Search strategy has entered a new phase as AI-powered answer engines reshape how people discover brands and evaluate information. Rankings still matter, but marketers are now also competing to become the trusted sources AI platforms choose to cite and recommend. That shift is changing how agencies and brands think about the mix of content, PR and marketing investments in their strategies.
Success depends on treating traditional search and AI-driven discovery as complementary parts of the same visibility strategy. Here, members of Forbes Agency Council share insights on how to balance SEO and AEO, where to invest time and budget, and which tactics can help brands build credibility across both search engines and AI-generated answers.
1. Shift The Goal Beyond Clicks
SEO rewarded brands that could win rankings and traffic. AEO may reward brands that become part of the answers themselves. That changes ad strategy. As AI-driven discovery grows, brands may need to think less about chasing clicks alone and more about building the trusted signals, authority and visibility that influence how AI platforms surface information. – Ajay Gupta, Stirista
2. Become The AI’s Chosen Source
SEO optimizes for ranking in traditional search results (blue links on Google). AEO, answer engine optimization optimizes for being cited, mentioned, or recommended within AI-generated answers from LLMs like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Claude. SEO is about being found. AEO is about being chosen when an AI synthesizes an answer on the user’s behalf. – Joshua George, ClickSlice
3. Adjust Spend To Adapt To Changing Discovery Habits
SEO helps brands rank in search. AEO helps brands become the answer inside AI platforms, voice search and AI overviews. The smartest brands are adjusting spend to support visibility along with brand clarity and authority because discovery behavior is changing fast. This is not a marketing trend; this is a shift in behavior. – Chris Suchánek, Firm Media Inc
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4. Base Relevant Content On Intent And Expertise
SEO and AEO are both driven by intent: what someone is searching for or a question they find an answer for via an AI. The difference is that SEO is done primarily for Google Search, whereas AEO is for AI engines like ChatGPT and Gemini, or even Google AI Overviews. Creating rich, relevant, authoritative, trustworthy content based on expertise is the key to success for both. – Tony Adam, Visible Factors
5. Balance Ad And Content Investments
SEO helps brands rank in traditional search results, while AEO helps them become the trusted answer in AI-generated responses. SEO still drives long-term traffic and discoverability, but AEO is shifting strategy toward structured, authoritative content like FAQs, case studies and direct answers. Brands should balance ad spend with investments in content that supports search and AI visibility. – Elyse Flynn Meyer, Prism Global Marketing Solutions
6. Pair PR With Search Strategy
SEO optimizes content for traditional search engine visibility. AEO optimizes for answer engines, like ChatGPT and Google AI. As more people use AI to search, often getting answers without clicking a website link, AEO is critically important. It’s time to follow consumer trends and shift budget toward PR strategies that impact AEO, like earned media and human-centered LinkedIn content. – Kristi Piehl, Media Minefield
7. Optimize For The Answer First
AEO isn’t replacing SEO; it’s changing the outcome brands optimize for. SEO fights for the click. AEO fights to become the trusted answer before the click happens. That means brands should still invest in SEO to capture demand, but also shift spend toward authoritative, structured content that AI systems can confidently summarize, cite and recommend. – Robert Burko, Elite Digital Inc.
8. Let Intent Drive Spending
SEO is about being found in search, while AEO is a facet of modern SEO focused on becoming the source AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Gemini pull from. Brands need both as users shift from “searching” to “asking.” Ad spend should follow intent, not hype. SEO drives long-term demand capture, while AEO builds credibility in AI-generated answers. – Brock Murray, seoplus+
9. Stop Chasing Acronyms; Become The Best Answer
I think the SEO versus AEO debate is largely noise. Search is search. Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity—they’re all commodities that everyone has access to. The differentiator is how relevant, authoritative and useful your content is to the question being asked. Brands should spend less time chasing acronyms and more time becoming the best answer. That’s what gets you found, cited and trusted. – George Arabian, NVISION
11. Strengthen Third-Party Validation With Credible Coverage
SEO is about getting found in traditional search results, while AEO is about being surfaced directly inside AI-generated answers and conversational platforms. Organizations need to think beyond rankings and clicks and focus on becoming trusted, quotable sources that AI systems are likely to reference and recommend. Increasingly, that requires strong third-party validation, which makes credible media coverage more important than ever. – Jacquelyn LaMar Berney, VI Marketing and Branding
12. Expand Brand Presence Across Directories
My company, MentionLayer, just ran the largest cross-market GEO study ever published: 2,729 businesses, 14 industries, four markets. The conclusion: SEO ranks your page; AEO gets your brand named in the AI’s answer. Directory presence (r=0.391) now outranks Domain Authority (r=0.338) as the top predictor of AI visibility. If you’re invisible to ChatGPT, that’s where ad budget belongs. – Joel House, Xpand Digital
13. Invest In Reputation Signals
SEO helps brands rank on search engines. AEO helps brands appear in AI answers, voice search and Google AI Overviews. SEO drives clicks and traffic, while AEO builds trust and visibility before users even visit a website. Brands should balance ad spend with investments in reviews, expert content, PR and reputation to stay visible in AI-driven search. – Ajay Prasad, GMR Web Team
14. Build Visibility And Trust That Compound Over Time
Technically, SEO and AEO have a lot of overlap. Both require structured data, third-party confirmation and content hierarchy that make sense to people. Where they differ from paid campaigns is in their earned authority. Ads can buy attention, but SEO and AEO compound trust over time. Treat them as part of a business strategy where visibility is built, not just bought. – Goran Paun, ArtVersion
15. Move Budget Toward Answer-Ready Content
SEO gets you ranked. AEO gets you quoted. SEO fights for ten blue links. AEO fights for the one answer AI gives before anyone scrolls. We moved 30% of a client’s SEO budget toward AEO content and direct-answer formatting, and AI citations tripled while paid spend stayed flat. Most brands still budget like it is 2019. The ones in AI answers are not spending more. They are spending differently. – Tessar Napitupulu, Arfadia
