If you’re a content writer or someone who writes for businesses, then there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of AEO, GEO, or a similar acronym. There’s also a few more terms floating around, but they all refer to the same concept – GEO is Generative Engine Optimization while AEO is Answer Engine Optimisation.
Both refer to visibility in answers created or synthesised by GenAI models like Claude, ChatGPT, or even Google’s new AI Overview. As these terms are interchangeable, I’ll be using AEO throughout this article.
Why should writers be concerned?
Because the traditional way we look at SEO is changing fast. It’s no longer about optimising client websites to rank in traditional search, but to ensure your written content gets cited by these GenAI models.
This means in addition to presenting accurate and compelling information to entice customers, we now need to write to ensure visibility in the very machines taking our job for an algorithm that synthesises our words.
My target audience doesn’t use GenAI. Why should I bother?
Even if your target customer is not someone who uses GenAI, Google’s AI Overview is often the first result they see. This includes even simple, straightforward searches like “nearest panel clinic.”
And be honest. How many of us can be certain our target audience isn’t going to just rely on what Google tells them?
I don’t use GenAI for my writings. Don’t tell me I have to start now???
The good news is that you actually don’t have to, at least, not if what both industry news and IBM’s Coursera AI in SEO courses imply. Most of those sources view AEO as an evolution of SEO, and so a lot of the traditional things we used to do in SEO still apply.
In fact, Search Engine Land points out that AI Search, essentially, is just long-tail SEO done right.
What you DO need to know is:
- A little bit of technical SEO (specifically schema markup and entity mapping, more later)
- How to do social listening (for B2B, this means hanging out on Reddit, G2, and similar sites)
- How to build your client’s digital authority and reputation with appropriate content – think Hubspot’s Topic Cluster model (aka interlinked content around a topic your client wants to “own”)
- Why you should prioritise buyer intent over keywords
- When to stop tracking clicks and start tracking revenue generation instead.
The last two are more strategic in nature, and will be useful only if you are able to advise either your client or your SEO team. Supplement this with the old SEO tactic of segmenting your content (aka “chunking” as some call it) and you probably won’t need GenAI at all.
Also I realise that due to length, this is probably the first of a short series on “writing without GenAI in the age of AEO.” Probably.
So, let’s get to doing what we writers should be doing best – reading.
AEO/GEO writing for clients without GenAI
The most basic skillset of all writers-for-hire remains the same – understanding your client’s products, their position in the market, and their brand guidelines or story. If you cannot even articulate your client’s offerings, can your words be trusted?
This is the baseline we will be operating from. Now, how do we turn these wordy building blocks into structures that will attract the robots?
Step 1: Reinforcing the foundation
Let’s take that unnamed panel clinic as an example.
Is your client’s website built to send the right signals to search engine and GenAI crawlers? Do the machines know your client has an FAQ page that explains how to book an appointment or its operating hours? What type of patients does your client’s clinic see or specialise in?
This is where schema markup and entity mapping come into play. Note that these are very simplified definitions:
Schema markup: Tells crawlers what type of content is on the page, eg a FAQ, appointment booking, etc.
Entity mapping: Identifies not just your client but how they might relate to a user’s search – e.g. recognising your client’s panel clinic offers basic healthcare checkups and sick leaves, and that they are part of a medical insurance network, and they are open 6am to 10pm weekdays.
Why writers should understand schema markup
Implementing the right schema will go a long way towards building your client’s digital authority and experience signals, strengthening their presence on the web.
For a writer though, all you really need to know is how to right click > Inspect Element in your browser of choice. And to have a good relationship with either your SEO person or your web dev, or both.
This is because you don’t need to actually know what the code is, but you do need to be able to identify and see on the page that the schema has been applied where it needs to go. And if it doesn’t, then it’s time to bug your SEO person and web dev.
All-In-One SEO has a pretty detailed markup on what all the different schemas mean, so go read that. Again, your role is not to implement, but to check implementation has been done correctly. To do so:
Right click > Inspect Element > CTRL+F/manually search for “json-LD” in the code OR search for the schema you suggested, such as “FAQ”
Entity mapping, or crafting a complete picture
Entity mapping is a much more complicated beast.
Simply put, it’s ensuring that everything on your client’s site reinforces both their identity and offerings – aka whatever is on your client’s site, relates to their identity in a coherent manner.
Think of the website as your client’s digital business place. A website/office that claims to be a medical doctor’s office but then displays and promotes fashion and supply chain information would be extremely sus(picious) in real life. Is the user even in the right place?
The same applies online. Entity mapping tells search engines and GenAI crawlers how the content they are scanning is related to the website they are crawling, forming a machine’s view of the entity they are examining (which, to add to the confusion, can be a person, place, or concept).
Effective entity mapping thus uses content signals to reinforce the relational ties between all the content on the website (and off the site, but that is off-page SEO and not something I want to talk about today). This strengthens your client’s trustworthiness in the eyes of our robots. Basically, does what your client’s website says match the suggested entity?
Applying this knowledge
Schema markup actually comes later, but if you need some quick wins, then checking whether it’s been applied correctly is a task you can complete fairly quickly.
For entity mapping, it’s best to start with content and SEO audits – not just on the blog section of the website, but on the entire client website. This lets you identify outdated pages, irrelevant material, and spot keyword opportunities.
Yes, I know, audits can be tedious and soul-draining, but they are often a wealth of information into the client’s journey. Everyone does content audit differently, which is why I recommend working with your SEO person on this.
Tip: Focus on entries no older than 3 years old. If the client has a high-performing piece from before that time, consider updating it to the latest standards and relevant information since it’s been published.
Step 2: Social listening
Social listening is… pretty much just trawling social media and review sites to see what people are saying/asking about your client’s solutions. It’s one of the most basic skills of any SEO writer when building out a content calendar. My usual steps are:
- Do a search on social and review sites your client’s customers lurk in (think Reddit, Twitter, G2, Trustpilot, even Google Maps if they have a physical business!)
- Take note of the most common issues people have regarding the services your client offers, including competitor talk.
- Consider how you can turn such ideas into content pieces for your client, assuming of course your client’s solutions will actually resolve those issues.
- Done.
Don’t think there’s more that needs to be said. And you’ll notice that I didn’t write anything about video sites cause that’s a whole different beast (and budget).
Look client, no GenAI!
You should have noticed by now that all these can be done without relying on GenAI so far. Yes, the first stages of AEO/GEO application doesn’t require you to do GenAI. All it requires is a lot of reading, patience, and understanding of SEO trends.
In part 2, I’ll cover the hub-spoke model aka the pillar-cluster model aka meet cornerstone content. Which is also something I’m attempting to do with this blog. So stay tuned for that.