AI search acronyms are mostly noise. Here's what you actually need to change.
Have you noticed how the marketing industry loves a new acronym?
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation). Someone is always trying to sell the idea that AI search requires an entirely different strategy from what we've been doing for years.
Google's own people disagree—consistently, clearly, and recently.
Speaking at WordCamp, Google's Search Liaison Danny Sullivan said: "Good SEO is good GEO, or AEO, AI SEO, LLM SEO, or LMNOPEO. What you've been doing for search engines generally is still perfectly fine."
Google's Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes has been equally direct: "You don't need GEO, LLMO, or anything else."
And Nick Fox, Google's SVP of Knowledge and Information, speaking on the AI Inside podcast: "The way to optimise to do well in Google's AI experiences is very similar—I would say the same—as how to perform well in traditional search. Build a great site, build great content."
I continue to be sceptical that AEO, GEO and their relatives are much more than new brands for established SEO best practice—something for agencies to sell and influencers to fill their YouTube channels with. It's somewhat reassuring to find Google agrees.
But this doesn't mean nothing is changing.
While the fundamentals of SEO haven't changed, some of the tactics have—and in specific, well-defined areas, meaningfully so. Knowing the difference is where the value is.
And what about "Google Zero"?
There's a panic doing the rounds that Google traffic is dying. The data doesn't support it. A Graphite analysis of Similarweb data found the actual decline in Google traffic to the world's top websites is approximately 2.5%. Google remains the most-visited website in the world, accounting for nearly 20% of all web visits.
One SEO I know presented a slide showing catastrophic Google traffic declines— while having access to his own clients' data showing no meaningful decline at all. Google Zero can become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you take your eye off the ball and your competitors don't.
What IS genuinely changing
Three things, to be specific.
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The buyer journey is moving upstream. More buyers, particularly in B2B, are now using ChatGPT and similar tools to research options before they touch Google. Google has become the verification step rather than the discovery step. An LLM recommends your brand. The buyer then searches your name to confirm. That credit shows as branded search or direct traffic in your analytics—but it's your SEO and content that put you there. If organic traffic looks flat while branded search is growing, your SEO may be working better than your data shows.
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Content structure requirements have evolved. AI retrieval systems favour pages with clear headings, direct answers near the top and self-contained sections that make sense when quoted without surrounding context. A page that answers a question in the first paragraph stands a greater chance of being cited than one that buries the answer in paragraph eight.
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Older content deserves a second look. Not a rewrite, but a restructuring. The goal is a page that an AI can accurately summarise, with answers stated before they're explained, headings written as questions, key points easy to lift without rewriting. Reports, guides, and core service pages are the highest-priority candidates.
What now?
For a start, don’t ignore AI Search. There are numerous studies that show its value. This Visibility Labs study of 94 ecommerce brands found ChatGPT referral traffic converted 31% higher than non-branded organic search. Volume is still small—but when people arrive from AI, they've already done their research.
If you've invested in quality content and technically sound SEO, you're in better shape for AI Search than you may think.
Frankly, I’m running out of space today, but here a couple of areas worth reviewing right now:
- How you're measuring success (consider valuing Branded Search, Conversion Rates and Direct Traffic more heavily)
- Whether your key pages are structured for AI retrieval. And which older content would benefit from a structured revision.
If someone is selling you a separate "AEO strategy"? Ask them what Google's own engineers say. Then ask what, specifically, they're proposing to do differently—and why. The answer will tell you a great deal.
Thanks for reading.
Best
David
