How does AEO differ from traditional SEO?

How does AEO differ from traditional SEO in current search trends? Your Content Goes Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is different from traditional SEO because it focuses on giving users straight answers, fast. While traditional SEO aims to boost rankings using broad keywords and long-form content, AEO is all about being the first, clear voice that answers a specific question—whether that’s through a featured snippet, voice assistant, or AI tool like ChatGPT and Gemini. Instead of just helping people find your page, AEO helps them find your answer.

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and traditional SEO both aim to improve your online visibility—but they go about it in different ways. Where traditional SEO tries to get your site to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs), AEO focuses on getting your content featured as a direct answer to user questions, especially through tools like ChatGPT, voice assistants, and featured snippets on Google.

Traditional SEO: Rankings and traffic

Traditional SEO is all about improving your visibility in organic search results. It’s keyword-driven and focuses on things like:

• On-page SEO (titles, meta tags, headings)
• Link building and domain authority
• Content quality and relevance
• Page speed and mobile responsiveness

The goal is to rank as high as possible for relevant searches. The user then has to click on your link to visit your site for the answer.

AEO: Relevance and direct answers

Answer Engine Optimisation flips that model. It’s about:

• Understanding user intent
• Answering specific questions clearly
• Structuring your content so it can be pulled into AI tools and featured snippets
• Using schema markup and structured data

With AEO, the user doesn’t always need to click through—they get the answer right there in Google, Bing, or even a chatbot like ChatGPT.

Think of it like this:

• Traditional SEO wants you to rank high
• AEO wants you to be the answer

At Fort Hartley, we don’t believe it’s either/or. The best digital strategies combine both—getting you found and getting you chosen.

Why it matters for modern marketing

As more people use voice search and AI tools to find information, brands that adopt AEO are going to have a serious edge. Instead of competing for ten blue links on page one, you’re aiming for the zero-click result—the one that answers the question best.

That’s why we write content specifically for AEO: clear, structured, and helpful. Because if your business has the answer, we’ll help it get heard.