Win AI search with SEO and AEO research

The quick answer

To master competitive research in the age of AI search, follow this four-step strategy:

1. Define Separate Goals: Use traditional SEO competitive research to find keyword-driven demand and drive traffic. Use Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) research to earn citations and build authority within AI-generated answers.
2. Execute SEO Research: Use tools like Ahrefs to analyze competitor content. Identify question-based keywords and find gaps in their strategy to capture existing user demand.
3. Execute AEO Research: Use purpose-built tools like Profound to analyze AI visibility. Discover which brands are cited in LLM answers, understand how they are framed, and learn which sources AI models trust.
4. Combine and Act: Synthesize insights from both research types to validate your product roadmap, spot emerging competitors early, and actively shape how your brand is positioned in AI answers.

What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring and optimizing your content so AI models can use it to create direct answers. This includes Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and voice assistants.

The goal of AEO is not just to rank a link, but to have your content cited as the source within the AI's response. It’s about winning the user's trust and building authority before they even have a chance to click.

This marks a shift from a link economy, where value is measured in clicks, to a citation economy, where value is measured in brand mentions and share of voice in zero-click experiences.

How AEO and SEO work together

AEO complements traditional SEO, it does not replace it. Think of SEO as the foundation that makes your content discoverable by search crawlers in the first place. AEO is the next layer that makes your discovered content usable by AI answer engines.

Strong SEO is a prerequisite for effective AEO. Data indicates that 99% of URLs cited in AI-generated answers already rank in the top 20 organic search results. You must be visible to be chosen.

Key differences in approach

While connected, the tactical focus of SEO and AEO is different. Understanding these distinctions is key to building a comprehensive strategy.

• Goal: SEO aims to rank high for clicks and organic traffic. AEO aims for direct citations and authority, with clicks being a secondary benefit.
• Content: SEO content is typically long-form and built around a set of keywords. AEO content prioritizes upfront, concise answers in modular blocks that are easy for an AI to extract.
• Technical Signals: SEO relies on site speed, crawlability, and meta tags. AEO leans heavily on structured data (like Schema) and clean HTML for machine readability.
• Authority: SEO authority comes from backlinks and domain-level signals. AEO authority is built on content-level E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and verifiable sourcing.
• Metrics: You measure SEO success with rankings, click-through rates (CTR), and sessions. You measure AEO success with citation rate and share of voice within AI answers.

SEO Research Finds Demand, AEO Shapes It

The core insight from an original article from searchengine land is that these two research methods serve distinct roles. SEO research is reactive, while AEO research is proactive.

Traditional SEO competitive research is best for demand capture. It helps you identify what users are already searching for, map their intent to keywords, and find opportunities to answer their questions better than your competitors. It's focused on the later funnel stages.

Use AEO research to influence the market

AEO competitive research, on the other hand, is about demand shaping. It operates before the click, influencing how users frame their decisions and understand your product category. It gives you visibility into the narratives being formed by AI.

This is crucial because AI Overviews and other answer engines often synthesize information from multiple sources, replacing the need for a user to visit several websites. Getting your brand's story right in that initial AI answer is a massive competitive advantage.

These insights help you frame your brand, influence early- to mid-funnel decisions, and establish category leadership at the exact moment opinions are formed.

Your Combined SEO and AEO Research Strategy

A modern organic strategy must be a unified one. By following a clear, step-by-step process, you can integrate both SEO and AEO insights to not only capture today's traffic but also secure your brand's position in the AI-driven future.

Step 1: Start with foundational SEO competitor analysis

Begin with the fundamentals. Use established SEO tools to map out the current competitive landscape based on keyword performance. This is your baseline.

Your goal here is to validate existing demand and find content gaps. Focus on identifying high-intent, question-based keywords that your competitors are targeting (or missing). This information provides the raw material for your content plan.

For example, using a tool like Ahrefs, you can pull a report on a competitor’s top organic keywords and filter for terms containing "what," "how," or "why." This immediately reveals the user questions they are successfully answering. Our approach to creating effective SEO content leverages this exact method to build a strategy rooted in proven user intent.

Step 2: Layer on AEO visibility and positioning analysis

Once you understand the keyword landscape, shift your focus to AI visibility. This requires specialized tools that can query large language models (LLMs) at scale and analyze the results.

Here, your objective is to understand your brand's narrative within AI. Ask questions like: "When a user asks for the 'best product for X,' is my brand mentioned?" and "If so, how is it described?".

A purpose-built AEO research tool like Profound is designed for this task. It allows you to see which brands are consistently cited, what language is used to describe them, and which third-party sources the AI trusts as evidence. This is competitive intelligence for the AI era.

Step 3: Synthesize and act on the combined intelligence

The real power comes from combining the insights from both types of research. The SEO data tells you what people are asking; the AEO data tells you what answers they are getting from AI.

This combined intelligence allows you to move from simply targeting keywords to strategically shaping your market's narrative. The insights you gather can drive action across your entire business.

This level of analysis goes far beyond typical marketing reports. The intelligence you gain directly informs your product roadmap, marketing messaging, and even sales enablement, ensuring that every part of your organization is aligned with how your market is actually being defined. This strategic alignment is a core principle when building a website designed to convert in today's digital ecosystem.

Actionable insights from your combined research

By executing this process, you will uncover strategic opportunities that your competitors are likely missing. Your analysis should produce clear answers to these critical business questions:

• Identify Feature Expectations: Discover which product features AI models consistently present as standard or "table stakes" for your category.
• Spot Emerging Alternatives: See which new or niche competitors are being surfaced by AI before they have enough domain authority to show up in traditional SEO tools.
• Measure LLM Visibility: Quantify your brand's share of voice in relevant AI-generated answers and identify where you are invisible.
• Uncover Negative Framing: Find instances where AI is advising users against your product or highlighting weaknesses, giving you a chance to address the root cause.
• Validate Your Product Roadmap: Compare your upcoming features against the market needs and solutions as explained by AI to ensure you are building what the market is being taught to want.

Your Essential Research Toolkit

To execute this strategy effectively, you need the right tools. The key is not to have a bloated software stack, but to have one tool that excels at traditional SEO analysis and another that is built for AEO analysis.

Tool for traditional SEO research

Choose an established, all-in-one SEO platform that provides reliable data on keywords, backlinks, and competitor performance.

Ahrefs: An industry-standard tool. Use its Site Explorer and Organic Keywords reports to conduct deep dives into competitor content strategies and uncover valuable question-based keywords.

Tool for AEO and AI visibility research

This requires a new category of tool designed specifically to interact with and analyze the output of large language models.

Profound: This platform is highlighted as being purpose-built for AEO research. It tracks brand citations, analyzes how content is framed in AI answers, and helps you understand which sources of information LLMs trust and reference.

Using these two types of tools in concert provides a complete, 360-degree view of your competitive landscape. It prepares you not just for the search results of today, but for the conversational answers of tomorrow.