Today, AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot are siphoning searchers away from Google by offering answers instead of links. To keep up, Google has embedded AI directly into its search engine, giving people what they increasingly want- answers, not clicks. So what does this mean for search engine optimization (SEO) and Search Marketing in general?
It means that Search Marketing now includes SEO + AEO. That’s search engine optimization as well as answer engine optimization. It means ensuring that your website is still prominent in Google searches while also preparing for a future where more and more searches end in an AI answer.
At J. Walker Marketing, we’re expanding into SEO + AEO. This means offering clients strategies that drive organic traffic from search engines as well as raising their brand profile in AI-driven answers.
SEO is not obsolete, but it’s evolving with the spread of AI and changes in consumer search habits. By adopting this integrated mindset, your website gains a competitive advantage. You maintain your organic ranking performance while also getting featured in answers, voice queries and other AI-driven content.
Here’s a roadmap for succeeding in this evolving space.
1. Content Relevance + Answer Intent: It’s not enough to match a query; your content must “answer” it in a way that AI agents prefer. That means clean structure, precise responses, and direct answers up front.
2. Technical & Content Structure: A search engine reads the HTML code on your website. However, an AI-driven answer engine reads a different language. These AI agents want correctly structured data, content clarity and cohesion across your site and on related sites.
3. Authority & Trust: Backlinks still matter, but so do different kinds of credibility signals. These include linking content placements on other sites, brand mentions across the web, references to your content and the reputation of the content’s author.
4. Engagement & UX Signals: AI-driven systems increasingly factor in data related to the user experience on your site. So having a fast, accessible, and relevant site content will boost both SEO and AEO.
At J. Walker Marketing, we don’t treat SEO and AEO as separate silos. Our approach unifies them into a single, coherent strategy. And at the same time, we are still leaning into the SEO techniques that we know work, while testing and learning AEO techniques that are just emerging. So we have a future-forward mindset, but one that demands real results.
SEO is not disappearing; it’s evolving. By integrating SEO with AEO, you can prepare your brand for the next era of discoverability. So let us help you evolve as consumer preferences and habits do.
Contact us today to evaluate your current presence, map your opportunities across search and answer engines, and launch your new roadmap for SEO + AEO.
J. Walker Marketing offers Advanced Google Analytics Certification. Digital platforms commonly used in these services include:
