AEO vs SEO: Optimising for Answers, Not Just Rankings

Anyone working in digital marketing in this AI age can agree, traditional search is so yesterday. 

With millions worldwide relying on AI platforms (ChatGPT, Google’s SGE, Perplexity, etc.) and voice-activated assistants (like Alexa or Siri) for faster, simpler, more personalised answers to questions, AI summaries, voice responses and zero-click results dominate.

Before, if you researched anything online you got a list of websites and forums to click to. Now, you’ll get a neatly packaged answer, complete with additional tips you may not have known you needed, all in seconds.  

Since we’re no longer hunting for answers to our everyday questions via clicks, Google is no longer just a search engine. It’s an answer engine. 

What does this mean for digital marketers, web developers and business owners? 

Basically, for digital visibility, we must say “cheers” to clicks, and “hello” to content that truly answers queries.

Let’s be clear: While these changes to search are all about helping the human user, to do so we must optimise for the machines that are their assistants. There’s no getting around it. Our content can’t just rank well. It must offer direct answers that are easily accessible to the AI crawlers that are providing users with fast answers. 

In an earlier blog, we outlined how GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) can help achieve this. Here, we’ll look into another way to do this: AEO – Answer Engine Optimisation. 

In brief, AEO is an adaptive optimisation technique that responds to the way AI scans for answers, summarises results and offers a truly helpful answer in seconds. It’s the process of making your content likely to be selected by ‘answer engines’ so that you become a trusted information source.

The reality is clear: businesses that adapt to this shift will thrive, while those clinging to outdated SEO-only strategies risk becoming invisible in an AI-dominated search landscape. The question isn’t whether to embrace this change. It’s how quickly you can integrate Answer Engine Optimisation into your digital strategy.

In this article, we’ll explore what AEO is, how it differs from traditional SEO, and provide you with a practical 5-step framework to seamlessly blend both approaches for maximum digital visibility in 2025 and beyond.

What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?

In the fast-evolving optimisation world, AEO is another acronym to get familiar with in 2025. 

As we outlined in our article on SXO – Search Experience Optimisation, we now need to offer an outstanding user experience alongside traditional SEO. We need to consider relevance, context and user satisfaction more. 

So in addition to SEO and SXO, we must incorporate The Next Step: AEO. 

AEO integrates advanced AI algorithms and technologies such as machine learning, deep learning and NLP (natural language processing) to improve the overall relevance of websites and content.

It’s about using AI to predict the intention behind the user’s search and offer a contextualised, personalised answer in real time. More than just predicting intent, AEO is about making your content highly accessible and ready to be included in featured snippets, voice search results, AI overviews and chatbots, and other zero-click results. 

There’s also an element of prediction within AI that anticipates what a user may really need, related to but beyond what they’ve actually searched for. Based on the user’s past online behaviour and preferences, AI can offer useful, specific, tailored content in real time. 

AEO is adaptive. It responds to this more intuitive approach to search by understanding the intent and context behind queries and offering results that are more personalised and on-point.  

Understanding Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)

Think of AEO and GEO as two ways to make your content AI-friendly. AEO is about creating content that gives the quick, clear answers that voice assistants and chatbots love. GEO takes it further by optimising for AI tools like Google’s AI Overview or Perplexity, which don’t just find answers but actually write new responses using info from multiple sources.

To do this well, you need quality content that sounds natural, answers what people are really asking and shows you know what you’re talking about.

The Case for a Hybrid Approach to Optimisation

Going forward, SEO, GEO and AEO will impact search rankings. So while AEO isn’t replacing SEO, it’s certainly building on the foundation it provides. 

According to 2025 SEO statistics, 52% of sources cited in Google AI Overviews rank in the top 10 results, proving that authoritative SEO-optimised pages remain the basis for AI-generated answers. This statistic underscores SEO’s continued relevance as it enables search engines to drive organic traffic to websites, remaining the primary driver of website discovery and engagement.

SEO also plays a key role in capturing diverse traffic sources that AEO might miss, such as research-oriented users wanting in-depth information or shoppers evaluating multiple options.

So you’ll still need SEO for organic traffic, building credibility and converting users. But you should incorporate AEO to anticipate what users want even before they have articulated it.

It’s not an either/or, it’s a both/and. To stay truly competitive, go hybrid. Pages optimised with both strategies see 14% higher click-through rates than those relying on SEO alone.

• For AEO = think concise, structured content
• For SEO = think long-form content with long-tail keywords

Combine AEO and SEO in a dual strategy to maximise user engagement and brand visibility across platforms. 

AEO vs SEO: What’s the Difference?

SEO and AEO differ in terms of:

• goals
• user targeting
• content focus and exposure
• KPIs
• optimisation techniques 

The goal of SEO = drive organic traffic and rank highly in traditional search; generate leads through website visits. 

How? Through on-page structure, metadata, page speeds, backlinks and keyword optimisation.  

The goal of AEO = help AI to understand the context, meaning and user intent behind words, so that it can deliver the right answers to questions with zero clicks. AEO focuses on delivering these short, direct answers that are picked up by AI assistants and voice searches to build brand trust.

How? Offer short, direct answers that are picked up by AI assistants and voice search; build brand trust through relevant answers. 

In short, with AEO the focus is on: 

• Structured data
• Schema markup
• Natural language for conversational search
• Question-focused content
• Short, reliable answers to queries

Key Differences Between SEO and AEO

A 5-Step Approach to Integrating with SEO+AEO

According to marketing expert Eric Siu, founder of Single Grain, there are 5 steps marketers who are new to using a dual approach should start with: 

STEP 1: Assess Your Current Content for AEO Opportunities 

Audit your web pages to see where more answers can be included, thus complementing your current SEO strategies. 

Ask yourself: 

• Which of your pages have the highest traffic and engagement?
• What search queries drive traffic to those pages?
• Which of these queries have an intent that holds the potential to be included in a snippet?
• Which pages hold the highest answer opportunities?

STEP 2: Restructure Your Content Smartly

For dual optimisation, your content should appeal to both those wanting to explore topics deeper as well as those seeking fast answers. 

To the pages identified in Step 1, you should: 

• Answer the main question upfront in brief (no more than 60 words).
• Keep comprehensive, SEO-optimised content that explains the answer further below.
• Add FAQ schema markup for additional, related questions.
• Incorporate common questions into the subheadings.
• Format in a way that is both voice- and mobile-friendly.

STEP 3: Design a Strategic Content Process for Answer Engine Visibility

To increase your chances of being discovered, create a plan for fresh AEO-optimised content. 

• Find questions in your field that aren’t adequately answered online.
• Create content that answers these questions in a credible way with quotes, statistics, citations and sources included.
• Ensure your web pages are structured and formatted in a way that’s easy for human readers to read.
• On the back end, add structured data or schema markup to your webpage to label and organise the content so that search engines and AI tools can easily know what each part means.
• Add speakable schema for voice search results.

STEP 4: Cover Important Technical Elements

An integrated SEO and AEO approach requires these fundamentals: 

• Optimised Core Web Vitals
• Checking your pages’ voice-search readiness
• Checking page speeds for both desktop and mobile
• Testing your structured data
• Implementing schema markup (e.g. How T, Q&A, FAQ)

STEP 5: Test and Refine

Find ways to measure the performance of these pages, such as: 

• Compare the click-through and conversion metrics of your AEO-optimised pages against others that aren’t
• Use Google Search Console to track your voice search impressions
• Keep track of if you appear in featured snippets

Essential Elements for Combining SEO and AEO

Before AEO optimisation, ensure these SEO best practices are solid:

• Schema markup – your basic structured data foundation
• Internal linking – connect related content strategically
• Keyword-rich content – target your core search terms
• Solid website architecture – fast, mobile-friendly and crawlable

To get picked up by AI overviews and voice assistants, layer on these AEO elements:

• Clear, FAQ-style subheadings – frame content as questions people actually ask
• Concise answers upfront – lead with direct responses (under 60 words)
• Enhanced schema markup – go beyond basics with specialised types
• Structured answer formats – use lists, numbered steps and answer boxes
• Conversational clarity – choose simple language over technical jargon

Putting It Into Practice: Real-World AEO Examples

Use Q&A formats: Incorporate questions people actually ask about your product, topic or service into headings. Then answer them clearly and succinctly. 

EXAMPLE: If you’re offering beauty services, you might create a blog titled: “What causes dull skin?” Answer the question in one short paragraph, and it’s more likely to be parsed and pulled by the machines we must now keep in mind.

Make the context of your content clear: Use structured data (How-Tos, FAQ, etc.) so that the answer engines can easily tell what you’re offering. Use Product/Review schema for e-commerce, FAQPage for Q&A content, HowTo for tutorials, LocalBusiness for location-based services and Speakable schema specifically for voice search optimisation. Always validate your markup using Google’s Rich Results Test.

EXAMPLE: For product schema, add structured data that clearly defines your product’s key attributes (name, description, brand, image, price, availability and reviews) so answer engines can easily identify and display this information as rich snippets in search results.

Write like people speak: Since people are asking questions now, rather than typing in keywords, make sure your content responds to this change. 

EXAMPLE: Instead of targeting the stiff keyword, “DIY kitchen backsplash installation guide 2025”, optimise for conversational, natural language with: “How do I install a kitchen backsplash myself?”

Update your content for credibility: Recent, reliable sources are what people (and AI crawlers) want, so update your content and add authority signals like quotes, citations and backed-up statistics.

EXAMPLE: A health blog updates an article on managing anxiety by adding recent statistics from the World Health Organization, expert quotes from licensed psychologists, and citations from peer-reviewed journals to reinforce credibility and meet AI crawler expectations.

Go beyond Google: Yes, Google still plays a major role, but AI-powered tools (think ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, Perplexity and niche-specific AI assistants) are rapidly gaining traction. All of these rely heavily on credible sources for accurate answers.

EXAMPLE: A cybersecurity blog features insights from certified industry professionals and references recent reports from leading security firms, boosting its authority and trustworthiness.

Final Thoughts

As AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s SGE reshape the search landscape, it’s clear we’re moving beyond traditional SEO. 

AEO is becoming essential as a powerful extension of your digital marketing strategies. While SEO ensures your content remains visible in organic search results, AEO helps deliver precise answers that are directly displayed at the top, where today’s search engine users are looking. Using AEO alongside traditional SEO ensures your content is not only visible but also capable of delivering precise answers where users expect them most.

By combining AEO and SEO in a thoughtful, hybrid strategy, you’ll not only adapt to changing search behaviours, you’ll stay ahead of them.

Need help optimising for search relevance in the age of AI and SXO? Contact us to learn more about our Digital Marketing and Digital Strategy solutions.

Did you learn something from this blog? Take a look at some of our others, including “SXO vs SEO: Why Search Experience Optimisation Is the Future” and “The Future of AI Search: GEO Trends and What’s Next”

Coming Next: 

Part 4: “What Is Google SGE and How Will It Change SEO Forever?”

FAQs

What is the difference between AEO and SEO?

AEO focuses on providing direct, concise answers for voice assistants and AI tools, while SEO aims to drive organic traffic through rankings on traditional search engine results pages.

Why does AEO matter in 2025?

Because AI-powered answer engines like Google’s SGE and ChatGPT now dominate, AEO is becoming essential for digital visibility in voice search and zero-click results.

Can I use AEO and SEO together?

Absolutely. Combining AEO and SEO helps search engines understand your content and improves your visibility on search engines and answer platforms.

Does AEO replace traditional SEO?

Not at all. AEO builds on traditional SEO effectiveness. SEO ensures your content ranks; AEO ensures it’s selected to answer directly in AI-driven formats.

How can I make my content more AEO-friendly?

Use structured data, schema markup and conversational language to provide concise and clear answers that match how people using voice assistants ask questions.

Article by

Deidre Donnelly

Deidre has been an editor and writer for some 20 years. Notably, she worked her way up from copy editor to senior features writer/books editor at O, The Oprah Magazine (South Africa). She was also a regular contributor to ShortList Dubai magazine, and has provided editorial and content marketing services for a variety of brands including Oxford University Press, Think With Google (MENA), and tourism authorities such as Visit Abu Dhabi and Vietnam.Travel.