AEO vs SEO: What Marketers Need to Know in 2026

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in traditional search engine results — primarily Google, but also Bing, Yahoo, and others.

SEO has been the foundation of digital marketing for over two decades. When someone searches for “best PR platform,” SEO determines which websites appear on the first page of results.

How SEO works

Search engines use crawlers to index web pages, then rank them based on hundreds of factors:

• Keywords — Does the page content match the search query?
• Backlinks — Do other authoritative sites link to this page?
• Technical performance — Does the page load fast, work on mobile, and use clean HTML?
• Content quality — Is the content comprehensive, original, and useful?
• User signals — Do visitors stay on the page or bounce immediately?

The goal of SEO is simple: appear as high as possible in search results for queries your audience is searching.

What is AEO?

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing your brand and content to be cited by AI-powered answer engines — tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude.

Unlike traditional search, these AI tools don’t show a list of links. They generate direct answers, often citing specific sources. When someone asks ChatGPT “What’s the best way to get media coverage?”, AEO determines whether your brand gets mentioned in the response.

How AEO works

AI models generate answers by drawing from their training data and, increasingly, real-time retrieval from the web. The factors that influence citations are different from SEO:

• Source authority — Is the content published on a trusted, well-known site?
• Content structure — Is the information clearly organized with headings, lists, and tables?
• Direct answers — Does the content explicitly answer common questions?
• Frequency of mention — Is the brand mentioned across multiple authoritative sources?
• Recency — Is the information current and recently published?

The goal of AEO is: get your brand included in AI-generated answers when someone asks a relevant question.

AEO vs SEO: side-by-side comparison

Factor	SEO	AEO
Goal	Rank in search engine results pages (SERPs)	Get cited in AI-generated answers
Primary platforms	Google, Bing	ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude
Key ranking signals	Keywords, backlinks, technical SEO	Source authority, content structure, citation frequency
Content format	Long-form pages optimized for specific keywords	Structured, answer-first content on authoritative sites
Results format	List of blue links	Direct text answer with source citations
Measurement	Rankings, organic traffic, click-through rate	Brand mentions in AI responses, citation frequency
Timeline	Months to see results	Varies — depends on content indexing and model updates
Cost model	Ongoing content + technical optimization	Content creation + earned media placement

Where they overlap

AEO and SEO aren’t competing strategies — they share significant common ground:

1. Content quality matters for both

Both search engines and AI models reward comprehensive, well-structured content. A page that ranks well on Google is also more likely to be cited by AI tools, because the same qualities (depth, clarity, authority) signal trustworthiness to both systems.

2. Backlinks and citations

In SEO, backlinks from authoritative sites boost your rankings. In AEO, mentions on authoritative sites increase the likelihood of being included in AI training data and retrieval results. Earned media coverage serves both purposes simultaneously.

3. Structured data

Schema markup (JSON-LD) helps search engines understand your content — and it also helps AI models extract structured information for their answers. FAQ schema, Article schema, and HowTo schema are valuable for both SEO and AEO.

Where they differ

Discovery vs. answers

SEO is about discovery — helping users find your website. AEO is about answers — getting your brand into the response itself, even if the user never visits your site.

Control vs. influence

With SEO, you have significant control over your rankings through on-page optimization, technical improvements, and link building. With AEO, you have less direct control — you can influence citations by publishing authoritative content, but the AI ultimately decides what to include in its response.

Measurement maturity

SEO has mature, well-established metrics: rankings, organic traffic, click-through rates, and conversion attribution. AEO measurement is still emerging — tools like Ahrefs Brand Radar, Profound, and Otterly are building citation tracking, but the field is young.

Why earned media is the bridge between SEO and AEO

If there’s one strategy that strengthens both SEO and AEO simultaneously, it’s earned media — getting your brand featured on authoritative third-party publications.

Here’s why:

• For SEO: Editorial backlinks from high-authority media sites are among the strongest ranking signals. A single mention on a DR 70+ publication can meaningfully improve your search visibility.
• For AEO: AI models heavily weight authoritative sources. When your brand is mentioned on Forbes, TechCrunch, or industry-specific publications, those mentions become part of the knowledge base AI models draw from.

This is the core insight: press coverage doesn’t just help you rank on Google — it helps you appear in AI answers.

Services like Presscart make this accessible by connecting brands directly with 1,400+ publishers for guaranteed editorial placements, eliminating the uncertainty of traditional PR pitching.

How to build a combined SEO + AEO strategy

Step 1: Start with SEO fundamentals

Don’t abandon SEO for AEO. Make sure your website has:

• Fast load times and mobile responsiveness
• Clear site structure with internal linking
• Target keyword coverage for your core topics
• Schema markup on key pages

Step 2: Create answer-first content

For every key topic in your space, create content that directly answers the question in the first 1-2 sentences, then provides comprehensive supporting detail. Use headings, tables, and structured formats that AI models can easily parse.

Step 3: Invest in earned media

Get your brand mentioned on authoritative third-party sites. This builds the kind of multi-source citation footprint that both Google and AI models trust. Focus on:

• Editorial placements on relevant industry publications
• Thought leadership articles on high-authority sites
• Press coverage tied to genuine company news or insights

Step 4: Structure your data

Implement schema markup across your site — especially FAQ, Article, and Organization schemas. This helps both search engines and AI models understand and cite your content correctly.

Step 5: Monitor both channels

Track your traditional SEO metrics (rankings, organic traffic) alongside emerging AEO metrics (brand mentions in AI responses, citation sources). Tools are evolving rapidly in this space.

The bottom line

SEO and AEO are not an either/or choice. They’re complementary strategies that share the same foundation: creating authoritative, well-structured content and building your brand’s presence across trusted sources.

The brands that will win in 2026 and beyond are the ones investing in both — using SEO to capture traditional search traffic while building the authoritative media presence that AI models cite in their answers.

Earned media is the most efficient way to advance both goals simultaneously: every editorial placement strengthens your backlink profile (SEO) while increasing your citation footprint in AI training data (AEO).