AEO is not replacing SEO — it’s evolving it
What exactly is AEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization — the process of optimizing your website’s content so it can be accurately understood and surfaced by AI-driven platforms and large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
In simpler terms, AEO ensures your business appears in AI-generated search results when users ask questions on these emerging platforms. As Artificial Intelligence search continues to grow, integrating AEO into your existing SEO strategy is essential. Both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) work hand in hand — while AI tools are changing how people find information, traditional search engines like Google remain a major source of discovery. A balanced approach ensures your brand stays visible across both.
Above you will see Jacobs Transport appear in a ChatGPT search result, is one of our clients who we have started implementing AEO into our SEO strategy.
Why AEO Matters?
AEO is all about optimizing your content so AI engines understand and trust it enough to include it in their answers.
With hundreds of millions of weekly active users and billions of daily prompts, AI platforms are rapidly becoming a key frontier in brand discovery and customer engagement.
When potential clients ask AI platforms for solutions, those tools pull information from trusted sources to generate accurate responses — and that’s where your business needs to appear. You want your brand to be among the trusted results these systems recommend.
Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini don’t just read your website’s content — they also analyze your structured data (schema), web authority, and overall credibility across the internet to determine whether your content best matches a user’s search intent. The more optimized and trustworthy your content is, the more likely AI search engines are to feature your business in their answers.
Over 40% of users now ask AI tools for answers before turning to Google.
If your brand isn’t optimized for AI visibility, your competitors might be the ones appearing as the ‘source’ in ChatGPT or Gemini responses.
Why do SEO and AEO belong together?
While Google still handles around 14 billion searches per day, AI tools like ChatGPT are processing over 1 billion queries daily, showing the scale of conversational search behavior.”
SEO = visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
AEO = visibility in AI-generated answers.
Both depend on trust, structure, and clarity of content.
SEO → Semantic SEO → AEO
How can businesses optimize for AI search?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) focuses on helping AI systems understand, trust, and recommend your content. These strategies bridge traditional SEO with the new world of AI-driven search.
1. Build Entity-Based Content
Instead of just targeting keywords, think about entities — people, brands, tools, places, and topics that have defined relationships.
Define who or what each page is about.
Use clear, factual information that establishes your business as a known entity.
Example: “Neil Patel → Digital Marketer → Co-founder of NP Digital → Author.”
Why it matters: LLMs like ChatGPT rely heavily on entity relationships to generate answers and determine authority.
2. Strengthen Topical Authority
Search engines and AI systems both prioritize expertise and consistency.
Create topic clusters: one main pillar page (e.g., ‘AEO Guide’) and multiple supporting articles.
Interlink these pages internally to signal depth of knowledge.
Update older posts with new data or examples.
Why it matters: Consistent, in-depth content tells AI models that your site is a trusted source on your niche topic.
3. Use Conversational, Natural Language
AI models favor natural language that mirrors human questions and answers.
Use subheadings phrased as questions (e.g., “How does AEO improve SEO?”).
Write like you’re answering a client’s question directly.
Include long-tail keywords and phrases people would type or say.
Why it matters: LLMs look for content that feels human, helpful, and contextually relevant to the searcher’s intent.
4. Implement FAQ Schema
FAQ schema is a goldmine for AEO.
Add a short FAQ section at the end of your post.
Answer questions users would ask AI platforms (e.g., “What is AEO?”, “Is AEO replacing SEO?”).
Use structured data markup to help AI engines detect these answers quickly.
Why it matters: AI models often pull content from FAQ-rich sources because they’re structured for clarity and direct answers.
5. Optimize for E-E-A-T
(Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.)
Add author bios with credentials.
Cite data, studies, and real examples.
Include testimonials or case studies that demonstrate experience.
Why it matters: LLMs use web signals of credibility — including your author information and reputation — to rank your trust level.
6. Use Structured Data & Schema Markup
Apply schema types like Article, FAQ, Organization, and Person.
Clearly define your business name, logo, contact info, and social profiles.
Use tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper or Schema.org for reference.
Why it matters: Schema gives AI engines machine-readable context, helping them “understand” your business and content connections faster.
7. Make Content Machine-Readable
Use proper heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3).
Avoid long paragraphs; use lists, tables, and bullet points.
Include short summaries or “Key Takeaways” boxes in longer articles.
Why it matters: AI engines prefer structured, scannable content — just like Google’s featured snippets.
8. Get High-Quality Mentions & Backlinks
Earn mentions from authoritative websites, podcasts, and media features.
Guest post or collaborate with other experts in your field.
Build partnerships that result in brand name citations online.
Why it matters: LLMs weigh how often your brand or name appears across credible web sources. Authority online equals visibility in AI answers.
The Future of AEO and SEO
AEO is shaping the future of marketing and brand discoverability as more people us LLM’s as search engines.
ChatGPT processes over 2.5 billion user prompts per day.
Perplexity AI was reported to handle 30 million queries per day
SEO is evolving into AEO — not replacing it.
LLMs haven’t replaced traditional search engines like Google, and they won’t for quite some time. We’re currently in a long crossover period where users rely on both — turning to Google for discovery and AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini for deeper, conversational insights.
That’s why the principles of SEO remain just as important as ever. Optimizing your site for search engines ensures visibility, while incorporating AEO prepares your brand for the future of AI-driven discovery. In my opinion, integrating AEO into your current SEO strategy is no longer optional — it’s essential.
My personal prediction? Eventually, we’ll see monetization within AI search results — similar to how Google sells ad placements. Businesses may need to pay for premium visibility or sponsored inclusion within LLM-generated answers. The shift is coming — the smart move is to build your foundation now.
To us AEO is non negotiable, you have to have it as part of your SEO strategy!
IMPROVE YOUR SEO AND AEO AND GET DISCOVERED!
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