Is Answer Engine Optimization the Future of SEO?

Is Answer Engine Optimization the Future of SEO?

Jan 8, 2025

Reading Time: 3 minutes
Is Answer Engine Optimization the Future of SEO

By now you’ll have noticed the generative AI section that appears at the top of most Google SERPs. This generative AI answer has been driving search results further and further down the SERP, meaning that the top search result doesn’t mean quite as much as it used to. This doesn’t mean that your SEO efforts are useless, however. But we now have a name for the strategy of optimizing specifically for generative AI: answer engine optimization (AEO).

What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing digital content so that it provides quick, concise, and accurate answers to user queries—often in the form of featured snippets, knowledge panels, or other instantly visible answers on search results pages. While traditional search engine optimization (SEO) focuses on ranking as high as possible for relevant keywords, AEO goes one step further by tailoring content to directly answer the specific questions users are asking.

What Is the Difference Between AEO and SEO?

AEO is a specific strategy that falls under the umbrella of SEO. SEO seeks to optimize for all parts of the search engine through a variety of strategies, including link-building and keyword research.  AEO, on the other hand, is more focused on answering specific user queries. Although the presence of AI is relatively new, the core concept of AEO isn’t actually new. It’s very similar to strategies for the featured snippet or for voice search.

What Are Key AEO Strategies?

Fortunately, the core strategies for AEO aren’t that different from what you should already have been doing. The following are things you can do specifically for AEO but also to maintain a good SEO strategy overall.

Long-Tail Keywords

Focusing on long-tail keywords has already been a strategy for voice-activated devices and apps like Siri and Alexa. People tend to ask questions like they’re talking to another person when they use a voice search rather than typing a few keywords into the search engine. Generative AI is no different. People chat with it like it’s a person, so the same strategy of optimizing for long-tail keywords can apply here, too.

Leverage FAQs

FAQs are an example of this strategy in action. There’s one question highlighted and answered concisely. This is the type of answer that can be featured in the generative AI section because it’s structured as a quick answer. You can use bullet points, clear headings (that are long-tail keywords) and a concise answer directly beneath the heading that is either the entire answer or summarizes longer-form content below.

EEAT

Google has long stated that high-quality content is what the company wants to deliver to its searchers. Generative AI hasn’t changed that. In fact, high quality content across the board can increase your chances of getting the featured snippet because you’ve established your site’s trustworthiness and authority in the subject. It’s a good idea to continue to produce the best possible content you can and even to go through older content to make sure that it’s still accurate and up-to-date.

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How the August 2024 Google Core Update Affected SEO

How the August 2024 Google Core Update Affected SEO

Oct 21, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How the August 2024 Google Core Update Affected SEO
Google finished its second core update of the year at the beginning of September. This core update, which began to roll out in August of 2024 took 19 total days to complete, which is, while still on the long side, much shorter than the other big update this year. The March 2024 core update took an unprecedented 45 days to fully roll out.

So now that the August update has finished and we’ve had some time to look at how it affected the SEO landscape, is there anything that you should know?

What Did the August 2024 Core Updated Change?

According to Google’s own announcementabout the update, it was designed to improve the algorithm’s ability to match users with the best possible content. The ultimate goal was to show more content that was genuinely interesting and useful to searchers rather than content that was created specifically to rank on the search engine results page (SERP). The update also took into account feedback from smaller creators, who had complained that their quality content wasn’t able to compete as well even though it was relevant.

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White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO

The battle between white-hat SEO and black-hat SEO has been ongoing since the dawn of Google. There have always been creators who create content with the intent of gaming the search engines. These tactics, called black hat SEO, worked back in the dark ages of Google but Google quickly released the Panda Update, which completely overhauled the search algorithm to reward sites that prioritized user experience and punish those that utilized user-unfriendly tactics like keyword stuffing to prioritize the search engine rankings.

While black hat SEO looks very different now than it did back in the early days of Google, it still exists. Any SEO technique that puts the search engine over users can qualify as black hat; it may not look like keyword stuffing anymore because that no longer works but it’s evolved along with Google. Google’s goal is to match users with the best possible results, so prioritizing users and providing them with genuinely useful content can help future-proof your SEO because that’s the kind of content that Google is continually refining its algorithm to prioritize. This latest update is no exception.

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AI Pricing Smaller Creators Out of SEO

Earlier this year, we wondered whether smaller creators who couldn’t afford to pay to play in the Google SERP landscape were getting priced out of SEO. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones concerned that those with smaller budgets weren’t going to be able to compete and Google received feedback from those smaller businesses and individuals who felt that their content wasn’t ranking as well as it ought to, given the quality of the content. This update aims to address that and give smaller creators a chance to rank; before, larger creators would be seen as more authoritative simply because they had the resources and name recognition to garner backlinks that smaller creators wouldn’t.

What Results Did Creators See After the Update?

SEMRush reported that a majority of its users saw changes in their rankings, whether good or bad. Most saw some decreases in rankings, although many did see increases as well. Google’s advice for what to do if your rankings drop is to revisit your content strategy to make sure that you’re creating the highest possible quality of content, namely following Google’s EEAT guidelines. We’ve been advising for years to put your users first rather than search engines and we stand by that advice.

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How To Rank in the Google Search Generative Experience

How To Rank in the Google Search Generative Experience

Aug 12, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How To Rank in the Google Search Generative Experience
How To Rank in the Google Search Generative Experience

With the rise of AI-driven content creation and the rapid evolution of search engines, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is transforming how users find information. Unlike traditional search, SGE taps into the power of generative AI to craft more comprehensive, conversational responses, making it essential for website owners, content creators, and digital marketers to adapt their strategies in order to stay competitive.

What Is the Google Search Generative Experience (SGE)?

You may have noticed that at the top of some Google SERPs, there is now a section at the top where generative AI can provide an answer to the search before the ranked web pages. Users can ask additional questions with the generative AI without leaving the SERP. While the SGE offers searchers a more conversational search experience, for those trying to rank for the top spots on the SERP, it means that the top spot now means less as it’s been pushed further down the page.

This doesn’t mean that SEO is now useless. It is, however, a good opportunity to take a look at your SEO strategies and make sure that they’re taking the SGE into account.

#1: Prioritize High-Quality, Factual Content

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: EEAT is possibly the most important factor in modern SEO. Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness are the qualities that Google is looking for in content that is eligible to rank highly. If your content doesn’t follow the EEAT guidelines, then it’s unlikely to rank on the first page of the search results at all, let alone in the top spot or in the SGE.

#2: Optimize for Conversational and Long-Tail Queries

Generative AI is designed to interact in a conversational way with users. This means that keywords should be framed in a conversational way. Long tail keywords, which are longer key phrases instead of individual words, are good examples of this. In many cases, users are asking questions, so wording a key phrase as a question can be a good way to keep your SEO more competitive in the generative AI landscape.

#3: Don’t Rely Only on Written Content

The AI powering SGE is not limited to text. It considers multimedia content like videos, podcasts, and images. Including diverse content formats will give your brand more opportunities to be featured. YouTube videos in particular can rank very highly in the SGE. YouTube is owned by Google and is a search engine in its own right, which means that YouTube videos have two opportunities to rank: first on YouTube and then again on the Google SERP. YouTube videos can be very valuable additions to any SEO strategy because videos don’t rank below the SGE, they rank within it at the top of the page.

#4: User Experience Still Matters

If a user isn’t getting the answers they’re looking for in the SGE, they may scroll down until they do. This means that user experience, which drives the metrics Google is using to rank pages, such as click-through rate, bounce rate, and dwell time, still matter. As the SERP landscape adjusts, it’s important to make sure that no matter how the Google search results shake out you’re still providing users with a good experience on your site in addition to good content because this ultimately is in line with Google’s own goal of providing a good user experience and the content that best answers their question.

Creating your content users in mind over the search engines can have the added benefit of helping to future-proof your SEO as much as possible, even in a search engine landscape that is constantly changing.

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How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

Jul 15, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How Generative AI Is Impacting SEO in 2024

You may have noticed that when you search for something on Google, you get a response from generative AI at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). This is Google Search Generative Experience, or Google SGE, and it’s been gradually changing the landscape of the SERP and thus, of SEO, as it is rolled out across more and more search queries. But what, exactly, does this mean for SEO?

How Does Google Search Generative Experience Affect the Search Engine Results Page?

The primary effect is that the number 1 search result, a highly prized ranking, is much further down on the SERP. The top of the screen is taken up by sponsored ads, generative AI, and YouTube videos. Users have to scroll down to see even the first result on many SERPs, let alone those lower ranked. This makes that top spot much less valuable because generative AI may have already answered the user’s question, reducing the likelihood that they will scroll down to see the web pages that have ranked for that query.

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What Can We Do To Compete With Generative AI?

In many ways, we can’t compete with generative AI. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re out of the SEO game. Even as SEO is changing to reflect the presence of generative AI, there are strategies we can focus on to help users find our content.

1. Improve Your Local SEO

Local SEO is going to be increasingly important as generative AI takes over more of the regular SERPs. If a user searches for a keyword in a specific location (for example, “Detroit coffee shop” or “Mexican restaurant near me”), then Google provides a Google map result with the Google Business Profile entries for local businesses that fit the search criteria. If you have a physical location for your business, then filling out this profile in full can help people to find you.

2. Get Into the YouTube Game

YouTube is a search engine in its own right and many people are turning to videos over written content. This presents an opportunity for ranking within YouTube as well as ranking at the top of the Google SERP, which does, depending on the query, include relevant YouTube videos in the generative AI section of the SERP. This represents an opportunity to appear at the top of the SERP, above the top search result in addition to within YouTube’s own search algorithm, providing two places to rank with one video.

3. Focus on Expertise and Experience

Google has long recommended following the EEAT (formerly EAT) guidelines to produce high-quality content: expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness. Generative AI may be useful for many things, but it cannot replicate human experience. Focusing on your expertise and experience within your field can provide insights that no generative AI can offer. This type of content could attract users who are looking for something more than the more generic responses that AI could provide.

4. Keep Humans Involved

Perhaps the most important thing is to remember that, despite the involvement of AI, Google’s aim is predominantly to connect people with the best possible answers. AI cannot understand people the way people do, so people should therefore be involved in every step of your content creation process, even if you use generative AI yourself. This is because AI can make errors or may misunderstand human emotions and experiences. Having everything at a minimum reviewed by a human maintains a personal touch and increases accuracy. On top of that, it provides something that AI can’t, which is what can compete with AI online.

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How Has the Google March 2024 Core Update Impacted the SEO Landscape?

How Has the Google March 2024 Core Update Impacted the SEO Landscape?

May 20, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
How Has the Google March 2024 Core Update Impacted the SEO Landscape?

Google began to roll out a new core update in March of 2024. Usually, it only takes a week or so for a new update to completely roll out. This update, however, was much more complex and took a total of 45 days to complete. What does that mean for the SEO landscape?

What Did the March 2024 Core Update Do?

The March 2024 Core Update was so complex because it addressed multiple core Google systems. However, it had one primary focus: spam reduction. From the onset, Google’s goal has been to provide users with the most useful and high-quality content when they search. Most, if not all of their core updates have been made with this goal in mind.

This latest update is no different. This update’s aim is to reduce or eliminate the amount of spam, or content produced exclusively to attract clicks rather than actually be useful to users, that searchers see. It’s also to reward those who publish high-quality content aimed at users, not search engines, with higher rankings over those who do not.

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What Kinds of Spam Does the Google March 2024 Core Update Address?

According to Google, there are three primary types of spam that this new core update affects:

Expired Domain Abuse

This type of spam involves purchasing an expired domain name and then using it to produce content that has little value to users, thereby attempting to manipulate search rankings.

Scaled Content Abuse

Scaled content abuse involves producing many pages exclusively for the purpose of manipulating the rankings. In many cases, scaled content abuse involves generative AI being used to quickly produce many pages.

Site Reputation Abuse

Site reputation abuse occurs when a site publishes third-party content that doesn’t have close oversight by the site owner and is published with the intention of manipulating search rankings.

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What Changes Should You Make Because of the March 2024 Core Update?

If you’re producing high-quality content with users as your target audience, then no changes are needed. This update targeted content that was aimed at manipulating search engines. If you have experienced a drop in rankings, consider examining your content and making updates where needed to improve its usefulness and quality. Keep in mind the four principles of EEAT:

  • Expertise
  • Experience
  • Authority
  • Trustworthiness

Ensuring that all of your content meets those criteria is the best thing you can do to not only protect yourself from this particular core update but also to future-proof your content from future core updates.

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Can You Still Use AI To Produce Content After the March 2024 Core Update?

The short answer is that it depends on how you were using AI to produce content. If the purpose of using AI was to mass-generate content to manipulate the search engines rather than to produce high-quality content, then that will most likely negatively affect your rankings. If you were instead using AI as a tool to enhance your content, then you might be safe. Our recommendation is to always have a human writer produce your content, whether AI is involved or not, so that there’s expert human oversight over any content that is produced. You don’t necessarily have to avoid using AI altogether, but it should be a helpful writing aid, not the writer.

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Using AI in SEO Optimization

Using AI in SEO Optimization

Apr 22, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes
woman with a tablet with SEO hologram
Generative AI is a versatile tool that has a wide range of applications across the entire Internet marketing industry. Many have used AI tools in content creation and marketing. But can AI be used to help with SEO optimization? The short answer is yes, but with the caveat that any usage of AI ought to be checked by a human expert.

Can You Use AI for Keyword Research?

To streamline the keyword research process, you can ask ChatGPT or another AI program to search for keyword suggestions and trends. In this case, your AI program may not have access to the latest data and might not be providing recommendations based on the latest SEO landscape. Additionally, even if you ask the AI to explain why it recommends each keyword, you won’t necessarily be able to see the data behind the recommendation. This means that you don’t have a good way to judge the search volume for each keyword recommendation. Plus, you know your own industry much better than any AI would.

Tip: Ask for Long-Tail Keyword Suggestions

Don’t replace Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner with ChatGPT. Instead, ask your generative AI of choice to suggest long-tail keywords based on your top keywords from your actual keyword research. Another way to use AI with keywords is to ask it to make suggestions for how to incorporate certain keywords into a piece of content. Keep in mind that you’ll want to review anything provided by the AI.

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Can You Use AI for Content Creation?

AI can be an excellent tool for writers because it can proofread and make suggestions or even provide inspiration for content. We don’t recommend using AI as the writer without a human to review it. This is because AI can provide incorrect information and doesn’t know your audience and your clients like you do. Additionally, generative AI works by predicting what word should come next given the available context. It doesn’t work by understanding what people will want to read.

Tip: Avoid Using AI as Your Writer

Use ChatGPT or other AI to improve writing or to make the writing process faster. Using ChatGPT to write the entire content for you could end up triggering Google’s anti-spam policies. Google doesn’t punish AI-written content just for being AI-written, but it could be flagged as spam. Additionally, readers may be able to tell that it was AI-written and click away. Either could reduce organic traffic to your website. Instead, a human writer can use ChatGPT to write the first draft, provide feedback, or reduce the amount of time spent on research.

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Can You Use AI for Research?

When it comes to research, you can use AI to significantly shorten the time spent. You can simply ask ChatGPT a question and it’ll provide everything you need to know about it. However, it’s important to remember that you should still double-check your research yourself. AI can “hallucinate,” which means that it can provide wrong information, believing it to be correct. Additionally, some AI programs may not have access to the most recent data and could therefore be providing outdated research.

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