Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

AI and Search Engine Convergence

AI adoption is rapidly accelerating, transforming how companies reach customers. LLMs (Large Language Models) like ChatGPT and Perplexity are now central to product discovery and initial searches.

• While SEO and AEO share similar optimization principles, traditional Google search heavily features paid advertisements that often dominate the first page, pushing organic content down. By contrast, AEO right now is all organic because there aren’t ads yet; though LLMs are already testing sponsored answers, and paying users may continue seeing ad-free results. This means AEO focuses on optimizing content to show up based on genuine mentions and relevance, offering visibility driven by citations and summarization of multiple sources.
• AI chat responses summarize multiple sources, enhancing organic visibility. It also reduces the dominance of ads, unlike traditional search engines.
• Google doesn’t lose search volume; instead, the overall search pie expands with new platforms.
• AI-driven searches often start similarly to traditional searches but require more nuanced content strategies.

Optimizing for AI and Answer Engines

Optimizing for AEO involves understanding how AI chat engines rank responses.

• Question Research: Unlike traditional keyword research, AEO focuses on identifying numerous ways customers phrase questions. Answer Tracking: Monitor a variety of question variants across platforms to maintain visibility in responses, which is excellent for featured snippets.

You can explore a list of helpful (and free) AEO tools, including one from Graphite, here: https://graphite.io/five-percent/aeo-tools. It also ties into strategies we explored in our Startup Guide to AI Visibility on how to become the brand ChatGPT recommends.

Earned vs. Owned Content

A significant factor in AEO is the increased importance of earned mentions (citations and links from external sources) compared to traditional SEO. You cannot win solely by ranking number one with a page on your site; external sources must mention you consistently. Effective external mentions require targeted strategies such as:

• Engaging authentically with user-generated content platforms (Reddit). Note: Reddit frequently downvotes promotional comments, making it challenging.
• Creating influential YouTube content, where the title and description significantly impact visibility. Most people make videos on travel or cooking; almost nobody does it for enterprise software, so even simple videos there can dominate.
• Strategically utilizing publishers based on their influence and reach: tier-one publishers are prominent, highly authoritative sources like major media outlets; tier-two and tier-three publishers are typically smaller, niche-focused platforms. Unlike traditional SEO, citations appearing even on page 2 or page 3 of search results remain significantly valuable in AEO.
• Leveraging multiple platforms like Quora, Reddit, YouTube, and Medium; the more mentions, the better, although returns may diminish over time.

The Value of Long-Tail Queries

Long-tail questions on AI platforms often average around 25 words—much longer than typical Google searches.

• These detailed, specific questions are where owned content excels, since it’s easier to be the only clear answer.
• When follow-up specifics like integrations, languages, or features are added, well-structured pages stand out.
• This approach lets companies own niche areas rarely covered elsewhere.

Key AEO Tactics and Common Pitfalls

Important AEO tactics startups must master:

• Comprehensive question research, like mapping out all the different ways someone might ask about your product or space, including long-tail variations.
• Optimizing content to address question clusters by grouping similar queries and making sure your pages thoroughly answer them.
• Securing diverse external citations by reaching out to smaller publishers, creating niche YouTube videos, and participating on platforms like Reddit or Quora to get genuine mentions that LLMs pick up.

Avoid these common pitfalls:

• Overreliance on AI-generated content; human-generated content consistently outperforms. About 70% of LLM answers still include products, which means strong, well-crafted human pages are critical to show up in those responses. AI content doesn’t work; Graphite ran a study that showed a clear correlation where human content consistently ranked higher.
• Neglecting detailed, long-tail queries.
• Ignoring accurate attribution and undervaluing AEO-driven traffic.

Tracking and Attribution

Proper tracking and attribution are essential to gauge AEO success:

• Instead of fixed rankings, think of it as a share of answers or distribution; ask the same questions across platforms and over many runs to see how often you appear.
• Always ask, “How did you hear about us?” to capture value that last-touch analytics alone will miss, since most B2B journeys involve multiple earlier touchpoints.

Technical SEO and Content Optimization

Important considerations for AI page optimization:

• The title tag is most crucial.
• Ensure pages are readable and indexable.
• Use internal links strategically.
• Implement schema markup effectively.

Practical content approaches include:

• Using product review pages instead of traditional product pages.
• Employing listicle formats instead of standard category pages.

Closing and Future Opportunities

AEO represents a significant opportunity for early-stage startups:

• It expands growth opportunities beyond traditional SEO.
• Early adopters of AEO strategies can quickly become market leaders.
• These scrappy tactics work because seed stage growth is weird and doesn’t scale. That’s why big companies don’t bother, leaving an opening for early-stage startups.