Most brands are still playing the wrong game.
They're optimizing like it's 2017, chasing keywords, backlinks, and "domain authority", while wondering why they're nowhere to be found in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews.
Here's the truth: ranking is no longer enough. In the world of AI-generated search, LLMs don't rank. They respond.
If your site isn't built to be quoted, it won't be seen. If your content isn't structured to answer, it won't be selected. And if your brand isn't mentioned across the web, it won't be remembered.
LLMs Want Confident Answers, Fast
Here's the simplest way to understand how large language models (LLMs) decide what to say:
They give the highest-confidence answer using the fewest possible tokens.
That's the internal algorithm in a sentence. Not the most exhaustive. Not the most creative. Just the clearest, safest thing to say quickly.
These systems are trained to optimize for speed, reliability, and clarity. When they write an answer, they're not exploring, they're compressing. Looking for overlap. Looking for confidence.
If five sources say the same thing in structured, simple language, the LLM grabs that. No hesitation. No debate. That's the answer it serves.
If your site doesn't show up in that group of five, or says something differently, or too slowly, you get skipped.
SEO Was About Pages. AEO Is About Sentences.
Traditional SEO is about full-page rankings:
- Climb the SERPs
- Win the featured snippet
- Get the click
But LLMs don't care about position. They don't "click."
They write. They summarize. They compress multiple pages into a single unified answer. And they pull from sentences, not full-page rankings.
If your sentence is the cleanest, most repeated version of an idea, they'll grab it. If your answer is hidden under fluff or buried in a 1,200-word intro, it gets ignored.
Think of it this way:
- SEO: "How do I get my page to rank?"
- AEO: "How do I get one sentence from my site quoted as the answer?"
The entire optimization strategy flips when you think that way. And that's where most sites fall behind.
So What Actually Gets Picked by AI?
Across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews, we're seeing the same signals rise to the top again and again. Here's what they favor:
✅ Structured Answers
LLMs don't want to interpret, they want to extract. That means:
- Questions in headers (H2s or H3s)
- Answers in the first two lines
- Bold summaries at the top of paragraphs
If your page just "talks around" the topic with no structure, you're invisible.
✅ Schema Markup
Use FAQ, HowTo, or Article schema. Google's AI Overviews rely on it heavily. It gives your content a metadata frame, and makes your Q&A content much more quotable in search.
✅ Consistent Mentions Across the Web
This one's critical: LLMs love consensus. If your brand shows up in multiple "Top 10" lists, roundups, or quote-based articles, it's more likely to be surfaced.
Why? Because LLMs treat repetition like reliability. If a concept is echoed across trusted sites, it feels like a confident answer.
✅ Clean HTML and Crawlability
No fancy JavaScript frameworks. No buried content in tabs. Just visible, crawlable, readable HTML.
If your most important answer is locked behind a modal, hidden in a component, or broken by animation, good luck.
✅ Simplicity Over Cleverness
This one stings: your clever, brand-voiced content doesn't matter to an LLM. It wants clarity, not creativity.
Write plainly. Use short words. Use numbered steps or bullets. You're writing to be quoted, not admired.
This Isn't About Traffic. It's About Presence.
Will every LLM citation drive a click? No.
Sometimes your brand will be quoted and no one will visit your site. But that's not failure, it's visibility.
When users trust AI summaries more than links, your goal shifts from "winning traffic" to "being present in the answer."
If you're not cited in the AI's response, you're not even in the room.
The SEO Stack Isn't Dead, But It's Not Enough
Let's be clear: you still need technical SEO. Your sitemap, site speed, and mobile-friendliness still matter. Links still help.
But they're the floor now, not the ceiling.
You can have the fastest site on the internet, and if your answer isn't clear, confident, and repeatable, you still won't show up in ChatGPT's output.
That's the delta. That's where brands are losing visibility and don't even realize it yet.
Quick Checklist: Are You AEO-Ready?
- ✅ You answer questions in H2s and summarize answers in the first 2–3 lines
- ✅ You're using schema markup (especially FAQ)
- ✅ Your content is clean HTML and loads fast
- ✅ You've gotten mentions in at least 2–3 listicles or external roundups
- ✅ You've tested your visibility on Perplexity, ChatGPT, or SGE
If not, you've got work to do. But the good news? This is early. Most people aren't thinking this way yet.
Bottom Line
If your content isn't quotable, it won't be surfaced.
If your answer isn't structured, it won't be trusted.
If your brand isn't repeated, it won't be remembered.
SEO gets you into Google's index. AEO gets you into the AI's mouth.
This is the shift. And the brands who move first will own it.
— Sam