Sponsor Disclosure

Last updated: 21 April 2026

AEOps has no sponsors. No advertiser pays for placement in the dataset, in the weekly brief, on the website, or in any derived content. This page explains the policy that applies if that ever changes.

Current state

As of the date above:

  • No paid placements. No tool, vendor, or individual has paid to be covered, mentioned, compared, or recommended.
  • No affiliate links. No link in the Publication carries an affiliate tag or pays the Publisher on click or conversion.
  • No referral agreements. No commercial arrangement exists with any tool, vendor, or agency referenced in the dataset.

What would count as sponsorship

Sponsorship would mean any direct or indirect payment, benefit, or commercial consideration — including but not limited to: cash, equity, options, service credits, free products in exchange for coverage, referral fees, affiliate commissions, paid newsletter placements, or in-kind support tied to editorial treatment.

Review copies of software provided for testing and returned or cancelled within 30 days are not sponsorship, provided the provision was not conditional on favourable coverage.

If sponsorship ever exists

Were AEOps ever to accept sponsorship, the following would apply from day one:

  1. Dedicated disclosure page updated with the sponsor's name, the nature of the relationship, the start date, and any financial terms we are able to disclose.
  2. Inline banner at the top of every affected post, in the dataset, and in any email containing sponsor-influenced material. The banner is visible without scrolling.
  3. Subject-line disclosure in any email containing sponsor-influenced content — the word "Sponsored" or equivalent will appear in the subject line.
  4. Dataset tagging so every citation record affected by sponsorship is machine-readable as such in any exported data.
  5. Separation — sponsors never see findings pre-publication, never influence what is measured, and never have the right to amend, delay, or suppress content.

Prohibited sponsor categories

For integrity, AEOps will not accept sponsorship from any of the following, regardless of terms:

  • AEO / generative-search monitoring tools that compete with the Publication's research function, including but not limited to: Profound, Relixir, Otterly, Peec AI.
  • AI model vendors whose engines AEOps measures, including but not limited to: OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Google (for Gemini), xAI.
  • SEO-data vendors whose citation data would be compared in the Publication.

This list may be updated as the AEO category evolves. Updates will be logged at the bottom of this page with the effective date.

Data-sourced corrections are not sponsorship

If a vendor named in the dataset provides a factual correction — for example, "that citation count is wrong because you are counting our legacy domain and our current one as separate" — and we verify the correction, we will apply it. Accepting a correction is not sponsorship. We retain full editorial control over whether to publish a correction and how to word it.

Reporting suspected undisclosed sponsorship

If you believe any AEOps content has been influenced by undisclosed sponsorship, payment, or commercial relationship, please email hello@aeops.io. Reports are treated confidentially. If the concern turns out to be valid, we will issue a correction with the same prominence as the original publication.

Changelog

  • 21 April 2026 — Initial policy published. No sponsors exist at publication.