Frequently asked questions
Answers before you ask.
What we do, how engagements run, and how we keep AI systems accountable. If something isn’t covered here, ask us directly — we’ll answer properly.
About Softongroup
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What does Softongroup do?
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We design, build and run AI systems for businesses across three areas: agentic AI and software development, AI SEO and generative engine optimisation, and AI social media and performance marketing. You can engage us for one of them or combine them.
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How long have you been operating?
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Softongroup has been serving businesses since 2003. We spent two decades building and running production software before bringing that same engineering discipline to AI agents, generative search and autonomous marketing.
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Where are you based?
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Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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What makes you different from other AI agencies?
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Depth. Unlike no-code agencies, we can build custom models, evaluation pipelines and integrations, plus the full software around them. Every engagement is run by AI specialists rather than account managers passing work down a chain.
Services
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What is an AI agent, and how is it different from a chatbot?
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A chatbot answers questions. An agent reasons, uses tools and completes multi-step tasks inside your business — updating a CRM, processing documents, running a campaign — with human approval steps before any high-impact action.
Agentic AI & software development → -
What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?
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Search is shifting from links to AI answers. GEO is the work of making sure assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews understand, trust and cite your brand — and of measuring whether they actually do.
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Can we engage you for just one service?
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Yes. Engage us for one service or combine them. Every build is backed by evaluation, guardrails and measurable outcomes either way.
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Which tools and platforms do you work with?
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It depends on the engagement. Agent work commonly involves CrewAI, LangGraph and the Microsoft Agent Framework; AI visibility tracking uses tools such as Profound, Peec AI and Otterly.AI; marketing work spans Sprout Social, Emplifi, Sprinklr and AdCreative.ai. The right stack depends on your systems and goals.
Packages and pricing
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What packages do you offer?
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Three productised offers with defined deliverables: the AI Visibility & GEO Audit, Data-Science-Backed Agentic Engineering, and Autonomous Growth Pods. Each has a fixed scope so you know exactly what you get.
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How much does it cost?
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Pricing depends on scope, so we quote per engagement rather than publishing a rate card. Tell us what you want to achieve and we will come back with a fixed-scope proposal.
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How long does a project take?
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Timelines are agreed during scoping and confirmed in your proposal before any work begins. Discovery and a pilot usually come first, so you see results on real data before committing to a full rollout.
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Where should we start?
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Most clients start with the AI Visibility & GEO Audit. It is the lowest-commitment way to see where your brand currently stands in AI answers and get a prioritised action plan.
AI Visibility & GEO Audit →
Governance, safety and data
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How do you stop an AI agent doing something wrong?
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Three ways. Human approval steps so people sign off before agents take high-impact actions; evaluation pipelines that measure agent accuracy before and after launch; and permission limits that restrict what each agent can reach.
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Are you SOC 2 and GDPR compliant?
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The systems we build are designed to support SOC 2, GDPR and Australian Privacy Act requirements. The specific obligations that apply to your project are confirmed with you during scoping.
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What access to our systems and data do you need?
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Only what the agreed scope requires. Access is defined during onboarding, and agents operate with explicit permission controls — including repository and account restrictions — rather than broad access to everything.
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How do we know the agents are working?
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Transparent reporting. You get dashboards tying every agent and campaign back to business outcomes, plus ongoing monitoring once a system is in production.
Your account
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How do I sign in to the client portal?
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The client portal is still being rolled out, so sign-in is not open yet. If you are an existing client and need project files, reports or agent status in the meantime, email us and we will send them to you directly.
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I cannot sign in, or I have forgotten my password.
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Because the portal is not open yet, there are no accounts to recover. Email us and we will help you directly.
Email info@softongroup.com →
Getting started
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What happens after I get in touch?
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We reply with next steps and a time for a discovery call. From there the work runs in four stages: Discover, where we audit your workflows and AI visibility; Prototype, a focused pilot on real data; Build, engineering it for production with guardrails; and Operate, ongoing monitoring and improvement.
How we work → -
How do I contact you?
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Email info@softongroup.com, call +61 433 580 801, or send the form on our contact section and we will reply with next steps.
Book a consultation →
Next step
Still have a question?
Tell us what you want to achieve and we’ll reply with next steps and a time to talk.