Have you noticed fewer clicks from search lately? That’s not your imagination. AI chat interfaces are designed to answer questions for users. And that’s changing everything.

AEO is the real game changer. Why GEO alone won’t cut it

What’s AEO?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It overlaps with GEO but shifts the focus. Instead of boosting rankings, you optimise content for AI-generated responses. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude. They all serve answers to online searches, aka the public. And users often don’t click further.

https://www.businessinsider.com/seo-aeo-ai-chatbots-search-startups-chatgpt-openai-google-2025-5

Traditional SEO helped pages rank. AEO aims for visibility inside the AI output box. When someone asks AI a question, you want your content featured.

Answer Engine Optimisation, sometimes overlapping with GEO, is reshaping online visibility. Business Insider reports that AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) now answer questions conversationally, bypassing traditional search pages. Instead of targeting single keywords, marketers must craft content that addresses clusters of related questions. New startups are racing to provide tools that track and optimise for AI output. Even smaller brands can surface in answers due to the variable nature of generative AI responses. AEO growth signals a change in how we measure content success.

Moving forward, your content must speak directly to AI engines.

  • Answer clusters of questions, not single keywords
  • Use FAQ sections and schema markup
  • Structure pages so AI can parse them
  • Keep language clear, timely and relevant

Why does it matter?

  • AI summaries a top search pages reduce traffic. For how long until this is changed by Google, who knows?
  • 80% of people say 40% of searches don’t lead to clicks.
  • Brands that adapt early see AI visits rise faster than traditional referrals.

AEO vs GEO

  • GEO is about being cited in AI outputs.
  • AEO addresses question clusters, structured for conversational answers.
  • Both need clean formatting and schema markup.

How to optimise for AEO/GEO?

  1. Answer clusters, not single queries
    • Cover variations, e.g. “best project management tool for remote teams”, “tools supporting API integration”. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-has-upended-the-search-game-marketers-are-scrambling-to-catch-up-84264b34?
  2. Structure content clearly
    • Use headings that match questions.
    • Bullet lists, FAQ sections, schema.
  3. Improve technical performance
    • Fast loading is favoured by AI crawlers.
    • Use clean HTML and metadata.
  4. Use a conversational tone
    • AI chats prefer everyday language over jargon.
  5. Track AEO visibility
    • Look into AI analytics.
    • See if pages appear in AI answers.

Real-life examples

Real-life examples

  • Mailchimp restructured content and improved site speed. It helped bot visibility
  • A small business used FAQ schema and saw queries answered directly by AI, even without high search rankings.

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