The number of digital voice assistants in use worldwide has increased by 158% to 8.4 billion from 2019 to 2024, as reported by SEMRush. This accelerated growth demonstrates an increased opportunity for brands to connect with customers beyond screens and directly in their homes. However, this shift from screens to speakers means that ranking in the number one position is even more important to maintain organic visibility.
This is how answer engine optimization (AEO) is changing the future of search engine optimization (SEO).
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is a website optimization practice that provides direct zero-click answers to user queries in voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, App Siri, and Google Assistant. However, with the rise of popular LLMs, chatbots like Gemini and ChatGPT also have voice assistant capabilities.
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Why is AEO Important?
Previously, traditional search engines have provided multiple results and various media types for user queries. Now, answer engines typically provide one direct answer and only provide additional results for follow-up questions initiated by the searcher. Therefore, search engine optimizers are no longer competing for the top 10, 5, or 3 results; we’re all now competing for just the one top result. That is why an effective AEO strategy is so important to maintain organic visibility.
According to Search Engine Land, 60% of Google searches end without a click in 2024. This shows the shift in user behavior and preference for quick and direct answers, which we can infer will continue to steer users more toward answer engines than search engines.
AEO vs. SEO
Despite these two optimization techniques being designed for different search engines, they are quite similar, and foundational SEO strategies are the backbone of an effective AEO strategy. Soon they may not even be considered separate strategies and instead, fall under the umbrella “zero-click optimization” strategy due to the major shifts in search engine result pages (SERP). I predict that voice assistants will start delivering the Google and Bing AI summary snippets as answers which will blur the lines between optimizing for search engines vs answer engines.
However, before we start worrying about building comprehensive zero-click optimization strategies, let’s look at how the growing prevalence of voice assistants has changed SEO to AEO.
Authority vs. Relevance
Previously, traditional search engines like Google and Bing have prioritized high-ranking content depending on page authority. This authority was determined by the number of backlinks a page/domain had, the age of the page/domain, the quality of the content, user experience (Core Web Vitals), and more.
Now, answer engines are primarily focused on content relevancy and who can accurately answer the users’ queries the most effectively and efficiently. That’s not to say that authority is no longer relevant, but it has slipped into the passenger seat instead of the driver seat.
E.E.A.T vs. H.E.E.A.T
Speaking of relevance, there are new quality content guidelines that account for this change. Previously, SEO focused on Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. Now, AEO is also focused on helpfulness. We must ask ourselves if the content we produce satisfies the users’ search query or if they need more information. If the answer is that your content does satisfy the user search query, then your content is likely helpful and is more likely to be cited in an answer engine.
Backlinks vs. Reputation Management
I am almost certain that I don’t stand alone when I say, backlink building is one of the highest effort lowest reward (and least favorite) SEO strategies. For many years, Google has been cracking down on spammy link-building making the practice less and less prevalent. Now, the SEO best practice for backlink building is creating high-quality relevant content worth linking to even without having to ask or pay for it.
However, since AEO focuses more on content relevancy and being in the right place at the right time, backlink growth strategies are becoming even more obsolete. Now, it’s important to focus on reputation management and earned sources. Examples of earned sources include:
- Industry news and media outlets
- Review websites
- Affiliate websites, wards, and listicles
- Industry analysts
- Forums and UGC platforms
- Creator blogs and non-owned social accounts
Voice assistants can pull your company information from all of these sources to deliver direct answers to user queries. Additionally, if your audience is utilizing traditional search engines, reputation management makes it easier to gain real estate on the first page without having to rank your own content.
Clicks vs. Visibility + Clicks
Previously, SEOs were optimizing content to increase their organic clicks. However, since a majority of searches are now conducted without a click, this is not the only metric we are focused on. Now, AEO focuses on growing a brand’s organic visibility. This can be more difficult to track and attribute to conversions which is why it’s still important to maintain a balance of optimizing for visibility and clicks.
For example, informational content doesn’t typically require a user to make a conversion action, therefore it is better suited for a zero-click experience. If a piece of content has an informational intent, I will focus on AEO. Alternatively, some conversion-focused pages, like eCommerce sites, can also benefit from AEO. 12% of the estimated 8.4 billion voice assistant users utilize their devices for online products/services. 8.9 million consumers purchase health and beauty products and 8.8 million purchase electronics.
SEO remains an important strategy for complex topics that require additional information, as well as SaaS companies attempting to persuade users to schedule a demo rather than make an immediate purchase.
Organic Traffic vs. Organic Conversions
Because AEO is moving us away from being click-focused, optimization efforts should be focused on conversions rather than traffic. With the combination of new featured results/AI summaries in Google and an increase in voice assistant shopping, well-optimized eCommerce product listings are imperative to performance. This can look like implementing product schema, optimizing product titles and descriptions, collecting and marking up reviews, and more.
Previously, the education and conversion process happened all in one place. Now, we’re seeing the education process become more prevalent in answer engines. Because of this, when potential customers enter your funnel, they are likely pre-educated and enter further down the funnel.
Queries vs. Prompts
Previously SEO was focused on optimizing for queries that were 1-3 word summaries of what the user was trying to find. Now, searches are moving towards longer and more direct prompts. Additionally, users are now requesting actions from answer engines like “write”, “explain”, “generate” etc.
This is why concise, question-answer formatted content is becoming more popular. If content teams deliver content in a conversational tone that replicates how a user would interact with answer engines, then it is more likely that their answer will be in the featured results.
Algorithm vs. Human
Lastly, we’re no longer trying to “trick” or “hack” the algorithm and are instead focused on delivering a quality user experience. Previously I have mentioned that our space is quickly changing from search engine optimization to search experience optimization which focuses less on how many keywords your content has and more on the value users receive from your content. A sustainable AEO/SEO strategy is human first and algorithm second.
Navigating SEO & AEO
SEO and AEO are not opposing concepts but rather complementary strategies that can work together to improve online visibility, user experience, and engagement. By combining the principles and techniques of SEO and AEO, marketers can create a holistic digital marketing approach that maximizes the benefits of both strategies.
Don’t go in alone; NoGood is well-versed in both SEO and emerging AEO trends. Learn how to optimize your brand for both.
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