SEO vs AEO — what is the real difference?

classic SEO

  • Ranking a page in Google results
  • Generate clicks to your site
  • Optimize title, meta, headings, backlinks
  • Metrics: position, CTR, organic traffic

AEO — Answer Engine Optimization

  • Being cited as a source by AI
  • Appear in direct replies, without clicking
  • Optimize clarity, authority, and semantic structure
  • Measurement: mentions in AI responses, brand awareness

AEO doesn't replace SEO—it complements it. A site that ranks well on Google already has a head start in being cited by LLMs, which rely in part on Google's index for their responses. But there are specific optimizations that traditional SEO doesn't address.

How ChatGPT and Perplexity choose their sources

Language models like ChatGPT (GPT-4o) have been trained on a massive web corpus—but their knowledge has a cutoff date. For real-time responses, Perplexity and ChatGPT Search use an underlying search engine (Bing for ChatGPT, their own crawler for Perplexity) to retrieve current sources.

The criteria for selecting a source using these tools:

  • Domain Authority — A well-referenced site, with quality backlinks, is more likely to be recovered
  • Precise semantic correspondence — the answer must be in the text, not just related to the topic
  • Clear structure — FAQs, lists, and direct definitions are preferred by extractors
  • HTTPS and speed — AI crawlers abandon slow or insecure websites
  • Fresh data — Recent update dates are a positive sign
Perplexity prioritizes sources that directly answer the question within the first 200 words of the page. If your introduction is four paragraphs long before reaching the topic, you'll be overshadowed by the page that answers it in a single sentence.

7 AEO techniques to implement now

1

FAQs structured with FAQPage

Each page should contain a FAQ section with questions and answers in JSON-LD schema. This is the format that AI can most easily extract. Aim for 5 to 8 questions per page, with answers of 2 to 4 sentences maximum each.

2

How-to Schema for Procedural Content

Tutorials, guides, and step-by-step processes must use the HowTo schema. ChatGPT Search directly recycles steps marked as HowTo in its responses, with source citation.

3

Reference content — "Answer first""

Answer the main question in the first paragraph, before any context. The definition, the key figure, the direct answer—first. The details come later. This is the opposite of the inverted pyramid structure of journalism.

4

EEAT — Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust

AI prioritizes sources with genuine expertise signals: identified author, detailed biography, visible update date, cited sources, and verifiable figures. An anonymous article without a date has very little chance of being cited.

5

Own data and citations

AI loves statistics, studies, and original data. Producing data specific to your experience (like this Instagram test of going from 253 to 1149 followers) gives you a major advantage — you become a primary source, not a secondary one.

6

Robots meta tag — LLMs.txt

A new standard is emerging: the llms.txt file in the website's root directory, similar to robots.txt but specific to AI crawlers. It allows you to guide (or block) indexing by language models. Some publishers choose to exclude their premium content—a strategic choice worth considering.

7

Semantic consistency between pages

LLMs assess your expertise on a topic by analyzing your entire website, not a single page. A cluster of 5 coherent articles on the same subject signals a much higher level of subject authority than a single article, even an excellent one.

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Schema FAQ — implementation example

<script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "Qu'est-ce que l'AEO ?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "L'AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) consiste a optimiser son site pour apparaitre comme source citee dans les reponses des IA comme ChatGPT, Perplexity ou Google AI Overview." } } ] } </script>

Tools to measure your AEO visibility

  • Perplexity.ai — Research your target keywords and note which sources are cited. If it's not you, analyze why it's your competitor.
  • ChatGPT Search — Same exercise with GPT-4o in active search mode
  • Google Search Console — The "featured snippets" and "AI Overviews" are based on the same pages as the AI. If you appear in a featured snippet, you are well positioned for the AEO.
  • Ahrefs / SEMrush — Position tracking remains relevant because AI partially uses the Google index

AEO 2026 Checklist

  • Schema FAQPage on all content pages
  • Schema HowTo on all tutorials and guides
  • Schema Article with identified author and update date
  • Direct answer to the main question in the first 200 words
  • Author with biography and link to expert profile
  • Sources and statistics cited with links
  • Page loads in less than 2 seconds (Core Web Vitals)
  • A thematic cluster of at least 4 articles on each priority topic
  • Checking for presence in Perplexity on target queries
P

Patrick Rary

Founder of MogaCode — SEO expert and creator of SEO Master, the SaaS SEO analysis tool for the Moroccan market.