SEO vs. AI Search: Same Internet, Different Game.
SEO chases rankings on a list. AEO (Answer-Engine Optimization) earns you a citation in the answer. As Google rolls out AI Mode and expands AI Overviews, and ChatGPT continues to dominate conversation, search is shifting to answer-first experiences where visibility belongs to whoever gets named, not just listed.
Why this rant, why now?
I’m a creature of habit, so when I make a change, it’s seismic. Somewhere along the way, I stopped Googling and started living on AI summaries. I can’t pinpoint the flip, but it felt organic.
The marketer in me wanted to dig further, and I quickly realized this is the largest redistribution of digital traffic in internet history. Research projects that AI search visitors will overtake traditional search by 2028.
Discovery has shifted from “type keywords, click around” to “state the problem, get a referenced solution,” often without leaving the results page. Being the answer is the new strategy.
The one-liner difference (print this)
SEO = “Put me on the list.”
AEO = “Say my name in the answer.”
“Isn’t AI Search just SEO with a new hat?”
No. Good SEO foundations still matter, but AI Search adds different gates and goals:
Access first: If GPTBot or Gemini/Googlebot can’t fetch and render the page (403/429, login walls, heavy JS), you don’t exist to AI—full stop. OpenAI documents GPTBot’s user-agent and robots controls; Perplexity documents PerplexityBot and its robots.txt behaviour. Use them.
Structure for reuse: Models love short answers, FAQ/Q&A blocks, spec tables, and clean schema. They’re not “reading”; they’re extracting. Google’s guidance for AI features points in the same direction: make it easy to understand and support with sources.
Trust signals that get you quoted: Sources, last-updated dates, author bylines, and hard facts (specs/pricing). These cut misattribution and make it safer for models to cite you as AI Overviews/Mode evolve.. Google for Developers
A quick example
SEO version: “The Ultimate Guide to Electric SUVs” (3,000 words, gorgeous hero, inspirational fluff).
AI Search version: “Electric SUV FAQ” with a five-question Q&A, a spec table (range, charging, rebates), source links, last updated date, and FAQ/Article schema—aka instant quote-ready chunks.
What to keep from SEO (don’t throw the baby out with the backlinks)
Clear information architecture (humans and bots still need it)
Speed and renderability (especially for bot user-agents)
Topical authority (clusters still help models trust you)
Real expertise & sourcing (E-E-A-T isn’t dead; it’s just… growing up)
Objection handling (for your execs and the SEO purists)
“We already rank #1.”
Cute. AI answers don’t care about your blue ribbon. If the model doesn’t name you, users won’t either.“We’ll wait for Google.”
Meanwhile, customers are asking ChatGPT. Also: AI Mode is not a rumor.“Backlinks are the game.”
Backlinks help, but extractable structure is what gets you quoted. Links get you invited; structure gets you introduced.“Can you guarantee a citation?”
We can guarantee access, structure, and signals—and we can measure the impact. That’s the grown-up answer.
Final word
Position #1 is cute. Being cited is revenue. Build quote-ready pages and ride the wave of this shift in online discovery.