What is AI SEO? The Shift from Search to Answers

Search is changing. Platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity now give direct answers, not just a list of links.

That means the old SEO playbook, keywords, backlinks, tech tweaks, doesn’t cut it anymore.

If you want your brand to show up, you need to optimise for AI.

That means making your content easy for large language models to read, quote, and trust.

This approach is called AI SEO.

You might also hear it called AEO, LLMO, or GEO.

Different acronyms, same idea: get cited by AI, not just ranked by Google.

What AI SEO Actually Means

AI SEO shifts your goal from ranking to getting quoted. It’s not about being the top result anymore.

It’s about showing up in AI-generated answers, where users are actually looking.

If your guide is the one AI pulls from when someone asks “What’s the best CRM for startups?”, you win.

Even if your page is buried on page three of Google.

This shift comes from how AI answers work.

Large language models pull relevant info (using vector embeddings), then generate a response.

If your content is clear, accurate, and well-structured, you’ve got a shot at being cited.

AI Overviews already show up in over 13% of desktop searches.

These are zero-click results, users get the answer without visiting any site. If AI skips you, so do potential customers.

The AI SEO Pillars: What AI Looks For
If you want to show up in AI answers, your content has to be easy to read, easy to trust, and easy to find.

These seven pillars cover everything AI checks before quoting you.

AI SEO Pillar	What It Means
Entity-First Structuring	Define your brand or topic clearly. Use schema markup, on-page content, and internal links to show who you are and what you know.
Fan-Out Query Coverage	Cover all the angles. Use sub-queries, comparisons, and intent-focused sections so you’re answering everything AI might look for.
Passage-Level Formatting	Give straight answers. Add 20–60 word blocks that respond to likely questions. Use simple subject–verb–object statements.
Technical & Schema Structuring	Structure your content properly. Use semantic HTML (<h1> to <h3>), and apply the right schema types—Article, FAQPage, VideoObject, etc.
Distributed Authority Signals	Show up outside your site. Reddit threads, forums, and digital PR help prove relevance—even more than backlinks sometimes.
Media Optimisation (Multimodal)	Use visual content that AI can read. Videos, charts, and infographics should be structured and tagged for machine understanding.
AI Testing & Measurement	Run prompt tests in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Track which entities get cited, which don’t, and keep iterating.

How AEO, LLMO, and GEO Fit Under AI SEO

AI SEO is the big picture. It’s the umbrella term for making your content readable, citable, and surfaceable by AI. Under that umbrella, you’ll hear a few acronyms thrown around. Here’s how they fit:

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
  Focus: Google’s AI-generated answers (like AI Overviews).
  Goal: Get your content quoted directly in response boxes. Think “position zero,” but for AI.
• LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)
  Focus: Models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini.
  Goal: Create content that these models can understand, summarise, and cite in natural language replies. It’s about structure and tone.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
  Focus: All generative tools—chatbots, voice assistants, AI interfaces.
  Goal: Cover your bases across different AI systems by using clear data, defined entities, and deep topic coverage.

In short: AI SEO is the strategy. AEO, LLMO, and GEO are how you apply it, depending on where your content is showing up.

How to Build Content AI Wants to Quote

AI doesn’t just answer the question it’s asked.

It breaks it into dozens of mini-questions—comparisons, use-cases, alternatives, who-it’s-for types of things.

If you don’t pre-answer those too, someone else will.

Here’s how to stay ahead:

• Fan-Out Research
  • Use tools like “People Also Ask” to find all the related questions AI might spin off from your topic.
  • Group them by type (e.g., what is it, how does it work, which is better) and audience (e.g., marketers, developers, execs).
• Passage-Level Engineering
  • Write 40–60 word blocks that directly answer each sub-query.
  • Keep it simple: subject, verb, object.
  • Use HTML comments like to tag each one.
  • These mini-answers are what AI pulls and quotes.
• Semantic Topic Clusters
  • Build one solid pillar page on your main topic (like “AI SEO”), then link to 5–7 supporting articles on related angles.
  • Use internal links that spell out the connection (“Read more about LLMO vs AEO”) so AI can map the relationships.

It’s about structure. You’re helping AI find the right bit at the right time.

Get Your Tech Right or AI Won’t See You

You can have great content, but if AI can’t crawl, read, or understand it, you’re invisible. Here’s what to fix under the hood:

1. Crawling and Indexing
Let AI bots in. Drop an llms.txt file in your root directory:

User-Agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-Agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Keep your URLs flat, not nested.

And make sure your content works without JavaScript, test by turning it off and checking if your key info is still there.

2. Structured Data
Use JSON-LD schema so AI knows what it’s looking at. Start with:

• Article for long-form guides
• FAQPage for question-answer blocks
• VideoObject for videos with transcripts
• Product for service or tool listings

This helps AI spot entities, relationships, and context faster.

3. Vector Embeddings
AI doesn’t match by keywords, it uses math.

Embeddings map your content into a multi-dimensional space.

The closer your content’s vector is to the query’s, the more likely you’ll get cited.

Tools (like Screaming Frog with custom scripts) can help check this by analysing cosine similarity between your passages and target queries.

New KPIs for AI SEO

Click-through rates and traffic reports don’t tell the full story anymore. If you’re doing AI SEO, you need to measure how often AI is using your stuff.

Track these:

• Citation Frequency
  How often do AI tools quote your content in tests?
• Branded Search Volume
  Are more people Googling your brand name after AI mentions?
• Schema Trigger Rate
  Is your structured data showing up in AI panels or answer boxes?
• Passage Recall
  Which exact paragraphs are getting pulled into AI responses?
• Conversion Quality
  Are sessions from AI-driven discovery actually converting?

Run prompt tests every two weeks in tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Use different user personas and questions.

Combine what you find with survey feedback, ask people how they heard about you and which AI tools pointed them your way.

Why Niche Brands Have the Edge in AI SEO

AI cares more about depth than domain authority. If your content is the most detailed and accurate answer to a niche question, you’re in.

Even if your site isn’t ranking high on Google.

That’s good news for smaller brands.

If you’re an expert in something specific, like “AI legal tools for small firms”, you can own that topic.

One citation at a time.

You also move faster.

While big teams are stuck in approval cycles, you can ship timely takes—like new regulations or market shifts—and show up in AI answers before anyone else.

And don’t underestimate community mentions.

A post on Reddit or Quora can act as a trust signal that AI follows when deciding what to cite.

The 7-Step AI SEO Roadmap

This is how you set your site up to get cited by AI. No fluff, just what works:

1. Audit your top 15 pages
   Check for parsability, citability, and surfaceability. If AI can’t read or trust it, fix it.
2. Research fan-out sub-queries
   Use tools like Qforia or “People Also Ask” to find the 30–50 side questions AI might ask. Group them by topic and audience.
3. Write 40–60 word answers for each
   Format them for extraction: one clear idea per block, tagged with HTML comments.
4. Build out topic clusters
   Create one strong pillar page, then link out to 5–7 detailed subpages. Make the internal links obvious.
5. Deploy llms.txt and schema
   Let AI bots in, and label your content properly with JSON-LD: Article, FAQPage, VideoObject, etc.
6. Run AI prompt tests
   Every two weeks, test your pages in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini. See what gets cited—and what doesn’t.
7. Track the right KPIs
   Watch for citation frequency, branded search lift, and passage recall. Rinse and repeat monthly.

AI SEO Isn’t Optional Anymore

If you’re still optimising for rankings and clicks alone, you’re missing where attention is actually going, AI-generated answers.

The brands that get cited are the ones with clear structure, expert content, and technical setup that makes them easy for AI to read and trust.

If you want help putting this into action, I offer AI SEO consulting built around this exact playbook.

Whether you need a full audit, training for your team, or ongoing support,

I’ll help you get your content cited by the tools that matter most.

Let’s make your content AI-ready.

Get in touch to start your AI SEO strategy.