User behavior is shifting from traditional search engines (Google) to LLM-based answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity), marking the second-biggest change in SEO history.
Traffic from LLMs converts at a significantly higher rate; Webflow observed leads from LLMs converting 6x higher than those from Google search.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) requires a new strategy focused on maximizing brand mentions across many citations (especially Reddit and YouTube), rather than securing the single top search result.
Despite the rise of AI answers, the overall market for search is expanding, and early-stage companies have a unique opportunity to win quickly in AEO as domain authority is less of a factor.
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Concerns Raised
The internet is becoming saturated with AI-generated content, which could degrade the quality of LLM training data and answers.
Traffic from LLMs is often misattributed as direct or branded search, making it difficult to measure the true ROI of AEO efforts.
There is significant misinformation and misunderstanding about what AEO is and how it works.
Opportunities Identified
Traffic from LLMs converts at a 6x higher rate than traditional search, representing a highly valuable new acquisition channel.
Early-stage companies can win at AEO quickly because it relies on citation volume rather than long-term domain authority.
The rise of answer engines is expanding the overall search market, creating new opportunities to reach customers with different types of queries.