AEO is SEO with a new invoice

AEO is SEO. I realise that is a disappointing answer if you’ve just put AEO in a pitch deck.

Google’s AI summaries for broad B2B searches often read like a bad listicle glued to the top of the results. A definition, a few safe points, and links to pages saying much the same thing. Summaries of summaries of summaries. They might help someone learn the vocabulary. I wouldn’t trust one to tell me which software to buy or what to change in a marketing plan.

Even Google’s guidance for its AI search features says the SEO fundamentals still apply. It recommends accessible pages and useful, original material that gives people a reason to visit the source. The new acronym hasn’t revealed a secret second search engine.

An AI answer above the results might cost you clicks, and I’d track whether search referrals change. I wouldn’t approve a separate AEO budget without knowing what work it buys. If someone proposes making the site accessible and publishing material worth reading, they can call it SEO.

My bet is that practitioners will get bored with the generic summaries. When the decision matters, they will look for the person who has actually made a judgment. A page that says when a tool is the wrong choice has something the summary cannot manufacture by compressing five pages of feature lists.