Answer Engine Optimization tldr

Andrew Riker
Aug 23
5 min read

Based on insights from Profound's comprehensive AEO playbook

I've been watching search behavior evolve for years, but nothing prepared me for what I'm seeing now. Nearly 1 in 4 Americans prefer ChatGPT over Google for their searches. As someone who's spent the better part of my career mastering Google's algorithms, I'll admit this shift caught my attention fast.

But here's what really got me excited: this isn't just another marketing trend. This is the biggest shift in how people discover information since Google itself launched. And the brands that figure this out first are going to absolutely dominate.

What Actually is Answer Engine Optimization?

Let me break this down simply. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is about getting your brand to show up as a trusted source when people ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity for recommendations or answers.

Think about it: when someone asks "What's the best CRM for a 50-person sales team?" or "How do I reduce customer churn in SaaS?" you want your brand to be the answer they get, not buried on page 2 of Google results they might never see.

The difference is huge. Traditional search: type keywords, scroll through links. AI search: ask a natural question, get a direct answer with specific recommendations.

Should You Care About This Yet?

Honestly? If you're in tech, finance, SaaS, e-commerce, or really any B2B space, you should already be thinking about this. I'm seeing it everywhere in my client conversations.

Just last month, I've seen multiple reports of B2B companies hearing prospects say things like "ChatGPT recommended you guys" or "I asked Claude about project management tools and you came up." That's not anecdotal anymore, that's a pattern I'm tracking across the industry.

Here's how I evaluate priority for any business:

If 20% or more of your audience uses AI tools regularly, AEO should be a main priority. But even if it's just 5-10%, I recommend starting to lay groundwork now. Why? Because this stuff compounds. The brands building authority in AI answers today will be nearly impossible to displace later.

Why Your Current SEO Strategy Falls Short

I love SEO. I've been doing it for years. But AI doesn't care about your keyword density or whether you used the exact phrase someone typed into Google.

Kevin Lacker from Vercel put it perfectly in the Profound research: "LLMs don't match keywords; they interpret meaning." This changes everything about how we create content.

Real Examples That Work

Let me give you some concrete examples I've seen work:

B2B SaaS Example: Instead of targeting "project management software features," create content around "How do I keep my remote team organized when Slack isn't enough?" That's exactly how someone would ask ChatGPT, and it's specific enough to get a real answer.

B2C E-commerce Example: Rather than "best running shoes," go for "What running shoes should I buy if I overpronate and run mostly on pavement?" Again, natural language that matches how people actually talk to AI.

The content structure matters too. I recommend formatting everything like you're building a FAQ database:

Clear headings that match real questions people ask
One specific answer per section
Lead with the takeaway first, then add context
Use actual lists and tables (in proper HTML, not screenshots)

The Technical Side You Can't Ignore

This is where a lot of people mess up. You can have amazing content, but if AI can't actually read it, you're invisible.

Quick technical checklist for any website:

Make sure GPTBot and other AI crawlers aren't blocked in your robots.txt
Use clean HTML structure (proper H1, H2, H3 tags)
Keep important content in the initial page load, not behind JavaScript
Add FAQ schema markup where it makes sense

I've seen cases where entire product catalogs were loaded via JavaScript. Beautiful for users, invisible to AI. When that gets fixed, AI visibility can jump significantly.

Content That AI Actually Wants to Reference

Here's what I've learned: AI loves to cite original research and data. If you've got customer surveys, usage analytics, or industry benchmarks, use them.

B2B Example: A marketing automation company published "What 500 B2B Email Campaigns Taught Us About Open Rates in 2024." That piece gets cited constantly because the data is unique and actionable.

B2C Example: A fitness brand analyzed workout completion rates across their app and published insights about the most effective routine lengths. Pure gold for AI citations.

I recommend aiming for one major "flagship" piece per quarter. Something substantial that other people want to reference and link to. Then promote it everywhere.

Beyond Your Website: Where AI Really Looks

This was the biggest surprise for me. AI doesn't just crawl your website. It pulls heavily from places like:

Wikipedia (the #1 most cited source in ChatGPT)
G2 (critical for B2B brands, it's the 4th most cited domain)
Reddit (especially for authentic product discussions)
Industry-specific review sites

I've seen B2B companies get featured in Gartner reports, and that single mention drives more AI visibility than months of blog posts. Now I help businesses think strategically about where they can get mentioned beyond their own site.

Practical tactics that work:

Encourage detailed customer reviews on G2, Capterra, or industry platforms
Participate genuinely in relevant Reddit discussions (not spam, actual help)
Pitch your research to industry publications that might reference it
Get your team quoted in articles and podcasts

How I Track AEO Success

Forget keyword rankings. Here are the metrics I actually watch:

Visibility Score: What percentage of AI responses mention your brand when prompted with relevant questions? This is your north star.

Attribution Changes: I have clients add "AI Assistant" as an option in their "How did you hear about us?" forms. The growth here has been wild, up 5x since early 2025.

AI Referral Traffic: Set up custom segments to track visits from Perplexity, Bing Chat, and other AI platforms.

I run monthly "prompt audits" for clients. We test 25-50 questions their ideal customer might ask and track how often they appear vs. competitors.

The Monitoring Reality

Here's the thing about AEO that's different from SEO: AI platforms change fast. Like, really fast. New models, algorithm updates, feature changes happen monthly.

I learned this reality check when I saw a company drop from appearing in 60% of relevant ChatGPT responses to 15% overnight after a model update. Now I monitor constantly and recommend setting up alerts for major changes.

My monitoring routine:

Monthly visibility audits using core customer questions
Weekly check-ins on competitor mentions
Immediate testing after any major AI platform updates
Quarterly strategy reviews based on what's working

Why I'm Betting Big on This

Look, I could keep optimizing for Google forever. But I'm seeing the future, and it's conversational AI. The companies investing in AEO now are seeing compound returns.

One B2B SaaS company I've been following started showing up in ChatGPT answers six months ago. Their "AI-driven" lead quality is reportedly higher than any other channel. These prospects come in pre-educated and ready to buy because they got a targeted recommendation, not a generic search result.

Another e-commerce company focused on appearing in AI shopping recommendations has seen their average order value from AI referrals come in 40% higher than Google traffic.

Your Starting Point

If you're convinced (and you should be), here's how I recommend getting started:

Test your current visibility: Ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity questions your customers would ask. How often do you appear?
Audit your best content: Can AI actually read it? Is it structured as clear Q&A? Does it lead with direct answers?
Map your conversation volume: Use tools like Profound's Conversation Explorer to see how often people ask AI about your space.
Start building external authority: Get on the platforms AI trusts. Contribute