Saïd Business School, Oxford
Skills Live Show 2026 panel speaker on AI visibility for UK SMEs.
Verify →One of the UK's first dedicated Answer Engine Optimisation consultancies for small businesses, founded in Birmingham, run by one person who does the work herself.
AI search is changing how customers find UK businesses. In 2026 over a hundred million people each week ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude for recommendations before they buy. The big London agencies charge £2,000 to £5,000 a month to help businesses adapt. Most small businesses in this country cannot afford that.
AEO-REX is the alternative. One of the UK's first dedicated Answer Engine Optimisation consultancies built for small and medium businesses. Founded in Birmingham in 2026. Productised. Plain English. Founder-led.
"I built AEO-REX because someone needed to. Small businesses are the engine of the UK economy and they were getting left out of AI search entirely."
Shanaz Begum, FounderShanaz is a Physics lecturer at BMet College Birmingham. She is a single mum of three. She works full time on a single salary. There are no investors, no business partner, no safety net. AEO-REX was built in evenings, at weekends, and on school holidays.
Before AEO-REX, Shanaz spent over a decade as an internationally certified Les Mills and Beachbody fitness instructor, delivering the Insanity programme. The same discipline that built that fitness career now goes into every audit, every schema implementation, every citation strategy.
"AI didn't replace me. It gave a council estate mum from Birmingham a fighting chance to compete with London agencies."
Shanaz Begum, FounderThe result is a consultancy that small businesses can actually afford, run by someone who knows what it is like to start with nothing. Productised services from £97. No big retainers. No outsourcing. No juniors. Shanaz does the work herself, which is also why the calendar is capped.
The full story, the council estate, the doubters, the moment AEO clicked, is in the From physics teacher to AEO founder blog post.
Publicly verifiable record of speaking engagements, media, awards, and academic affiliations. Photos to follow as the press archive is published.
Skills Live Show 2026 panel speaker on AI visibility for UK SMEs.
Verify →Live broadcast on how UK small businesses can become visible inside ChatGPT and AI search.
Verify →Guest on the UK entrepreneur programme, broadcast 7 May 2026 on TVOne London, Sky Channel 781.
Verify →Finalist, Khadijah RA Female Led Business of the Year.
Speaker on AEO at the GBCC speaker series and chamber member.
Verify →East London Business Expo speaker. Highly Commended for AEO innovation.
Verify →Physics lecturer. AI literacy workshop programme for Birmingham adults.
Read more →Shanaz Begum, in Birmingham, in 2026. She is a Physics lecturer at BMet College and one of the UK's first dedicated Answer Engine Optimisation consultants for small businesses.
The practice of making a business visible and recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. AEO-REX is one of the UK's first consultancies dedicated to AEO for SMEs.
Birmingham, West Midlands. AEO-Rex Ltd is registered at Companies House (number 17018571). Remote-first, serving UK SMEs nationwide.
Yes. UK registered trademark UK00004369414, filed at the UK Intellectual Property Office on 6 April 2026. Covers Classes 9, 35, 41, and 42.
Yes. AEO-REX is founder-led. Shanaz does the audits, citation work, and schema implementation personally. No junior team, no outsourcing. The trade-off is a deliberate cap on cohort size.
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