Digital marketing is a rapidly evolving field. In digital marketing, SEO is used as the primary tool by many business organisations to enhance their website traffic. However, as AI-powered technologies increase, a new digital marketing strategy known as AEO is gaining traction.
Is SEO dead? It is a question that many people ask. Will it be replaced by AEO? In actuality, both are significant, but they function differently. Let’s examine AEO’s definition, how it differs from SEO, and why both are important for your company.
What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimisation is referred to as AEO. It is a technique for preparing your material for voice assistants and search engines driven by artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Alexa, and Siri.
AEO helps your content provide clear and concise answers to user queries rather than concentrating only on rankings in Google search results. The goal is to ensure that your response is the one that a user hears or sees when they present a query to an AI chatbot or voice assistant.
AEO’s work environments include, for example:
- Top Google results’ Featured Snippets
- Overviews of Google AI
- Ask Others section
- Voice search outcomes
- Google information panels
AEO is, in essence, about providing prompt, precise, and conversational responses.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation is referred to as SEO. One of the most effective website traffic-boosting tactics since the 1990s. SEO aims to boost your website’s ranking on Google, Bing, and other search engines. SEO includes:
- Keywording your content correctly
- Obtaining website links
- Website performance and mobile friendliness improvement
- Writing elaborate, useful content
- Optimisation of meta titles, descriptions, and headers
Increasing website traffic and clicks is the primary goal of SEO in order to produce leads and sales.
Key Differences Between AEO and SEO
AEO and SEO use similar methods, but their objectives, content style, and audience differ. Quick and straightforward responses to user enquiries are the main goal of AEO, especially for voice searches and conversational engagements. The goal of SEO is to increase a website’s traffic and ranking in search engine results.
AEO writes concise, structured, and clear content for voice assistant and AI chatbot users. In contrast, SEO favours long, descriptive, keyword-rich content for mobile and desktop browser text searches.
AEO success is measured by highlighted snippets, AI overviews, and the “People Also Ask” portion, whereas SEO performance is measured by keyword positions, traffic from organic sources, and click-through rates (CTR).
AEO Example vs SEO Example
If someone asks: “What are the best running shoes for beginners?”
- SEO Approach: Create a 2,000-word blog comparing 10 running shoes with advantages and cons for keywords like “best running shoes” and “running shoes for beginners.”
- AEO Approach: Simply answer in one paragraph and offer 3–4 top instructions in bullet points for AI tools to read.
How to Optimise for AEO
AEO is a good option to go with if you want to get your company ready for the new era. A few pointers are as follows:
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- Answer First
- Use Conversational Phrases
- Add FAQs
- Use Schema Markup
- Be Concise and Clear
How SEO Still Matters
SEO is not going anywhere, despite the fact that AEO is on the rise. Daily searches are still conducted on Google by users. As a result of the following reasons:
- It increases authority and confidence in your field.
- It increases traffic over the long run.
- It attracts customers who are prepared to make a purchase.
- It facilitates brand exposure via several channels.
Can AEO and SEO Work Together?
Yes! They do their best when they work together.
Keyword study and writing detailed content are two things that SEO can help you with. To improve search engine optimisation, use AEO methods. These methods help make content easily found by AI tools and voice searches.
You can make an AI search engine use your blog post as a quick answer by adding a summary and a frequently asked questions (FAQ) part.
Why Both Matter in 2025 and Beyond
The people are changing in their searching behaviour:
- Voice search is being used more often than ever before.
- Chatbots powered by AI are becoming increasingly common.
- People are increasingly using zero-click searches, which provide the answer without ever visiting a website.
If you only work on SEO, you might miss out on sites that use AI. You might miss out on search engine traffic if you only work on AEO.
Combining the two is best so that you can be seen wherever your audience is.
Conclusion
Both AEO and SEO are needed in digital marketing in the year 2025. Using SEO ensures your website appears in regular search results. Using AEO helps AI-powered search engines and voice assistants find your answers.
Today’s market is very competitive, so you need to be able to respond to both. You can find Pitch Pine Media’s brands on Google, AI chatbots, voice assistants, and anywhere else your audience looks by combining SEO and AEO strategies. We will help your business plans grow and last for many years in your hands.
