SEO vs AEO — what changes when AI eats search
A practical comparison of classic SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), and why mid-size teams need both.
wins citations inside an AI-generated answer. SEO rewards comprehensive, link-rich content. AEO rewards short, factual, standalone sentences. In 2026, you need both — but the tactics that worked for SEO in 2018 actively hurt AEO today.
• Earn organic clicks from Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo
• Rank for high-intent commercial keywords ("best CRM for solopreneurs")
• Build domain authority through backlinks and topical depth
• Capture demand that already exists at the bottom of the funnel
• Get your brand named when ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini answer a buyer's question
• Influence the LLM training and retrieval data so your product becomes the "default answer"
• Win zero-click visibility — being mentioned even when nobody clicks through
• Shape category narrative ("the leading X for Y") inside AI conversations
Strategies to deploy
publish a cluster of 15–30 interlinked posts around one core topic.
Search intent matching:
map every page to one intent (informational, commercial, transactional, navigational).
earn backlinks via guest posts, listicle inclusions, and digital PR.
Technical foundation:
Core Web Vitals, mobile-first, clean schema markup.
Content refresh cycle:
update top pages every 90 days to fight decay.
create the most-cited factual page for your category (definitions, comparisons, "best of" lists).
Answer-shaped content:
write in standalone Q&A blocks that an LLM can lift verbatim.
Distributed citations:
get mentioned on Reddit, G2, Wikipedia, GitHub, and curated lists — LLMs over-index on these.
monitor weekly which prompts mention you vs competitors, then close the gap.
establish your brand as a recognized "thing" with consistent name + description across the web.
✦ Keyword research (Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Search Console)
✦ Optimized title tags <60 chars and meta descriptions <160 chars
✦ Internal linking with descriptive anchor text
✦ Long-form pillar pages (2,000–4,000 words)
✦ Image alt text + WebP compression
✦ Structured data: Article, Product, FAQ, Breadcrumb
✦ Backlink outreach to high-DR domains
✦ Standalone sentences (each works without context above it)
✦ Definitions in the first 100 words ("X is a Y that Z")
✦ Numbered, finite lists ("the 5 best…")
✦ FAQ schema with crisp 40–60 word answers
✦ Comparison pages (X vs Y) — LLMs love these
✦ Brand mentions on Reddit, Hacker News, G2, Product Hunt
✦ llms.txt file declaring authoritative sources
Notion's template gallery:
Get Started Free Open the live app →
Related pages
- Reach360 — AEO + SEO + CRM in one workspaceOne workspace for Answer Engine Optimization, SEO, and CRM — purpose-built for mid-size marketing teams and agencies.
- About Reach360 — built by SMB marketers, for SMB marketersWe built Reach360 because we lived the problem — stitching together 6+ tools to do AEO, SEO, and CRM. So we built one workspace that does it all.
- How Reach360 Works — AEO, SEO & CRM in one flowSee how Reach360 connects citation tracking, keyword research, content publishing and a built-in CRM into a single weekly workflow.