Search has changed more in the past 18 months than it did in the previous decade. Google now answers questions directly in search results before anyone clicks a link. ChatGPT handles over 2.5 billion prompts a day. Perplexity has built a business on giving sourced answers without making users visit a website.
If you rely on your website to generate leads or customers, that matters. A lot.
This guide explains what AEO and GEO actually are, how they differ from traditional SEO, and — most importantly — what a small or mid-sized business should actually do about it right now.
What Is SEO?
Search engine optimization is the practice of making your website rank higher in traditional search engine results like Google. When someone searches “how to fix a leaky faucet” or “best plumber in Lafayette,” SEO determines whether your website shows up in those results.
SEO works through three main levers:
- Technical health (can search engines crawl and understand your site?)
- On-page content (does your content match what people are searching for?)
- Authority (do other reputable sites link to and mention yours?)
No matter what the current AI trends are, SEO is still the foundation of digital visibility. It drives the majority of organic traffic for most businesses and it’s not going anywhere. But it is safe to say that it’s no longer the entire picture (even if it is like, 90% of the picture).
If you want a deeper look at how we approach SEO for small and mid-sized businesses, here’s how our SEO service works.
What Is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of making your brand discoverable, cited, and surfaced across AI-powered platforms. That includes Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and any other system that synthesizes answers rather than returning a plain list of links.
Like SEO, AEO isn’t just about content structure; it covers three similar areas:
- Technical health (is your site accessible to AI crawlers?)
- On-page content (does your content address the questions AI is trying to answer?)
- Brand citation consistency (is your business information accurate and consistent across platforms AI pulls from?)
When someone asks Google a question and sees an AI Overview at the top of the page — a synthesized paragraph that answers the question directly — that’s AEO in action. When ChatGPT recommends specific vendors or services in response to a business question, that’s AEO territory too.
The goal of AEO isn’t always the click, but being the source that AI recommends. For informational queries for example (which account for around 53% of total web searches), it’s about getting your brand in front of people who didn’t realize they needed you yet, so you stay top of mind when they’re ready to buy.
How AEO differs from traditional SEO
With SEO, you’re competing for ranking #1, #2, or #3 in a list of ten blue links or rich results like snippets or map packs. With AEO, there often isn’t a list; there’s one synthesized answer, potentially citing three to eight sources. You’re either in that answer or you’re not.
But it’s important to note that AEO and SEO are not competing strategies. Strong SEO is the foundation that makes AEO possible, because AI systems tend to pull from pages that already rank well. You can’t completely skip SEO and succeed at AEO.
What Is GEO?
You’ll also see the term Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) used to describe essentially the same discipline. Some practitioners use AEO and GEO interchangeably. Others draw a distinction where AEO focuses on structured content for direct answers and GEO focuses on broader brand visibility across LLMs.
The terminology is still settling across the industry, but for practical purposes, they’re describing the same thing. We use AEO as the umbrella term to keep things easy.
Why This Matters Right Now (And What the Hype Gets Wrong)
Before we get into tactics, it’s worth separating signal from noise — because there’s a lot of noise right now.
LLMs account for about 0.15%-1.5% of referral traffic going to most websites, including from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. On top of that, recent Semrush clickstream data found that as of early 2026, only 34.5% of ChatGPT queries even use live web search. The rest are answered from training data with a cutoff of mid-2024. And over 21% of ChatGPT’s outbound traffic goes straight to Google.
TL;DR version: The platforms supposedly replacing Google are sending a fifth of their users right back to Google, rather than to independent websites.
That said, Google AI Overviews are the more pressing issue for most businesses right now. They now appear in roughly 21% of all Google searches, and they show up at the top of results pages for the kinds of informational queries that used to drive clicks to your blog content. When an AI Overview answers the question directly, many users don’t click at all.
Here’s what that means practically:
- Google AI Overviews are affecting click-through rates on searches your potential customers are doing today.
- ChatGPT (and other AI) referral traffic is small now, but may matter more in a few years.
- The businesses building strong content foundations now will be better positioned for both — because the same work that earns Google AI Overview citations also earns traditional rankings.
That’s the lens to use when evaluating whether AEO is worth your time. Not whether you should chase traffic from ChatGPT, but is your website in a position to be cited by AI in general.
The good news for small to medium-sized businesses: AI overviews show up at a far lower frequency in local searches. That means if you serve a certain location (hello Lafayette neighbors!) focusing on local SEO can create more traction for your business than AEO will.
Check Out Our Local SEO Service
What Does AEO Actually Require?
Most of what works for AEO builds directly on solid SEO fundamentals. Here’s what it actually requires:
- Clear, direct answers to specific questions. AI systems favor content that gets to the point. If someone asks “how long does SEO take to work,” your content should answer that question directly and concisely — ideally in the first paragraph of a section, before expanding into context and nuance. Don’t bury the answer.
- Content that’s easy to parse. Use clear headings that match the questions your audience is asking, and things like FAQ sections, bulleted lists, and tables. The goal is content that AI models can extract a discrete, accurate answer from — not content that requires reading three paragraphs to get to the point.
- Schema markup. Also known as structured data, schema helps AI understand your website and what your business offers — particularly FAQ, how-to, product, and organization schema. It’s not a magic bullet, but it’s a meaningful signal (and also good for SEO).
- Topical authority, not just keyword targeting. AI systems evaluate whether a site is a credible source on a topic before citing it, regardless of the keywords being targeted. A single blog post usually won’t do it, either. A cluster of well-linked, well-structured posts that comprehensively cover a topic signals genuine expertise.
- A trustworthy brand presence. AI models pull from across the web — your website, third-party mentions, review sites, social profiles, and local business listings. Inconsistency, thin content, negative reviews, or a weak off-site presence hurts your chances of being cited.
AEO vs. SEO: Which Should Businesses Focus On?
For most small and mid-sized businesses, the answer is: SEO first, AEO as an integrated layer on top.
Here’s why. If your SEO fundamentals are weak — thin content, technical issues, no real authority signals — AEO won’t save you. AI systems largely pull from pages that already perform well in traditional search, so fixing your SEO foundation also helps your AEO.
The businesses that should be actively investing in AEO right now are those that:
- Already have solid SEO fundamentals and are looking for the next edge
- Compete in industries where AI Overviews are capturing a significant share of informational queries (like healthcare, legal, financial services, and home services)
- Are trying to build brand authority in a competitive market where being cited as an expert can have long-term value
- Have the content infrastructure to publish consistently and build topical clusters
The businesses that should focus on SEO first are those that:
- Are still building basic organic visibility and aren’t ranking for their core commercial keywords yet
- Have significant technical SEO issues that need addressed
- Don’t have a content strategy that covers the topics their customers are searching
If you’re not sure which camp you’re in, the answer is almost always SEO first — and for businesses serving a local or regional market, local SEO is typically the fastest path to qualified leads.
The good news is that every dollar you invest in strong SEO content and technical health also moves the needle on AEO.
What We Do for Clients
We work with businesses that want to build durable organic visibility; the kind that doesn’t evaporate when an algorithm changes or a paid ads budget gets cut.
In practice, that means building an SEO foundation that’s also AEO-ready: content structured to answer specific questions, FAQ sections with proper schema markup, internal linking that signals topical depth, and consistent publishing that builds authority over time.
For clients with strong existing SEO, we layer in dedicated AEO work:
- Auditing which queries are triggering AI Overviews
- Identifying where they’re being cited or missing entirely
- Restructuring content to improve visibility in AI-generated answers
If you’re not sure which way to go, reach out and we’ll walk you through what it would mean for your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of making your brand discoverable, cited, and surfaced across AI-powered platforms — including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO optimizes your content to rank in traditional search results, also known as blue links, as well as rich results like featured snippets or local map packs.
AEO optimizes your brand to be cited and surfaced by AI answer engines, whether it’s an AI overview or an LLM like ChatGPT.
However, they’re not competing strategies; strong SEO is the foundation that makes AEO possible.
What is GEO vs. AEO?
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) are often used interchangeably — they describe the same goal of making your brand visible in AI-generated answers.
Some practitioners draw a distinction where AEO focuses on structured content for direct answers and GEO focuses on broader brand authority across LLMs, but for practical purposes they refer to the same thing.
Do I need to do AEO if I’m already doing SEO?
Not necessarily right away. If your SEO fundamentals are solid — good content, technical health, real authority signals — a significant portion of your AEO foundation is already in place. AI systems tend to pull from pages that already perform well in traditional search.
AEO becomes a priority when you’re ready to optimize specifically for AI-generated answers and build the content structure that earns citations.
How do I optimize for Google AI Overviews?
Structure your content to answer specific questions directly and concisely — ideally in the opening of each section before expanding. Using clear headings, FAQ sections, bullet points, and tables can help. Also focus on topical depth through a cluster of well-linked pages and posts, and maintain a consistent, trustworthy brand presence across your website and third-party sources.
How do I rank in ChatGPT or other LLMs?
AI models like ChatGPT pull from sources they’ve determined to be authoritative and credible on a topic. Building visibility in AI search requires consistent publishing of well-structured, accurate content, earning mentions on reputable third-party sites, maintaining accurate business information across the web, and building topical authority — not just targeting individual keywords.
Is AEO worth it for small businesses?
It depends on where you are in your SEO journey. For businesses still building basic organic visibility, SEO fundamentals are the priority, but the work you do there also builds your AEO foundation.
For businesses with solid SEO that want the next edge, AEO is increasingly worth investing in, particularly in industries where AI Overviews are already capturing a significant share of informational search queries.
And if you’re a service-based business or have a physical storefront, local SEO is important as well (and local searches are less likely to be taken over by AI overviews).
Will AI search replace Google?
Unlikely in the near term, but AI is meaningfully changing how people interact with search: Google AI Overviews now appear in roughly 21% of searches.
However, AI referral traffic is still under 2% of total web traffic for most sites, although it’s growing and converts at a higher rate than traditional organic search in some industries.