What is AEO? A Deep Dive into Answer Engine Optimization

The ground beneath the world of digital marketing is shifting. For years, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been the undisputed king of organic visibility. But as generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews become the first point of contact for millions of users, a new discipline is emerging: Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

At a recent BrightonSEO conference, Josh Blyskal, AI Search Strategist at Profound, delivered a groundbreaking presentation based on an analysis of over 41 million AI search results (a significant update from the 10 million in the talk's title). His findings reveal a startling disconnect between traditional search and AI search, offering a crucial playbook for marketers who want to stay ahead.

This isn't just a new name for SEO. It's a fundamentally different game with a new set of rules.

The Fundamental Shift: Why AI Search Isn't SEO

The core difference between SEO and AEO lies in the user journey.

• The Old Paradigm (SEO): A user searches on Google, clicks a link, and lands on your website. The relationship is direct:
  User ↔ Website
• The New Paradigm (AEO): A user asks a question to an AI. The AI scours the web, synthesizes information, and provides a direct answer, sometimes citing its sources. The AI now sits between you and your potential customer:
  User ↔ AI ↔ Website

As Blyskal puts it, "AI now acts as both connector and arbitrator, owning the direct relationship with users." This AI middle-layer changes everything. It decides what's true, what's relevant, and which brands even get mentioned.

The data supports this seismic shift. In the last six months, Google's search market share has seen its first decrease in a decade, while ChatGPT's has skyrocketed by over 400%. The audience is moving, and our strategies must move with them.

A Startling Disconnect: Why Traditional SEO Fails in AI Search

Figure: ChatGPT results overlap 12% with the Google SERP.
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

Traffic ≠ AI Citations

A site's popularity with users does not equal authority with AI. Profound's analysis shows that a site's monthly traffic has almost no correlation with the number of AI citations it receives. The r² value of 0.05 means that 95% of AI citation behavior cannot be explained by traffic.

Figure: Scatter plot showing no correlation between traffic and AI citations.
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

Backlinks ≠ AI Citations

Even more shocking is the role of backlinks. The data shows that 97.2% of AI citation behavior cannot be explained by backlinks. The relationship is not just weak; it's often inverse. This suggests that the sheer volume of links, a cornerstone of SEO, is not a signal of trust for answer engines.

Figure: Data shows sites with fewer backlinks often receive significantly more AI citations.
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

The Biases of AI: What Each Engine Prefers

ChatGPT Loves Wikipedia

When analyzing the most-cited domains within ChatGPT, one source stands above all others: Wikipedia. According to Blyskal's data, it is cited "by a factor of six compared to anything else." This demonstrates a powerful bias towards established, encyclopedic, and neutrally-toned content. While other sites like G2, Forbes, and Amazon appear, Wikipedia's dominance is the key takeaway for anyone targeting ChatGPT.

Figure: ChatGPT most-cited domains (Wikipedia dominates).
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

Perplexity is UGC-Focused

Perplexity, on the other hand, shows a clear preference for the voice of the people. Its most-cited domain is Reddit, with a staggering 3.2 million citations in the dataset. This is followed by other user-generated content (UGC) and social platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn. This indicates that for Perplexity, authentic conversations and community-driven answers are weighted heavily.

Figure: Perplexity most-cited domains (Reddit dominates).
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

Copilot Gravitates Towards Forbes—Massively

Microsoft's Copilot carves its own path, showing a massive preference for established business and tech publications. Forbes and Gartner are the top two sources by a significant margin. This suggests Copilot's algorithm is trained to trust a narrower set of what it considers highly authoritative commercial and B2B sources.

Figure: Copilot most-cited domains (Forbes, Gartner).
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

The AEO Playbook: How to Win in the New World of Search

Part 1: The Technical Foundation - Speaking the AI's Language

1. Understand the WebGPT Model: This is a crucial, often-missed detail. When ChatGPT browses the web, it uses a specialized model called WebGPT to be the final decision-maker. This model was trained specifically to look at search results and determine which ones have the most utility. It primarily sees only three things from the SERP: the URL, the Title Tag, and the Meta Description. Your optimization efforts must be laser-focused on these three elements.
2. Get Indexed by Bing: This is the absolute bedrock of AEO for ChatGPT. The process follows a clear hierarchy: if you're not in the Bing Index, you won't be in the ChatGPT Index, your content won't be crawled by WebGPT, you won't be cited, and you will never appear in an answer. Welcome to caring about Bing Webmaster Tools.
3. AI Crawlers Don't Interact with JavaScript: Answer Engine crawlers are not as sophisticated as Google's. They primarily parse the raw HTML. If your key content is rendered client-side via JavaScript, the AI crawler will likely miss it. Ensure your most important information is present in the initial HTML payload.
4. Master llms.txt: This is your new best friend. Similar to robots.txt, llms.txt is a new protocol that allows you to give direct instructions to AI crawlers. You can define key pieces of content, point to specific links, and structure your information in a way that is perfectly digestible for an LLM. It's a powerful way to control how your brand is represented.
5. Semantic URL Slugs Win: Since the URL is one of the three key pieces of information WebGPT sees, it must be descriptive.
   • Bad: goodonyou.eco/abd7t-ethical-9z3k-brands-uk/
   • Good: goodonyou.eco/most-ethical-and-sustainable-clothing-brands-from-uk/
   The URL itself becomes a powerful signal of relevance.
6. Spoil Your Content in the Meta Description: This is counterintuitive to traditional SEO, where the goal is to entice a click. For AEO, you want to provide the answer directly. WebGPT is looking for the most confident and direct answer.
   • Example Meta Description:

     <meta 
       name="description" 
       content="The best business credit cards include Ink Business Unlimited, 
       Venture X Business and U.S. Bank Business Triple Cash Rewards, 
       among other options."
     >

Part 2: The Content Strategy - Feeding the Lazy AI

Create ‘Lazy’ Content: Prioritize Listicles and Comparisons

As Blyskal memorably stated, "AI Search is lazy." It wants information that is easy to parse, compare, and synthesize. This is why Comparative Listicles are the winning format, accounting for a massive 32.5% of all citations in their 177 million source dataset. This is more than 3x the next closest category (Blogs/Opinion at 9.91%).

Figure: Listicle format dominates AI citations.
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

Leverage Recency Bias

Answer Engines have a strong bias towards fresh content. In one case study, a client in the cybersecurity space was knocked from the #1 cited position simply because their competitors had updated their content more recently. After a simple refresh (updating the year to 2025 and tweaking a few points), they shot back to the top spot within a week.

Figure: Recency bias in top-ranking articles.
Source: BrightonSEO presentation by Josh Blyskal (Profound)

1. Embrace UGC and Situational Social Media: Platforms like Perplexity are heavily focused on user-generated content (UGC). Reddit is the single most-cited domain on Perplexity, followed by YouTube and LinkedIn. Engaging in relevant community discussions on these platforms is no longer just a social media strategy; it's a core AEO tactic.

The Future is Now: A Prime Opportunity

As a former SEO, Blyskal acknowledges that the discipline has sometimes been seen as the "black sheep of marketing." But he concludes with a powerful prediction:

The old playbooks are becoming obsolete, and a new frontier is opening up. The brands and marketers who succeed will be those who recognize this shift and start building their AEO capabilities today.

Start tracking key queries. Analyze the sources AI is citing in your industry. Experiment with content formats and technical optimizations. The opportunity to become a dominant voice in this new landscape is immense, and it belongs to those who are willing to learn and adapt.

Watch the Original Presentation

Frequently Asked Questions