Should your team run AEO alongside SEO or instead of it?

Run AEO (answer engine optimization) alongside SEO, never instead of it. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet before it can be linked in AI Overviews, so SEO stays the base. AEO adds answer-first pages and daily checks of AI answers. Amaware is an AI visibility tool that writes the pages and runs the checks.

AEO or SEO: the short answer

Amaware's short answer is to keep SEO and add AEO on top of it. SEO gets your pages found, read and shown by Google. AEO makes sure those pages answer the questions buyers now ask AI, and checks whether the answers name you.

The work goes by three names. AI SEO, also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization), is one job: getting ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Perplexity to name and cite a business. GEO comes from a 2023 research paper on getting cited in AI-written answers. AEO is the older marketing name from featured snippets and voice assistants. Our guide to AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what's the difference? covers the names in full.

More people want this answer each month. US searches for "aeo vs seo" reached 2,400 a month, 41% more than a year earlier. Searches for "what is aeo" reached 6,600 a month in the US, up 111%. Both figures are Google's estimates, measured October 1, 2026.

Should my growth team be testing AEO tactics or is traditional SEO still enough?

Amaware's answer for a growth team is to start testing AEO now, on top of the SEO you already run. SEO is still the work that gets your pages indexed and shown. What SEO's numbers can't tell you is whether ChatGPT or Google's AI names you when a buyer asks what to buy.

A growth team already knows how to run a test. AEO fits the same shape:

1. Write down the questions your buyers ask AI before they buy. Use their words, such as "which accountant handles payroll for a small team" or "best running shoes for flat feet".
2. Publish one answer-first page for a few of those questions. Leave the rest alone for now.
3. Check every day which answers name you, and compare the questions you wrote for against the ones you didn't.

That test costs you a few pages, and the SEO plan keeps running beside it. You learn which kinds of pages get you named, and you stop guessing.

The stakes are simple. Run both, and buyers who ask AI hear your name next to the pages they already find on Google. Run SEO alone, and buyers who ask AI get a shortlist without you.

Should my SaaS marketing team focus on AEO instead of SEO this year?

Amaware's answer for a software company is alongside, never instead. Google's own rule explains why. A page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet before Google's AI can link to it. Drop SEO, and you drop the base that AI Overviews and AI Mode read from.

The answer is the same for a dental practice, an online store, a law firm or a software company. What changes is the questions. A software buyer asks AI for comparisons and alternatives. A patient asks which practice near them takes their insurance. A shopper asks which product suits a need.

Split the hours this way:

• Keep the SEO work that already brings you buyers: technical health, indexing and the pages that earn traffic today.
• Put new writing hours on pages that answer one buyer question each, with the answer at the top.
• Rewrite your strongest existing pages so the answer sits in the first paragraph and each heading is a question buyers ask.

You don't need a second team for this. The writers who make your SEO pages can make answer pages too.

What's a winning AEO strategy for product teams competing in AI search results?

Amaware's AEO plan is three steps, and each one sits on top of SEO you already do.

1. Keep your SEO base

Every page you want quoted has to be indexed and eligible for a snippet in Google Search. Let Googlebot and OAI-SearchBot crawl it. This step costs nothing new if your SEO is sound.

2. Publish one answer-first page per buyer question

Put the direct answer in the first 60 words, so an engine can lift it on its own. Word each heading as a question people ask. Back each claim with something specific: a price with its billing period, a date, a named source or a count.

Use a list when the question asks for options and a table when it asks for a comparison. Say honestly where a rival wins. A page that only sells gives an engine little to quote.

3. Check the answers every day

Track which questions name you, which of your pages get cited and who gets named in your place. Fix the page behind a question that still misses. Keep the pages that work as they are.

For product teams, the pages to start with are the ones buyers already ask about: comparisons, alternatives, pricing questions and "which tool for this job" questions.

What does Google Search Central say about AI Overviews and SEO?

Google Search Central's AI features page sets one bar for AI Overviews and AI Mode. It says: "To be eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet."

The same page adds: "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary." It also says: "There are no additional technical requirements."

So for Google's AI, there's no separate checklist. Sound SEO is the entry ticket. What AEO adds is the choice of which buyer questions you answer, and a daily check of whether Google's AI, ChatGPT and Gemini name you for them.

How does ChatGPT search read your site?

OpenAI's ChatGPT search reads the web with its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot. Allow OAI-SearchBot to crawl your site in your robots.txt, the same way you allow Googlebot. OpenAI answers publishers' questions in its Publishers and Developers FAQ.

ChatGPT is a second search to plan for. Your Google rankings don't show you what ChatGPT says about your business. Check ChatGPT's answers on their own, for the same buyer questions you track for Google.

Make sure the pages you want quoted load as plain text, with the answer near the top.

How do you measure AEO next to SEO?

Amaware measures AEO with a few plain numbers, checked every day. Keep your SEO measures as they are: rankings, clicks and organic traffic. Then add the AEO ones beside them:

• How often AI answers name you, as a share of the answers for your questions.
• How often an answer cites one of your pages as a source.
• How often you're named first, and which brand sits just above you.
• Which websites the answers cite, so you know where buyers' AI gets its facts.

Check daily, because the answers change. A single answer is a sample, and engines change weekly. A single check shows one moment, while a daily record shows the pattern.

Read the two sets of numbers together. A page that ranks well on Google and still isn't named in AI answers needs a clearer answer at the top.

How Amaware does this

Amaware asks the questions your buyers ask on three engines you pick from ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Claude. The first five run every day and Claude once a week. You see who gets named and which websites the answers cite. Every question that leaves you out becomes one thing to publish (a page, a video or a reply), ranked by what gets you seen fastest, each with a brief.

Amaware writes the articles in your voice and tracks when AI cites each one. On Starter you publish them yourself. On Pro and Growth, Amaware publishes them to your WordPress, Webflow, HubSpot or Next.js site. You can also connect Claude or ChatGPT over MCP and let your AI do the steps.

Amaware isn't a full SEO suite. It has no backlink index, no site audit crawler and no classic Google rank tracker, so keep your SEO tool for those. That's the alongside answer in practice.

Starter is $97 a month, billed monthly, for 50 prompts and 4 articles a month. HubSpot AEO is cheaper to start, at $50 a month, or $45 a month billed yearly, for 25 prompts, as of October 2026. Per prompt the two land close, at about two dollars a prompt each. What the extra money buys is 4 articles a month written for you. Our page on Amaware vs HubSpot: which AEO tool should you pick in 2026? compares the two in full.

See what AI says about you, free, against your own brand. Every plan also comes with 7 days free, with a card on file.

FAQ

What are AEO best practices for product teams in 2026?

Answer the buyer's question in the first 60 words and word every heading as a question people ask. Back each claim with a number, a date or a named source. Keep the page indexed and eligible for a snippet, then check every day whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI name you.

What does Google Search Central say about AI Overviews and SEO?

Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to be a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Its guide adds that "there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."

Does structured data help a page show in AI Overviews?

Google's AI features page says "There are no additional technical requirements." So structured data stays part of your normal SEO, used the way you use it today. Put the extra effort into the page itself: a direct answer, clear question headings and specific facts.

What is OAI-SearchBot, and should you allow it?

OAI-SearchBot is the crawler OpenAI uses for ChatGPT search. Allow it in your robots.txt so ChatGPT search can read your pages. Then check that the pages you want quoted load as plain text, with the answer near the top.

How do you measure AEO results next to SEO?

Keep SEO's measures: rankings, clicks and organic traffic. For AEO, track how many AI answers name your business, which of your pages they cite and who gets named instead. Check daily, because the answers change.

Is AEO different for a software company than for other businesses?

The work is the same for a software company, a dental practice, an online store or a law firm. Keep pages indexed, answer the questions buyers ask AI and check the answers daily. What changes is the questions, so start from the words your own buyers use.