SEO works to get you high in search engines. AEO works to get artificial intelligence to cite you as a source. They sound alike. They aren’t.
SEO optimizes for a board that’s emptying out
For twenty years the play was clear: climb Google to win clicks. That play worked because people left the search engine for your page. Today they don’t. The AI answer is given inside the search engine, or straight from an assistant, without anyone visiting a site.
That’s why ranking first matters less and less. Only 12% of what the AI cites is in Google’s top 10, as Ahrefs measured in 2025. You can win the top spot and still not be named in the answer your client sees.
AEO optimizes for being the source
AEO means optimizing for AI engines. Its goal isn’t the position, it’s the citation: that when someone asks about your topic, the machine recognizes you and mentions you.
The whole logic changes:
- In SEO the ranking matters. In AEO the frequency with which you’re named matters.
- In SEO you fight for keywords. In AEO you build a clear, verifiable entity.
- In SEO the asset is the page. In AEO the asset is being recognized as a source.
What it doesn’t mean is abandoning the rest
A well-built, fast site is still the base. But the base is no longer the goal. The goal is being cited. Anyone playing only SEO is optimizing for a world that shrinks every month. What does move the needle is being the source the AI cites.
If you’ve already invested years in SEO and want to know which part still serves you, it’s in what carries over from everything I already invested.
If you want to know whether the AI already cites you, get your diagnostic.