Search is no longer one place. Many people still type a query into Google, while others ask an AI assistant a full question and read the answer. Optimising for both is not two separate jobs. They share the same foundations.
What SEO covers
Search engine optimisation helps your pages rank in traditional results. It combines technical health, useful content, clear page structure and trustworthy links.
What AEO adds
Answer engine optimisation focuses on being understood and cited by AI assistants. These tools favour content that is clear, specific and easy to quote, and that comes from a source they can trust.
What they share
- Helpful content: answer real questions directly, in plain language.
- Clear structure: headings, short paragraphs, lists and FAQs make pages easier for people and machines to read.
- Structured data: markup that tells search systems exactly what a page is about.
- Trust signals: accurate information, real authors, reviews and consistent details about your business.
Where to start
Fix the technical basics, then build pages that answer the questions your customers actually ask. Add FAQs, keep your business details consistent everywhere, and write as if someone will quote you directly, because increasingly they will.
No one can promise a particular ranking or recommendation. What you can do is make your site the clearest, most useful answer available.
