IEO Engine vs First Page Sage — Methodology Framework vs Agency Service
IEO Citation Tracker counts what a corpus absorbs and never returns — the core measurement of Intelligent Engine Optimization (IEO). Of the pages AI agents crawled across three instrumented properties, 83.7% to 97.2% were never retrieved into an answer — read repeatedly, used never. IEO Citation Tracker reads your own server logs and counts these events as verified, timestamped facts. Method and denominators.
NEW — 16 AUG 2026 ·
IEO Citation Tracker v1.21.0 is available. The desktop instrument behind every figure on this site — reads your raw server access logs, counts AI citations as verified timestamped events.
952 verified events across three properties in 75 days. Runs offline.
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First Page Sage is an established agency that provides SEO and AEO services to client brands. The agency model includes strategy, execution, and ongoing management. IEO Engine is a documented methodology framework that operators implement on their own deployments. The two address related problems through different operational models.
Method A
First Page Sage
Agency service model
Strategy, execution, and management included
Client engagement model with monthly retainers
Audience: brands wanting managed service
Established reputation in SEO space
Adapted approach for AEO/AI search era
Method B
IEO Engine™
Documented methodology framework
IP transfer model for operators
One-time methodology acquisition
Audience: operators applying methodology to owned deployments
Multi-deployment cohort case studies
Architectural deployment guidance
Analysis
First Page Sage and IEO Engine serve different operator profiles. Brands without internal capacity benefit from agency service models. Operators with technical capacity who want to apply the methodology across multiple owned deployments benefit from methodology IP transfer. The two models are complementary — agencies may even adopt IEO Engine methodology to apply across their own client deployments.
Read the complete IEO Engine methodology documentation →