Savvy Academy
Live Cohort · July 7 to August 1, 2026 · 4 weeks, 2 sessions per week

For service business owners doing $200k to $2M who keep losing to competitors that don't even rank.

Your customers are asking AI for a recommendation. Right now you are not the answer.

Answer Engine Optimization is the new SEO. Over four working weeks (two sessions per week), you'll retool your site, your content, and your structured data so the AI that runs your industry actually sends customers to you. Built for owners who can't disappear for a week.

Reserve your seat for July 7See what's inside

14-day implementation guarantee · 60-day citation guarantee · Cohort capped at 30

Built with operators from

  • Featured in The Savvy Scoop
  • Trusted by 100+ service businesses
  • Built in The Savvy Digital Co.
  • Cohort partners: reSpace, Pelham Group
  • Quoted in: ChatGPT · Perplexity · Gemini

The problem

SEO didn't die. It split.
And most agencies still won't tell you that.

  • 60% of Google searches now end without a click. Your prospects read the AI summary and move on.

  • ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini already make recommendations in your category. You probably don't know which sources they're pulling from.

  • Your beautiful homepage isn't the problem. Answer engines reward businesses that show their work (facts, FAQs, schema, citations) in formats AI can actually parse.

  • Most SEO advice is either three years out of date or written for Fortune 500 brands with a 12-person content team. Neither helps you.

The promise

In four weeks, you'll be the answer.

This is a hands-on, do-the-work cohort built around how owners actually work. Eight modules over four weeks (Tuesday evenings + Saturday mornings PT). By the capstone on Saturday August 1 you'll have a measurable AEO baseline, a publishing system you'll keep using for years, and at least one query category where ChatGPT or Perplexity quotes your site by name.

  • An audited site with AI-readable structure (schema, FAQs, entity markup)
  • A 30-day content calendar built around questions your buyers actually ask AI
  • A simple monthly tracking dashboard so you can see when you start getting cited
  • Templates, prompts and SOPs you can hand to a VA next quarter
  • A peer cohort of other service-business owners doing the work in real time
  • Direct access to Rachael during weekly office hours across all four weeks

Curriculum

Four weeks. Eight modules.
One working AEO system.

  1. Module 01

    The AEO Landscape (and why SEO is no longer enough)

    By end of Week 1, you'll know exactly which AI engines are deciding your category, and where you stand in each.

    Where your traffic is going, why answer engines reward different signals, and the three-question audit that tells you exactly how visible you are inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews today.

    • The AEO vs. SEO map (and why both still matter)
    • How ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini actually pick sources
    • The three-question audit you'll run on your own site

  2. Module 02

    Auditing Your Current AI Visibility

    Walk away with a baseline scorecard for your own brand inside the four major answer engines.

    The exact prompts, tools and tracking sheet to baseline how (and whether) AI is mentioning you right now. You'll leave Week 1 with numbers.

    • 12 prompts to test your category in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini
    • The AEO Visibility Scorecard (Google Sheet)
    • How to spot which competitor AI is quoting instead of you

  3. Module 03

    Entity-First Site Architecture

    By end of Week 2, your homepage and about page will say what they need to say in the format AI parsers want.

    Restructure your homepage, services and about page so AI parsers can identify who you are, what you do, and who you serve. No replatforming required.

    • The 4-block homepage pattern AI loves
    • How to write an entity-clear about page
    • Service page rewrite kit (one block at a time)

  4. Module 04

    Schema, FAQs and Structured Data

    Ship LocalBusiness, Service and FAQPage schema on at least one page before Week 2 ends.

    Copy-paste schema templates for service businesses (LocalBusiness, FAQPage, Service, Person) and the FAQ patterns that get pulled into AI answers most often.

    • Five copy-paste schema templates by business type
    • The 'one-question-per-FAQ' pattern that gets quoted
    • Validation tools and how to read them

  5. Module 05

    Writing for the Answer Engine

    By end of Week 3, you'll have published one page that's measurably AEO-ready.

    How to format pages, headings and paragraphs so they get quoted verbatim. Includes the 'one-question-per-page' content model and an editing checklist.

    • The Answer-First paragraph structure
    • Headings and lists that AI quotes verbatim
    • Editing checklist: 9 lines, run before every publish

  6. Module 06

    Off-Site Citations and Authority Signals

    Walk out of Week 3 with a 30-day off-site plan you can hand to a VA.

    Where AI actually pulls citations from (hint: not always Google), and a 30-day plan to seed your business across the directories, podcasts and review sources that influence answers.

    • The directories AI engines actually trust
    • Podcast and guest-post outreach scripts
    • How to seed a Reddit/Quora citation without getting banned

  7. Module 07

    Tracking, Measurement and the Monthly AEO Dashboard

    Leave with a Loom-recorded SOP your VA can run every month from Week 4 forward.

    A lightweight tracking system you can run yourself or hand to a VA. Weekly prompts, what to log, and how to spot which content is winning.

    • The monthly AEO check (15 minutes, repeat forever)
    • A spreadsheet that surfaces which page is winning
    • Reporting format you can share with clients or board

  8. Module 08

    Your Next 30 Days (Live Implementation Lab)

    By the capstone on Saturday August 1, you'll have a 30-day rollout plan tailored to your business.

    The capstone is a 3-hour working session on Saturday August 1. We build your 30-day rollout plan together so you leave with momentum, not just a folder of notes.

    • Live implementation lab. Bring your laptop
    • Public commitments: every cohort member shares their plan
    • Day 30 1:1 check-in with Rachael built into the calendar

A note from the founder

Here's the thing. I built the AEO system inside my own business first. Last quarter we got pulled into Perplexity answers fourteen times for queries we used to lose. That's where this course came from.

It's not a course about answer engines. It's a course that teaches you to be quoted by them. If it works for me, the goal is for it to work for you. Four weeks, two sessions a week, built around the way owners actually work. Real outcome. No clipboard.

Rachael

Rachael Barclay

Founder, The Savvy Digital Co.

Receipts, not theory

Built with, and for, service business owners.

  • Two weeks after the cohort, Perplexity started citing one of our service pages by name when people asked about our specialty. We have never ranked on page one of Google for that query. AEO is a different game.

    Jordan M.

    Marketing agency owner · Seattle, WA

  • Rachael cuts through the noise. No fluff, no theory. By Week 2 we had schema deployed and an FAQ template my paralegal could maintain. Best money we've spent on marketing this year.

    Priya R.

    Managing partner · Boutique law firm

  • I expected another SEO course. What I got was a complete shift in how I think about being findable. The capstone implementation lab alone was worth the price.

    Marcus T.

    Real estate broker · Pelham Group

  • The schema templates and the 30-day calendar are the unlock. We didn't need another framework. We needed the actual files. That's what this course delivers.

    Anika V.

    Founder · Healthcare SaaS

  • I joined as a one-person business and felt zero whiplash. The work is sized for an owner-operator. By the end of week 2 I had shipped three pages and queued my first podcast pitch.

    Daniel K.

    Solo consultant · Operations coach

Pricing

Three ways in.
One outcome.

Pick the level of support that matches how fast you want to move.

  • Self-paced

    Self-Study

    All eight modules, lifetime access, full template library. Move at your own pace.

    $497USD

    or 3 × $179

    • All 8 module recordings, lifetime access
    • AEO audit workbook + 30-day content calendar
    • Schema + FAQ template library
    • Private student community
    • Lifetime access to course updates
    Get the course for $497
  • Most popular

    Live Cohort

    Live Cohort + Coaching

    Everything in Self-Study, plus the live July 7 to August 1 cohort: 8 sessions over 4 weeks (Tuesday evenings + Saturday mornings PT). Built for owners who can't disappear for a week. Founding-cohort pricing through Friday May 16; $1,397 thereafter.

    $1,197USD

    or 3 × $419

    • Everything in Self-Study
    • Live cohort July 7 to August 1, 2026: 8 sessions over 4 weeks
    • Tuesday evenings (6:30-8 PM PT) + Saturday mornings (9-10:30 AM PT)
    • Weekly office hours, optional drop-in
    • Async Q&A access to Rachael for 30 days post-cohort
    • Cohort-only Slack channel
    • Day 30 1:1 check-in with Rachael
    Join the cohort for $1,197

  • Premium

    Done-With-You

    Everything above, plus a personal AEO audit and two 1:1 working sessions with Rachael.

    $1,997USD

    or 3 × $699

    • Everything in Live Cohort
    • Personal AEO audit of your site (delivered before Week 1)
    • Two 1:1 working sessions with Rachael (90 min each)
    • Custom schema + FAQ implementation plan
    • Direct DM access for 60 days
    Apply for $1,997
Secure checkout via GoHighLevel 14-day implementation guarantee · 60-day citation guarantee Instant access on enrollment

The 14-Day Implementation Guarantee

Do the work for the first two weeks. Submit your audit, complete Modules 1 to 3, and ship one optimized page. If you don't see at least one measurable shift in how AI engines surface your business, email Tess and we'll refund you in full. No clipboard, no exit interview.

Free download

Not ready to enroll? Grab the free AEO Audit Checklist.

The same first-pass audit we run before Week 1 of the cohort. 12 prompts you can run in ChatGPT and Perplexity tonight to see exactly where you stand.

One short email when it's ready, then a low-volume founder note. Unsubscribe whenever.

FAQ

Common questions, real answers.

Don't see yours? Email hello@thesavvydigitalco.com and Rachael will reply personally before you enroll.

Is this just SEO with a new label?

No. There's overlap, but Answer Engine Optimization assumes the user never clicks a result. They read an AI-generated answer. The signals that win are different: structured data, citation-worthy formatting, entity clarity, off-site mentions in sources LLMs actually train on. We cover all of it.

I'm not technical. Will I be able to keep up?

Yes. If you can edit a page on your website and copy/paste a snippet, you can do this course. We provide schema templates, FAQ templates, and a click-by-click implementation guide for the most common platforms (WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, GoHighLevel).

How much time will I actually spend?

Three hours of live sessions per week (one Tuesday evening, one Saturday morning) plus 4-5 hours of implementation between sessions. About 8 hours a week, 32 hours total over 4 weeks. Spread out so you don't have to disappear for a week. Built for owners and operators, not for marketers who can take vacation days.

Do I need to attend every live session?

Live is best. That's where the implementation lab and the peer momentum live. But every session is recorded and posted within 24 hours, and the Saturday morning sessions are where most of the hands-on work happens if you can only pick one. The Self-Study tier exists for people who can't commit to live attendance at all.

How long until I'll see results?

Most students see their first AI citation within 30 to 60 days of implementing Modules 3 to 5. Some categories move faster (especially niche local services). The course teaches you how to measure it so you'll know the moment it lands.

What if I'm already doing SEO with an agency?

Bring them. AEO complements traditional SEO. It doesn't replace it. Several past students have used the course materials to brief their existing agencies on what to start tracking and producing.

Will this work for ecommerce / agencies / coaches / [my industry]?

The framework is industry-agnostic. What changes is the schema and the content. We have students from law, real estate, marketing agencies, healthcare and SaaS in past cohorts. If your customers ask AI for recommendations in your category, this works.

What tools do I need?

ChatGPT and Perplexity (free tiers fine), Google Search Console, Google Sheets, and access to edit your own site. That's it. No paid SEO tools required to complete the course.

Is access lifetime or just for the cohort?

All tiers include lifetime access to the recordings and template library, plus all future updates. Cohort and Done-With-You tiers add live access for the May cohort window.

What's the refund policy?

See the 14-day implementation guarantee above. Do the work for two weeks, ship one optimized page, and if you can't show a measurable shift, full refund. No exit interview.

Founding-cohort price ends Friday May 16

AI is choosing your category's winners right now.

Four weeks of focused work, built around how owners actually work. A system you'll keep using for years. Founding-cohort price ends Friday May 16 at 11:59pm Pacific.

Join the cohort for $1,197

14-day implementation guarantee · 60-day citation guarantee · Cohort capped at 30