#7: What is AI Search (AEO, GEO), and how to optimize for it? [Quick Guide]
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There’s a quiet revolution happening right now in search, and if you're a founder, marketer, or growth strategist, it should scare the hell out of you (or excite you, depending on how you adapt).
TL:DR:
Impressions are up, clicks are down
Importance of visibility and citations across AI-first engines
Reddit, YouTube, and UGC platforms as off-page fuel
AEO + GEO + SEO as a three-layer model
Need to track prompt-level performance
Before continuing with the article, get my AI search checklist below:
Now let's dive deep into it…
The way people find, process, and act on information has changed faster in the last 12 months than in the previous decade.
Why?
Because search isn’t just “search” anymore.
Instead of typing a keyword and clicking 10 blue links, people now ask:
And get direct, synthesized, sometimes linkless answers from tools like:
Google's AI Overviews (formerly SGE)
ChatGPT + Browse
Perplexity
Gemini
Here’s what that means:
Impressions Are Up. Clicks Are Down.
+1300% surge in AI-driven referrals during Q4 2024 (especially around the holidays).
58% of consumers now use AI tools for product recommendations. That’s up from 25% just last year.
But… click-through rates are plummeting.
Because people don’t need to visit your site anymore. They get the answer (and often, the recommendation) before they even see your link.
“AI-first search is more decentralized. You’re not ranking in one place, you’re being referenced across dozens of mini-engines and knowledge surfaces.”
The real challenge:
Your brand may still appear in AI-generated responses, but you receive zero clicks and often zero attribution. As a result, your marketing funnel stalls before it even starts.
In this new landscape, visibility doesn’t guarantee engagement. The rules of discovery and conversion are being rewritten.
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SEO, AEO & GEO Explained
To thrive in the new world of AI-driven discovery, you need to rethink how your content appears, not just on search engines, but inside AI-generated responses.
To succeed, you need to play across all three, not just rank on page one.
Are you being cited consistently across traditional and AI-first engines?
Why do you need to rank for all of them?
SEO is still essential. It makes sure your site is discoverable and crawled properly. Without it, nothing else works.
E.g.: “best note-taking apps 2025”
AEO is about being used in AI responses — the "answer layer." If you're optimized for AEO, AI platforms can quote your content directly in summaries, carousels, or voice replies.
E.g.: “What’s the top note-taking software for students?”
GEO is the future-proof layer. It focuses on prompt targeting, citation engineering, and placing your content into the AI models’ memory. This isn't about keywords — it's about showing up when someone asks an AI a high-intent question.
E.g.: “What AI tools help with summarizing meetings?”
The focus has shifted from ranking for keywords to earning mentions in AI-generated answers, across dozens of platforms, not just one search engine
Source: Neil Patel X account
Your new KPIs and what you need to sort them out:
Prompt Visibility – What prompts does your brand show up for?
Sentiment – Are you being recommended positively?
Citations – Are LLMs quoting or linking you?
Position – Are you the first solution mentioned?
To succeed, you need to track and optimize for these metrics, not just traditional SEO performance.
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How to Track Your AI Search Presence
Here’s what to implement this week:
Track Prompts (You + Competitors):
Use tools like AlsoAsked or Perplexity Lab to find common prompts in your space.
Plug them into ChatGPT/Bing/Gemini, check who’s being cited.
Cluster Prompts by Funnel Stage:
TOFU: “Best video tools for LinkedIn outreach”
MOFU: “How to use AI video tools with CRMs”
BOFU: “Vidsell vs Sendspark vs Tolstoy”
On-Page Tactics for LLMs:
Clear section headers (“Use Cases”, “Integrations”, “Pricing”, “Alternatives”)
Semantic HTML (Use schema markup)
First-person brand language (“At Vidsell, we…”)
Off-Page Tactics:
Reddit mentions in active threads
YouTube tutorials that get scraped by AI
LinkedIn Q&A-style content
Direct LLM Entry Points:
Create a GPT using your docs and site
Submit structured data to Google’s AI index
Submit public docs to Perplexity’s knowledge graph
How to Optimize for AI Discovery in 2025
Optimizing for AI discovery in 2025 means tailoring your digital presence so that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity can easily find, understand, and recommend your content.
Source: Surfer Youtube channel
This involves both on-page and off-page strategies, as well as leveraging new LLM-specific entry points. Here’s an in-depth look at each area:
On-Page Formats That LLMs Prefer
Clear Structure: Use logical headers (H1, H2, H3) and organized sections.
Useful Details: Clearly present use cases, integrations, and pricing.
Schema Markup: Add structured data (e.g., FAQ, Product) to help LLMs understand your content.
Audience Clarity: State who your product or content is for.
Off-Page Signals That Matter
Reddit Backlinks: Engage in relevant discussions and earn links.
YouTube Mentions: Get your brand cited in videos.
Product Hunt & GitHub: List and discuss your product on these platforms for authority.
LinkedIn Answers: Post concise, answer-focused content.
LLM-Specific Entry Points
Submit Docs: Provide your documentation to platforms like Perplexity and ChatGPT.
Custom GPTs: Build AI agents trained on your product info.
Prompt-Friendly Pages: Create FAQ or How-To pages with clear answers and schema.
The Four Biggest Trends in AI Search You Can’t Ignore for 2025
1. The Zero-Click Explosion
AI search engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and now Google’s AI Overviews) are delivering instant answers that never lead users to a website.
People get what they need without clicking anything.
According to recent data:
Impressions are way up.
Click-throughs are way down.
Citations without conversions are becoming the norm.
This changes how we define success. It’s no longer about driving traffic, it’s about being the final answer.
2. The Rise of AI Voice Search + Real-Time Chat
Last week, Google quietly rolled out live AI voice chat directly in search — and it’s a game changer.
Instead of typing in queries, users now speak to an AI assistant in real time.
🔗 Source: Search Engine Journal – Google Live AI Search
What this means:
Search becomes a conversation, not a one-shot keyword query.
Users ask follow-ups, which changes the context and surface of results.
If your brand doesn’t show up in the first wave of citations, you’re not getting in later.
3. GEO and AEO Are the New SEO
We used to optimize for search engines. Now we optimize for:
GEO = Generative Engine Optimization (AI-first platforms)
AEO = Answer Engine Optimization (response-based relevance)
SEO = Still matters, but as the foundation, not the finish line
To succeed, you need to play across all three — not just rank on page one.
4. AI Discovery Is No Longer Just Search
Today’s users aren’t just asking Google. They’re asking:
ChatGPT
Gemini
Perplexity
Reddit
YouTube
More and more, users are discovering brands inside content — and AI is the filter.
In fact, Reddit and YouTube are two of the most commonly scraped sources for LLMs when answering questions.
Is your content present in UGC ecosystems that feed AI responses?
Onward and quick recap
This is not a preview of the future. This is the new reality of search.
AI is now the interface between your brand and your buyer.
And that interface doesn’t “click” - it summarizes, recommends, and cites.
You’re not just trying to win a spot on the first page of Google.
You’re trying to become the trusted source that AI tools rely on when answering your customers' questions.
We’re entering a world where:
Your content is summarized without a visit
Your product is recommended without a click
Your brand is spoken out loud in a voice-based AI search
And unless you’re actively engineering those moments, you’re not just underperforming - you’re getting behind.
So let’s recap what actually works in this new paradigm:
✅ Topical authority still matters. The deeper and more consistently you show expertise in a niche, the more likely LLMs are to pull from your content.
✅ Originality is rewarded. Generative models prioritize unique perspectives, clear structure, and expert-backed information over recycled, AI-spun content.
✅ Mentions matter. Citations from high-authority ecosystems like TechCrunch, GitHub, Reddit, YouTube, and trusted newsletters get ingested, reused, and resurfaced.
✅ Real formats perform best. Video, audio, UGC, transcripts - content created for humans in the real world - is still prioritized by AI crawling systems over generic SEO-optimized fluff.
This is not about abandoning SEO. It’s about evolving it.
It’s about understanding that the real goal now isn’t just to drive visitors to your site, it’s to shape the answers that LLMs give when your prospects ask questions.
And that means:
Structuring your content for AI readability
Optimizing for visibility inside chat and voice interfaces
Creating content ecosystems, not just articles
The winners in this new landscape won’t be the ones with the best rankings.
They’ll be the ones with the most relevance, and the most AI citations.
Because in a zero-click world, being clicked isn’t the goal.
Being trusted is.
Here are extra resources to help you in your SEO/GEO/AEO journey:
✅ AI Search (GEO+AEO) SEO Checklist 2025
✅ +100 Linkbuilding Sources + BONUS
✅ +540 Startup Directories to Submit Your Startup
✅ +120 SEO Tools for Optimising Your Website
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