Beyond SEO: Are we thinking about "AI Engine Optimization" (AEO) yet?

[seosiri]

Hey fellow AI Adventurers,

I've been going deep on how our marketing strategies need to evolve for AI—not just using tools like the HubSpot AI Assistant for creation, but fundamentally changing how we optimize for discovery.

For years, we've focused on SEO for human searchers. But now, AI engines (ChatGPT, SGE, etc.) are a new, primary audience consuming our content to generate answers. This calls for a new practice I've been terming "AI Engine Optimization" (AEO).

It's less about traditional keyword tactics and more about:

Structured Clarity: Is your content easily parsable for key entities and concepts?

Demonstrable Authority (E-E-A-T): How do you signal your expertise to a machine?

Verifiable Accuracy: Are you providing data and citing sources that AI can trust?

It's exciting to see that HubSpot is already on the cutting edge of this. I was experimenting with their new AEO Grader tool —it gives a fascinating technical snapshot of how a site is perceived by AI. I ran my own site (SEOsiri) through it, and the results confirmed that this is a critical new area to focus on.

This solidifies for me that we need to be optimizing our HubSpot-hosted blogs and sites to become the primary, authoritative sources for these new answer engines.

So, I’m curious about your thoughts:

Have you tried the AEO Grader yet? What were your takeaways?

Are you actively changing how you structure content for AI-driven search?

I've compiled my full strategic framework and research on this into a guide. If you want to dive deeper beyond the technical check and into the core strategy, you can read it here:

https://www.seosiri.com/2025/10/ai-engine-optimization-guide.html  

Looking forward to the discussion!

Cheers,

Momenul

[TSiri]

thank you @seosiri this is great!

My 2 cents (might not even be worth that much...) is that, as with anything else - information is good, knowledge is power, change is the only constant & all of the other cliches but I also feel like if you know your brand/brand voice & core values & stick to them, put out good content, do it consistently, EEAT & monitor where your successes are coming from - it doesn't so much feel like it's this Huge "ohmygosh" moment as much as it's a yup - still need to be value first & don't put out **bleep**...& you'll be ok.

[seosiri]

You've absolutely nailed it. Your "2 cents" are worth a fortune because that's the core truth! "Be value first & don't put out bleep" is the evergreen strategy.

AEO isn't about replacing that foundation, but about understanding how AI interprets that value. The fundamentals are more important than ever. Thanks for grounding the conversation in what truly matters!

[BManning14]

Thanks for sharing this. SEO is definitly evolving and we all need to prepare for AEO. This is going to be a big part of our 2026 marketing plan.

[seosiri]

"Algorithmic evolution is SEO to AEO." — Momenul Ahmad

"Absolutely — AEO is already shaping the next phase of digital visibility. As AI systems become the new “search engines,” optimizing for intent, context, and machine understanding will define real growth.

2026 will be the year strategies move from SEO to AEO-first thinking." 🚀

[DianaGomez]

Hey @seosiri, this is a great deep dive, thanks for sharing!

@DanielleGriffin, @TSiri, @Oakes  - would love to hear your thoughts on this 😁

[seosiri]

Thanks a lot! Glad you found it valuable 🙌

[seosiri]

Inspiried, thank you @DianaGomez 

[PWTXD]

AEO sounds interesting and I can see some people in my country shopping using chatgpt for their whole week. It needs some more time but it will get better and better. One of the concerns I have is how to keep our data/card details private to ourselves. Without any 3rd party being able to buy our data and then target the masses based on these patterns and spending habits. 

For example according to a study it said that 80% of the "fragrance community" are habitual shoppers and shopping is basically their high of choice. 

Now they are being targeted more than ever into a never ending spiral of buyers remorse and chasing dragons in my opinion.