๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ข (๐๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป).
๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต?
Iโve been digging into Ethan Smith‘s work (CEO at Graphite) – one of the sharper minds translating SEO into the AI era. A few insights stand out:
ย ๐ญ. ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ > ๐ค๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐: Not more traffic, but better traffic.
ย ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ถ๐น: Winning head queries (โbest Xโ) = being mentioned in many citations across the web, not just ranking #1. Winning the tail = building owned pages that answer every follow-up question.
ย ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ: Unlike SEO (where you need domain authority), you can show up tomorrow in LLM answers through UGC (Reddit, YouTube) or citations on trusted blogs.
ย ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ-๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ / ๐๐๐ค ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐น๐ฑ: The long-tail of โdoes it work with Y?โ lives in support articles. Most companies miss this. Moving from subdomain โ subdirectory + filling the tail unlocks real AEO gains.
ย ๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ: Answers rotate, vary by model, and shift over time. What matters is your distribution across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐:
SEO isnโt dying. The pie is getting bigger. AEO is about making sure your brand is in the answers people now trust.
Compiled a hygiene AEO starter-kit (article). Please do reach out if you have seen strategies work for your brand!