It searches before it answers
~26 → 3ChatGPT turns the question into about 4 searches and reads about 26 pages. It cites about 3 of them.
Answer engine optimization for B2B SaaS, explained
What is AEO?
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of getting your brand named, described correctly and recommended in AI answers.
It covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews.
SEO gets your page ranked in Google. AEO gets your brand into AI search answers.
By Megan de Graaf · Updated 9 Nov 2026
AEO vs GEO? Same work, different label. GEO (generative engine optimization) comes from a 2023 research paper. AEO is the term most startup marketers use.
Where does an AI answer come from?
Some brands come from memory
46%of the time ChatGPT brought up a brand nobody asked about, it showed no source for it. It named the brand from memory.
Other sites speak for you
~40×When another site that ChatGPT cites mentions a small software company, the odds that ChatGPT names that company go up about 40 times.
Your facts can be old or wrong
AI repeats prices, features and descriptions from wherever it found them, old pages included. If nobody checks, buyers get the wrong version of you.
AEO vs SEO: what’s the difference?
AEO builds on SEO. The goal moves from a ranked page to a named brand.
SEO
AEO
A ranked page
Goal
A named brand
Google results
Where
AI answers
Clicks
You win
Recommendations
Stable rankings
Checking
Answers change every run
Does ranking on Google still help?
Yes, but less than most teams expect. Only about 12% of the pages that ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity cite rank in Google’s top 10 for the same question.
AI tools run their own searches before they answer. So a brand can rank first on Google and still be left out of the answer. That’s why AEO checks the answers themselves, not just your rankings. It’s what an AI visibility audit measures.
Now take apart your own answers.
Book your audit 25 buyer questions · 5 AI engines · 675 answers, each read by Megan