New AI tools have arrived
A raft of new AI search tools have emerged in recent years, known as AI answer engines.
These include ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews.
They synthesise answers from multiple sources across the digital ecosystem and are changing how users evaluate brands and seek information.
User behaviour is changing
For many, they offer a more intuitive starting point for search.
Studies show users preferring them for:
· nuanced search,
· explanations,
· more conversational responses.
For brands, including investment and wealth providers, they are scooping-up top-of-funnel queries and shortening the research and discovery process – leading to falls in website traffic but more qualified leads and higher intent users.
Marketers have devised lots of new acronyms!
The emerging field of AI answer engine marketing has come with lots of new terms, but all of them essentially refer to optimising brands and content for AI search. These include:
- Answer engine optimisation (AEO)
- Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
- Large language model optimisation (LLMO)
- Generative search optimisation (GSO)
- Artificial intelligence optimisation (AIO)
AI answer engine marketing builds on SEO
Commentators pondering if AI search tools are killing traditional search and SEO have fuelled a media frenzy.
But SEO isn’t going anywhere: AI search currently represents less than 1% of daily search volume.
And even as AI search grows, the SEO fundamentals of relevance, authority and clarity will remain the foundations of optimising for AI.
What it does mean, though, is marketers needing to adapt their traditional SEO strategies.
Organic search strategies must adapt
Brand visibility and message consistency across digital media channels is key.
Brand mentions and references (citations) need measuring alongside search rankings.
The shift requires increased investment in measurement tools and content creation across platforms.
Content quality & authority, quotability and variety across written, video and audio is more important than ever.
Websites and content needs optimising for large language model (LLM) crawlers.
Targeting high volume keywords isn’t sufficient; ‘Long-tail’ questions and context needs researching and introducing into the mix.