Get clued up about how to leverage AEO to your advantage. We’ve got all the tips you need to move forward with an AEO strategy that works. These tactics will help your content appear in AI search results, AI overviews and in featured snippets or ‘People Also Ask’ results. All these are key to future-proofing your visibility in traditional and AI powered search engines. On Google alone, AI overviews are viewed and engaged with by 26.6% of all internet users, and the stats are likely to keep on growing.
Tips on how to start appearing in AI overviews
As this is a newer area of marketing, it’s important to do your research on the changes and approaches that will move the needle. We’ve outlined some of the tips we’ve tried and tested to get results.
Structured, concise content
Writing for AEO requires careful attention to formatting. Use clear headings as questions (e.g., “What is AEO?”) and provide a short, direct answer (40-60 words) immediately below it. Then you can expand on the topic. Sounds simple, right?
Don’t just answer the question – provide the best, most in-depth answer! That is how you’ll boost your chances of appearing in featured snippets and AI overviews. Map out the related, follow-up questions that people have and aim to answer all these.
For instance, let’s say someone is looking to buy weed killer for their lawn. They will likely want to know the best products for this purpose, but also have a range of follow-up questions:
- Is it a total or selective weed killer? (In layman’s terms: Does it just kill weeds, or does it kill other plant life?)
- What’s the best weather conditions, season or time of day to use the product?
- How to apply the solution and how much is needed?
- Is the product pet-friendly?
- What are customer reviews like, and how effective is the product?
Just from this list alone, you can see how questions unravel into more questions. That is exactly the mentality you need to ace AEO. Answer all the questions that your customers have, not just a handful.
Question-based research
Now you know the aim is to be a wizard at answering your customer’s questions, next you’ll want to know how to find the questions your customers are asking.
Various avenues can be explored. Speak to your sales team to see what customers often ask as a starting point.
There are some really cool tools you can use too (some free, some paid). We use Semrush and Google Search Console (GSC). GSC has a handy ‘Search Results’ section which shows queries people typed in to see your web pages. We use these over other free options as this provides more insightful data – we can actually prove that there are x number of searches per month. Another tool that is suitable for inspiration but not backed up by data, includes Keywords People Use.
Forums are also worth exploring, too, as people love asking super niche questions on the likes of Reddit and Quora. These tools help you uncover “People Also Ask” queries and conversational long-tail keywords.
Conversational is the operative word here. With the rise of AI search, people are now typing in much longer, more natural-sounding queries. Rather than stringing together phrases of 2 or 5 words long, phrases are now as long as 13 words.
So, instead of someone simply typing ‘pink cardigan’, they may type something more specific and tailored to their needs, i.e., petite light pink cardigan in size 6 made from cotton and with long sleeves and gold buttons’.
This new way of searching is a relevancy revolution and puts the customer and users in more control. However, what that means is you need to put in a bit of extra work to appear in these longer searches. That’s where using lengthier, conversational phrases is key.
There are paid tools to research what people are searching in AI to help inform what language you use, and we anticipate this will eventually filter down into free tools as well.
Schema markup is your friend
Schema markup refers to extra details in search results listings. It goes further than the blue text and link listings on Google – it can show a wide range of visually-rich content elements.
If you use the ‘FAQPage’ schema, this signals to Google that you’re adding helpful questions and answers, which boosts your chance of appearing in ‘People Also Ask’ results. ‘HowTo’ schema presents steps for users on how to use a product, providing a more engaging, and click-worthy search result, while also boosting AEO credibility.
Write for humans (and AI bots)
Natural, conversational language is now preferable over the shorter (sometimes clunky looking) keyword phrases of the past. Imagine you’re explaining something to your friends in the pub or talking through how to do something with your parents – you will typically sound personable and supportive, rather than robotic. Just remember to meet the knowledge level of your audience as you don’t want to dumb down explanations for experts, but not put beginners off by using jargon. The more natural and personable you sound, the more AI and humans will favour your content.
Voice search and the conversational web
There’s also the rise of voice search to consider. People rely on these AI assistants to extract quick, direct answers, and the phrases they use will be spoken language, which is significantly different to the way we type. This goes back to what we mentioned earlier about using more conversational language – moving away from clunky, robotic two-word queries, to longer and naturally-flowing questions and requests.
Don’t just focus on your website – look at external mentions for your brand
The stats for focusing more on user-generated content and backlinks are compelling, with Reddit alone appearing in around 3.4% of all AI overviews. The key takeaway is to not just focus on your on-page content, but consider all the other places where you should be mentioned.
The internet is your oyster! We recommend the following areas to get your website appearing in more places online (and hopefully boost your AEO appearances):
- Answer questions on forums
- Answer questions on your Google Business profile
- Post on social media platforms and encourage other people to share the love
Try and get brand mentions and backlinks on high-ranking, high-authority websites (big news sites or sector-specific publications are good options)
Combine AEO and SEO
AEO is not the death of SEO! For ultimate results, combine the strengths of SEO and AEO to stay ahead of competitors, improve visibility across search and AI platforms, and deliver measurable results. The aim is to dominate all areas of search, whether that’s AI search or traditional Google search. Importantly, AEO has a strong hold in both AI and normal searches.
How to track visibility in AEO?
Knowing what to do to improve your visibility in AEO is perhaps the easy part. The difficult part is tracking your visibility in AEO and finding the time to consistently refine strategies based on the data.
It wasn’t long ago that there was no way to track where you were appearing in AI results. However, things move fast, and there are now tools that tell you how well you’re ranking and the volume of mentions across AI compared to your competitors. Metrics include visibility, whether your brand is receiving positive mentions and the positioning of the mentions (just like with SEO, the higher up you’re mentioned, the better). These tools monitor where you’re mentioned and cited across the most popular AI search platforms, including ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Will AEO hurt my website traffic?
This is a worry for many businesses, but the short answer is no, AEO won’t hurt your traffic. In fact, it should have the opposite effect – it’s designed to enhance your overall digital presence and put your online business in a good position for AI-dominated search.
Here’s why:
Zero-click visibility: AEO targets a specific type of search intent: a user who wants a quick, definitive answer. In many cases, these users would have never clicked through to your site anyway. By providing the answer, you are capturing a “zero-click” opportunity and getting your brand’s name and expertise in front of them.
Building authority and trust: When Google or another AI platform cites your content as the trusted source, it acts as a powerful third-party endorsement. This builds immense brand authority and credibility. A user who sees you as the authority for one question is more likely to remember and trust your brand for a future, more complex search.
Driving qualified conversions: AEO is not just about informational queries. A featured snippet for “best weed killer for lawns” can capture a user at the top of the funnel. While they get their initial answer, the authority you’ve established makes them more likely to click through to your site for a deeper dive or a product comparison, leading to a higher-quality, more qualified lead.
Strong SEO: The most successful AEO strategies are built on a foundation of strong SEO. This is because higher-ranking pages are more likely to appear in AI overviews. So, essentially, SEO and AEO shouldn’t be seen as two separate entities, but as complementary approaches.
Ready to create an AEO strategy that works for your business?
Talk to the team at Echo – as a specialist AEO agency, we take a strategic approach to planning and delivering content that’s favoured by both humans and AI answer bots. We have the latest tools to track your visibility in AI searches and the expertise to get your site appearing in these searches and citations.
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