What is AEO? A B2B Operator's Guide to AI Engine Optimization
What is AI engine optimization and how is it different from SEO?
AEO (AI engine optimization) — also referred to as GEO, or generative engine optimization — is about showing up in the recommendations and answers produced by LLMs such as ChatGPT.
As one operator framed it, the goal is "fitting traffic from different LLMs, such a GPT, and you want to show up in the recommendations." It overlaps heavily with classic SEO but is evolving on its own timeline.
Teams that built large brands on SEO playbooks report that those foundations still work as a starting point, but both SEO and AEO/GEO are changing rapidly , and tactics that worked early (like gaming listicles) are losing their edge.
In practice, content marketing and showing up in SEO and in GEO keeps coming up as a core bucket of AI work for both B2B and B2C teams.
How do LLMs decide which sources to cite?
There's no published ranking formula, but operators who are getting cited today report a consistent pattern: strong fundamentals on classic organic SEO tend to carry over into LLM visibility .
As one founder put it: "if you just apply good thinking for generic SEO practices, it's going to help you in the LLMs, and that's we see that today." On top of that foundation, the tactic that's working is adding Q&A-style sections directly into commercial pages — not buried in a footer FAQ.
Examples used on a Shopify developers page include: Why should you hire a Shopify developer?
What does a Shopify developer do?
How much does it cost to hire a Shopify developer?
When should you hire a developer?
What skills should I look for in a developer?
That "what you need to know" block sits close to the hero, separate from the traditional FAQ at the bottom, and is built specifically for the LLMs .
URL structure decisions (e.g. /roles/shopify-developers vs. a generic /developers ) are made the same way — by iterating with a GPT and applying critical thinking.
“if you just apply good thinking for generic SEO practices, it's going to help you in the LLMs, and that's we see that today.”
How do I check if ChatGPT or Perplexity mentions my brand?
The simplest check is the one operators are actually running: look yourself up in the LLMs.
One bookkeeping founder confirmed their SEO work was paying off because they "did show up in perplexity when I looked you up." The same operator noted that buyers no longer rely only on Google: "a lot of people find, you know, whoever they were looking for in Chat GPT and stuff." Signals that your AEO is working in production: Inbound attribution shifts.
Storetasker reports getting "a lot of leads coming to the website, submitting briefs that have come via the LLMs" — without doing anything fancy specifically to appeal to them.
Perplexity surfaces you when a prospect or partner searches your category or name.
Geo-modified queries (e.g. "find a bookkeeper near you"-style pages on your sitemap) start appearing as best-practice scaffolding LLMs can read.
“Google was the answer two years ago, a year ago now. It's not just uh Google.”
Why does AEO matter for B2B operators right now?
The buyer journey is no longer Google-only.
As one founder put it bluntly: "Google was the answer two years ago, a year ago now.
It's not just uh Google." Marketing teams are now actively working on getting visibility into Perplexity and ChatGPT as named channels, alongside referral partners, brokers, conferences, and traditional organic search.
On the prep side, operators are also using LLMs as a research surface themselves — running a prospect's name through Perplexity before a meeting to pull "everything about them, including their podcasts, their, you know, whatever articles." If your buyers do the same thing about you, your AEO footprint becomes a sales asset, not just a marketing one.
“Two years ago, like, prompting was a competitive advantage. Today, it's become kind of table.”
What foundations do I need before optimizing for AI engines?
Two years ago, prompting was the competitive advantage.
Today it's table stakes.
The current advantage sits with teams that have clean data with a strong semantic layer on top of it, and who can delegate answers — to humans first, and now to machines.
That maturity ladder matters for AEO because the same repository quality that powers your internal AI work also feeds the content, positioning, and structured pages LLMs end up citing.
The teams moving fastest are "not the most technical anymore" — they're the ones who have built the muscle of delegation and applied it to AI.
“fitting traffic from different LLMs, such a GPT, and you want to show up in the recommendations.”
Frequently asked questions.
- What does AEO stand for?
- AEO stands for AI Engine Optimization. It's also referred to as GEO, or generative engine optimization. Both terms describe the practice of structuring your content so that LLMs like ChatGPT surface and recommend your brand in their answers. Operators describe it as fitting traffic from different LLMs and showing up in the recommendations, and it's treated as a parallel discipline to classic SEO rather than a replacement.
- Is AEO different from SEO in practice?
- The foundations overlap heavily — operators report that solid generic SEO practices already help with LLM visibility today. The differences show up in on-page structure: pages built for AEO add a prominent Q&A-style block near the hero (separate from the footer FAQ) answering questions like 'why should you hire X,' 'what does X do,' and 'how much does it cost,' specifically so LLMs can lift them.
- How can I tell if ChatGPT or Perplexity is citing my brand?
- Run the queries yourself. Operators check Perplexity directly to confirm they appear for category and brand-name searches — one bookkeeping founder validated their marketing team's work by showing up in Perplexity. Watch your inbound channel too: Storetasker tracks leads submitting briefs that came via the LLMs, even without doing anything fancy specifically to appeal to them. Both are practical signals your AEO foundation is working.
- Should I still invest in classic SEO if buyers are moving to ChatGPT?
- Buyers are using both. One operator put it directly: 'the SEO people find us, but now we understand that all people also find us not only on Google, but Perplexity, ChatGPT.' Their marketing team is actively working on getting visibility in those channels in addition to Google. And because good generic SEO practices tend to carry over into LLM visibility, the same investment compounds across both surfaces.
- Can I just game AEO by getting listed in listicles?
- Not reliably anymore. Operators with deep SEO backgrounds note that AEO and GEO are changing very rapidly, and that there was a time you could game some of this — for example, by just getting listed in listicles — but those shortcuts are eroding. The durable play is building the SEO foundations and adapting on-page structure (URL choices, Q&A blocks) as the LLM ecosystem evolves.
- What internal foundations help AEO work better?
- Clean data with a strong semantic layer, and the organizational muscle of delegating answers. Prompting was a competitive advantage two years ago but is now table stakes; the teams moving fastest are not the most technical, they're the ones who learned to delegate to humans and are now applying that to machines. That same repository quality feeds the positioning, copy, and structured pages that LLMs end up citing externally.