Tampa Bay Consultant Launches First Public AEO Research Lab, Documents Real-Time AI Citation Experiments

Collins Tech Strategic Consulting openly shares successes and failures as businesses race to understand AI search visibility
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – February 5, 2026 – Collins Tech Strategic Consulting today announced the launch of the AEO Research Lab, a first-of-its-kind public documentation of Answer Engine Optimization experiments. The initiative tracks what actually works—and what doesn’t—when attempting to get businesses cited by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
“Everyone is writing theory about AI search optimization,” said PT Collins, Managing Partner of Collins Tech. “Almost no one is publicly documenting real experiments with real data. We’re changing that by sharing everything—including our failures.”
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) refers to strategies for becoming the business that AI recommends when users ask questions like “recommend a contractor in Tampa Bay” or “find me a business consultant.” Unlike traditional search engines that show lists of results, AI assistants typically name just 2-3 businesses with explanations.
The AEO Research Lab documents:

Weekly testing across ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity
Specific tactics tested and their outcomes
Technical factors affecting AI visibility (including the common robots.txt mistakes blocking businesses from AI discovery)
Time-to-citation data for various optimization approaches

Collins Tech’s initial research revealed that many credentialed businesses are completely invisible to AI systems. One Tampa Bay contractor with a BuildZoom score in the top 2% statewide didn’t appear in AI recommendations, while competitors with significantly lower credentials dominated.
“The businesses with the best qualifications often have the worst AI visibility,” Collins noted. “They built reputations before digital discovery mattered and never caught up. We’re quantifying exactly what that invisibility costs.”
The AEO Research Lab is publicly accessible at collinstechflorida.com/aeo-research-lab and updated weekly with new findings.