6. Engagement Model, Timeline & Terms

The engagement has two components: a one-off setup covering Phases 1 to 3 over four months, and an ongoing monthly process covering Phase 4. This section sets out the phase plan, the month-by-month schedule, the deliverables, the visibility horizon, the fee structure and the items to confirm before kickoff. The scope of each phase is defined in sections 1 to 4.

6.1 Engagement model

Two components, priced separately. The setup is an implementation with an end date; the monthly process is a service that continues for as long as it is retained, because AI models are retrained and their answer sources change over time.

Setup: Phases 1, 2 and 3 — technical foundation (§1), source and authority building (§2) and the content engine (§3). One-off implementation, planned over four months.
Monthly process: Phase 4 — measurement and continuous optimisation (§4). An ongoing service with a monthly reporting cycle: the query set is tested, results are tracked, gaps are identified, the optimisation actions inside the monthly scope are carried out, and an action plan is issued each month.

6.1.1The two components are independent line items. The setup can be commissioned on its own; the monthly process is intended to follow it, and begins in month 2 while the setup is still running.
6.1.2The monthly process does not extend the setup. Setup work remains scoped to the phase plan at §6.2.
6.1.3Both components depend on the inputs and approvals listed at §5. Late inputs move the dates that depend on them and no others.

6.2 Phase plan

Four phases. Phases 1 to 3 form the setup and run to a finish; phase 4 starts in month 2 and repeats monthly. The phases overlap by design — source registrations take weeks to be picked up, so they start before the content work does.

Ref	Phase	Period	Focus
P-01	Technical Foundation	Month 1	llms.txt and llms-full.txt, AI crawler access, Schema.org types, sitemap, hreflang and canonical configuration, citable content formatting, docs indexation verification
P-02	Source & Authority Building	Months 1–3	Crunchbase profile, crypto directory listings, ICO listing platforms, sector media and PR placement plan, LinkedIn and corporate profile authority
P-03	Content Engine	Months 2–4	Target query matrix, concept glossary, extended FAQ structure, comparison and positioning content, whitepaper-derived articles, content calendar
P-04	Measurement & Continuous Optimisation	From month 2, monthly	Query-set testing across the four AI platforms, mention rate, information accuracy and source attribution tracking, gap analysis, optimisation actions, monthly action plan

P-01 to P-03 are the setup. They are complete when their deliverables are handed over.
P-04 is the monthly process. It has no completion date; each cycle closes with the optimisation actions carried out that month, a report and an action plan.
Phase periods are counted from the kickoff meeting, not from the proposal date.

6.3 Timeline

The four-month setup window, month by month, with the output that each month produces. Phase codes are cited in the P-0n form used by the phase plan at §6.2.

Month 1: Phase 1 runs in full and Phase 2 begins. Output: the technical foundation is live and the first source registrations are submitted.
Month 2: Phases 2 and 3 continue and Phase 4 begins. Output: the first content set is published and the first visibility report is issued.
Month 3: Phase 2 completes. Output: the third-party source network is in place, with every registration submitted and its platform status recorded.
Month 4 onwards: Phase 3 completes and the monthly cycle continues. Output: measure, produce, optimise — repeated each month.

6.3.1Month 1 carries P-01 in full and the opening of P-02. The technical foundation goes live first, because directory and media records point back at a site that AI crawlers must be able to read.
6.3.2Month 2 is the busiest month: P-02 and P-03 both run, and P-04 issues its first report against a baseline of no measurable AI visibility.
6.3.3Month 3 closes P-02. From that point the third-party source network exists and is maintained rather than built.
6.3.4Month 4 closes P-03. After that the engagement is the monthly cycle at §4 only, unless further work is agreed separately.

6.4 Deliverables

Four deliverables, one per phase. Each carries a reference code, the phase that produces it, and the month it is handed over. The fourth recurs for as long as the monthly process runs.

Ref	Deliverable	Phase	When
D-01	Applied technical configuration and implementation report	P-01	Month 1
D-02	Source asset map, submitted registrations with their platform status recorded, and placement plan	P-02	Month 3
D-03	Published content set and content calendar	P-03	Month 4
D-04	AI visibility report and action plan	P-04	Monthly, from month 2

D-01 to D-03 are handed over once. D-04 is issued every month and is the standing output of the monthly process.
Each deliverable is accepted on handover. Aerion approvals required before publication are listed in section 5.

6.5 Visibility horizon

How long visibility takes to appear depends on how each system ingests sources, and the two mechanisms move at different speeds. The figures below are expectations derived from that difference, not commitments.

Real-time search: Platforms that retrieve live results at answer time, such as Perplexity and ChatGPT search, can reflect new sources within 2–3 months of the technical foundation and the first registrations going live.
Training data: Durable visibility inside model training data follows the retraining cycles of the model providers and is expected over 6–12 months, as sources published now are picked up in later datasets.
Basis: Both figures are expectations based on how these systems ingest and refresh sources. Neither is a guarantee: retrieval ranking, index refresh timing and retraining schedules are controlled by the platforms, not by Polenist or Aerion.

6.5.1What the engagement controls is the input side: an accurate, readable source layer (§1), a third-party record network (§2) and a consistent content base (§3).
6.5.2What is reported each month is measured, not projected. The metrics and the test method are defined at §4, and the first report establishes the baseline the later ones are read against.
6.5.3Movement is not linear. A query set can stay flat for two cycles and then change once a source is picked up, which is why the process is measured monthly rather than assessed once.

6.6 Fees

Four work packages, each priced separately. W-01 to W-03 are the one-off setup; W-04 is the recurring monthly fee.

Ref	Work package	Scope summary	Fee
W-01	Technical Foundation	llms.txt, crawler access, Schema.org, sitemap, hreflang and canonical, docs verification	1,200 USDT
W-02	Source & Authority Building	Crunchbase, crypto directories, ICO platforms, PR plan, corporate profile authority	1,200 USDT
W-03	Content Engine	Query matrix, concept glossary, FAQ, positioning content, content calendar	1,200 USDT
W-04	Monthly process	Monthly visibility management: AI visibility testing, mention tracking, accuracy checks, optimisation actions and the monthly action plan	800 USDT / month

Total (setup): W-01 to W-03, delivered over four months — 3,600 USDT, billed as 1,200 USDT per month across the first three months.

6.6.1This fee proposal is valid for 30 days from the publication date, that is until [date].
6.6.2The total proposal fee and the individual work-package fees exclude VAT.
6.6.3The setup work at W-01 to W-03 is planned as a four-month implementation covering phases P-01 to P-03 under §6.2.
6.6.4The monthly process at W-04 is the ongoing reporting and optimisation service under phase P-04, described at §4. It is invoiced at 800 USDT per month from month 4 onwards, with no fixed end date, for as long as it is engaged. The monthly work carried out in the first three months is covered by the setup fee.
6.6.5PR and media placement budgets and third-party platform fees are out of scope. They are reported separately and submitted for approval before anything is committed.

Exclusion — Not covered by the fees above

Paid PR and media placement budgets
Third-party platform fees, including directory, listing and profile charges
Whitepaper authoring — existing Aerion material is used as the source for derived articles
Any guarantee of placement, ranking or mention in an AI assistant answer

6.7 Open items

Nine items for Aerion to confirm before kickoff. Each one fixes a date, a scope boundary or an approval route. None of them block the start of P-01; the supporting materials behind them are listed at §5.

Ref	Open item	Effect once confirmed
Q-01	Priority target queries	Fixes the query set that the content matrix is built around and that the monthly tests are run against.
Q-02	Confirmation of the TR and EN language scope	This proposal is priced for TR and EN. Confirming that set fixes the content base and the schema configuration; any further language is quoted separately as a follow-up module.
Q-03	Token-calendar dates	Determines when the crypto directory and ICO platform listings are submitted, so that registrations line up with the calendar.
Q-04	PR and media budget approval	Releases the placement plan into execution; placement budgets sit outside this proposal and are reported separately.
Q-05	Named Aerion project owner	Fixes the single point of contact for access, approvals and platform information.
Q-06	Approval turnaround	Confirms the response time the schedule assumes for copy, profile and publication approvals.
Q-07	Monthly process start month	Confirms that the Phase 4 cycle begins in month 2 and sets the reporting date each month.
Q-08	Content volumes per type	Fixes the number of glossary entries, FAQ blocks, comparison pages, positioning explainers and derived articles behind the Phase 3 fee. The content types are set; the counts are agreed with the fee schedule and recorded against the CT register.
Q-09	Term and notice for the monthly process	Sets the minimum term, the notice period and the invoicing date for W-04, which recurs for as long as it is engaged.

Q-01 and Q-02 set the scope of the content engine and the size of the query set that is tested each month.
Q-03 and Q-04 govern the timing of the source and authority work, since listings are synchronised with the token calendar and placements depend on an approved budget.
Q-05 and Q-06 set the coordination terms the schedule assumes.
Q-07 confirms the reporting cycle of the monthly process at W-04, and Q-09 the term on which it runs.
Q-08 converts the content types at §3.6 from categories into counts, which is what the Phase 3 fee is quoted against.