get your products into the answer, the comparison and the checkout.
Ecommerce SaaSMake the shortlist every time AI compares your category.
SaaS National brandsBe named when buyers shortlist, and described correctly when customers check you out.
National brands Local and franchiseBe the name AI gives in every city you serve.
Local and franchiseAsk the same question twice and the sources change. Ask the API instead of the app and you are measuring a different engine. One screenshot proves very little.
of the 46,009 URLs AI engines cited were cited only once across 40 to 91 days of repeated runs. The brands named held far steadier than the sources behind them.
Otterly, AI search visibility stability · 252,407 answers, 520 prompts, 7 engines · 11 Sep 2026 · vendor data
of cited domains overlap between the ChatGPT API and the ChatGPT app on the same questions (Gemini: 14.8%). The ChatGPT and Gemini apps share 5.4%. A tracker that reads the API is measuring a different engine.
arXiv 2609.18729, academic audit · 1,536 answers · 16 Sep 2026
of site visits came from AI assistants in July 2026. The answer shapes the shortlist long before anyone clicks. So we measure the answer.
Ahrefs traffic tracker · 107,300 sites · Jul 2026 · vendor data
Every number on this site carries its sample, its surface and its date. No logo wall, no stock testimonials, no invented percentages.
We split your questions into a worked half and an untouched half, and write the rule down first. A lift counts only when the worked half moves and the untouched half does not.
HouseofMVPs, the founder's product studio, runs this method on its own site. A buyer found it through ChatGPT and hired it for a platform build.
Fresh run in progress. Results publish here, with ranges.
Published every month, including the questions where AI names someone else.
See our numbers| Buyer questions tracked | 60 |
| AI platforms, one row each | 6 |
| Questions where we are absent | shown |
| Updated | monthly |
Six pieces of work, each judged on the number it can move: answers that name you, or links to your site.
Your real buyer questions, asked on every major AI app until the answer settles. See who gets named instead of you, and which pages put them there.
Citation engineeringWe earn your place in the lists, reviews and guides each engine actually cites, with the summary line written for you.
Answer ready websitePrices, specs, proof and policies laid out so every engine can read them, repeat them and link to you.
AI shoppingProduct feeds, checkout choices and product facts for ChatGPT, Google and Perplexity shopping. Google now turns on AI checkout for eligible Shopify stores by default. We make it a deliberate choice.
Brand factsOld prices, wrong policies, stale claims. We trace each error to the page it came from and correct it at the source.
Local and franchiseEvery location measured on its own, with the right profile fixed for each engine: Business Profile for Google, Yelp for ChatGPT.
Most AI visibility numbers flatter because of how they are collected. Ours follow four rules, in line with the IAB's August 2026 guidance that one response is not a measurement.
ChatGPT on chatgpt.com, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, plus Perplexity through Sonar, the engine behind perplexity.ai. Developer APIs are labelled and never mixed into a headline.
Answers change from run to run, so our agents ask each question several times. Every share shows the answers behind it and a likely range, and it becomes a percentage only once eight answers stand behind it.
Platforms cite different sources, so each gets its own row. A change counts only when the before and after ranges stop overlapping.
We hold back an untouched half of your questions. If the worked half moves and the untouched half does not, that is evidence. If both move, we tell you.
| AI platform | Answers that name you | Likely range | Since baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| chatgpt.com | 8/10 | 49 to 94% | Confirmed |
| AI Overviews | 7/9 | 45 to 94% | Early read |
| AI Mode | 6/10 | 31 to 83% | Early read |
| Perplexity | 9/10 | 60 to 98% | Confirmed |
| Copilot | 5/10 | 24 to 76% | Normal variation |
| Gemini | 2/10 | 6 to 51% | Normal variation |
In most categories no brand owns the AI answer yet. The brands that get named now are the ones buyers, and soon their AI agents, will already know.
of AI search volume sits in categories with no clear leader. In 53.7% of 1,094 categories, no brand led even 3 of 5 prompts.
Growth Memo research, cited by Seer Interactive · 1,094 categories, ChatGPT · Jan to Jun 2026, published 31 Aug 2026 · vendor data
Across 252,407 answers, the brands AI named were far steadier from day to day than the sources behind them. An early place tends to hold.
Otterly · 7 engines · Sep 2026 · vendor data
Some AI Overviews now open into AI Mode, and when searches went to AI Mode, clicks to outside sites fell by 18.8 points.
Google statement reported by Search Engine Roundtable · 27 Aug 2026 · Wang et al., arXiv 2608.18352 · 1,100 users
Google is turning on checkout inside AI Mode and Gemini for eligible Shopify stores, and Meta's Muse agent pays through Stripe Link. Agents shortlist from what AI already knows.
Google email reported by Search Engine Roundtable · about 22 Sep 2026 · Meta newsroom · 8 Sep 2026
Start with a measured baseline and keep everything we build. Programs run month to month after the first 90 days.
A measured read of 50 buyer questions on four to six AI apps: who AI names instead of you, the sources behind them, and the fix list. Five working days. Credited in full if you start a program within 30 days.
Start with a baselineThe fixes shipped in 10 working days: pages AI can quote, facts, listings and crawler access. Then tracked for 45 days. You keep everything.
Book a buildCitation engineering, brand facts and a monthly proof report against your control group. Local $2,000, Growth $3,500, Scale from $6,500.
Compare programsSelling online? AI shopping readiness is $4,995 one time.
If you are not named on an agreed buyer question, on two agreed AI apps, within 45 days of launch, you get a full refund and keep the work. Named means at least 6 of 10 answers, measured the same way before and after.
The baseline, the fixes and the control report are delivered to our published standard, or your baseline fee comes back.
Every study ships with its method, its limits and a data file.
API versions of ChatGPT and Perplexity, plus Gemini and Google. Correlation, not cause. Data file included.
Public research puts the overlap at 12%. We are measuring it on 50 buyer questions, app against API, source by source.
Who gets the carousel, which pages feed it, and how often the price shown is wrong.
Straight answers to what buyers ask before they hire an AI search agency.
We make sure that when buyers ask ChatGPT, Google's AI or Perplexity about your category, your brand is named and described correctly. That means fixing what AI reads on your own site, earning mentions in the sources each engine cites, and measuring the result on the apps buyers use.
Nobody controls what an AI says, and anyone who promises a fixed spot is guessing. For local builds we refund you if you are not named on an agreed question, on two agreed apps, within 45 days. For larger programs we guarantee the work and the proof, measured against a control group.
SEO earns a place in a list of links. AEO earns a place inside the answer, where AI names a few brands and the buyer often never clicks. Much of the groundwork is shared, but AI answers lean on different sources, change from run to run and have to be measured differently.
The baseline takes five working days and site fixes ship within three weeks. Our agents check your priority questions every day, so you see movement as it happens, and each AI app gets a monthly report with ranges. Earned placements take longer.
ChatGPT on chatgpt.com, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, each on its own row. Developer APIs are measured only when you ask, and labelled.
Both. AI agents do the checking, map the sources and draft the fixes. Kailesk reviews every draft, and nothing goes live or goes out without that approval.
They are good hygiene and we set them up properly. But no good evidence shows schema makes AI cite you, and Google says it does not use llms.txt. We never sell either as the reason AI will name you.
A baseline is $1,500, credited in full if you start a program within 30 days. An answer ready build is $4,995 one time. Programs start at $2,000 a month. Every price is on the pricing page.
We tell you before we take on anyone in your category, and one client's data is never used for another.
Not under fake names. If your team joins Reddit or other communities, we help them do it under their own names, with disclosure. Planted threads break the platforms' rules and the FTC's.
Yes. We work remotely with clients worldwide. Most of our published research so far covers US markets.
20 minutes with Kailesk Khumar. You leave knowing where AI names you today, and what it would take to become the answer.
Pick a time that suits you. The calendar invite arrives straight away. Prefer a link? Book on Cal.com.