1. Introduction — The False Choice Marketers Are Making
If you work in marketing, you’ve probably seen the think pieces:
- “SEO is dead.”
- “Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the new SEO.”
- “AI is replacing search.”
It’s a compelling narrative — but it’s totally wrong.
SEO isn’t going anywhere. What’s happening is market expansion in where people find answers. Search engines are no longer the only place. AI-powered systems — ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and the answer boxes embedded in Bing and Google — are now acting as primary gateways to information in a way we haven’t seen before.
That’s where AI Search Optimization comes in.
At GRAYBOX, we use “AI Search Optimization” to combine what others call GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and AIO (AI Optimization) into one clear concept: Making your content easy for AI systems to find, trust, and use in their answers.
Here’s the big takeaway: existing & past SEO work supports AI Search Optimization, and AI Search Optimization supports future SEO. It’s not a replacement — it’s additive. Likewise, if you ignore one, you weaken the other. And most importantly: in this hybrid world, you need to win both the keyword ranking battle in search engines and the citation battle inside AI answers.
2. What We Mean by AI Search Optimization
This is not a separate and new discipline — AI Search Optimization solidly fits within the skillset of existing SEO professionals. The core different is that you now need to think in two layers
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — making your site visible on major search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc).
- AI Search Optimization (GEO, AIO, AEO) — making your site visible inside AI-powered answers (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc)
That means:
- Getting your content crawled by both search and AI bots.
- Structuring your information so AI can summarize it accurately.
- Building enough topical authority that AI wants to reference you.
For the scorecard — SEO is about ranking placement (where you show up for a given keyword), while AI Search is about ranking for inclusion (whether you’re cited at all). Both are critical to visibility.
3. Where SEO and AI Search Optimization Overlap
Most of what makes SEO work also makes AI Search Optimization work. We’re currently thinking there is currently about 80% overlap between SEO signals and AI signals, but it’s rapidly evolving.
Here’s how the main pillars translate:
SEO Focus Area | AI Search Benefit |
| Crawlability/Indexation | If Googlebot can’t read it, neither can AI crawlers. |
| Content Quality | AI prioritizes authoritative, complete answers. |
| Backlinks & Brand Mentions | Increases your perceived trust and authority in AI’s source selection. |
| On-Page Optimization | Clear titles, headings, and structure make it easier for AI to understand your content’s meaning. |
| Structured Data & Schema | Directly feeds AI with machine-readable facts. |
The same technical foundation that gets you ranked in search results also gets you considered for inclusion in AI-generated responses.
4. What’s Different About Ranking for AI Search Optimization
- Structured, Digestible Formatting
AI works best when information is clearly chunked — think bullet points, tables, and FAQs (Hint, like this entire article!) - Citation-Friendly Writing
AI is more likely to quote content that reads like a direct answer to a question. - Unique or Proprietary Data
If you provide original stats, research, or insights, AI has a reason to choose you over dozens of more generic sources. - Presence in Trusted Source Sets
The AI systems weigh certain sites more heavily than others. Think Wikipedia, reputable news outlets, and high-authority industry blogs. Is your brand cited as an authority about the topic there? - Public Conversation Footprint
AI models pull from forums, social platforms, and Q&A sites — so participating in industry conversations matters.
5. A Practical Playbook for Ranking in Both Worlds at Once
The smartest approach is to take actions that improve both SEO and AI visibility simultaneously. Winning here is about ranking well in search and being referenced consistently in AI answers.
Step 1: Lock Down Your Technical SEO
- Logical site architecture and clean URLs.
- Fast load times (slow pages will get skipped by the crawlers).
- Make sure critical content is visible without complex JavaScript.
Step 2: Write for Humans, Structure Your HTML for Machines
- Use descriptive H1, H2, H3 headings.
- Break complex ideas into bullet points or tables.
- Add FAQ sections to key pages (and mark them up with FAQ schema!).
Step 3: Build Your Authority Beyond Your Website
- Publish guest articles on industry-relevant sites.
- Get quoted in reputable news or trade media.
- Participate in LinkedIn, Reddit, or specialized forum discussions about your topic
Step 4: Publish Content AI Loves
- Create proprietary research reports.
- Write definitive “how-to” or “ultimate guide” style pages.
- Break timely answers to emerging industry questions (be first)
Step 5: Monitor Both Worlds
- Key SEO metrics: rankings, impressions, CTR, backlink growth.
- Key AI metrics: % citations in test prompts in each AI tool, track your internet wide brand mentions, and monitor referral traffic from AI-linked sources to your site
6. Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Treating AI optimization as a replacement for SEO. You’ll weaken both. They need to be understood as separate but related initiatives. Use the same company if possible.
- Hiding your best content behind logins or complex UI or long page load times — just like Google, the AI crawlers won’t be able to access it.
- Publishing generic content already in AI’s training data from hundreds of sources. Don’t rehash the same stuff, you need to break new ground.
7. The Future of Ranking is Hybrid
Since the AI engines appeared 3 years ago, now total traffic is about 10% of Google Search volume in the US and it’s growing steadily while Google Searches are remaining about constant. This means there is more queries than ever before. We’re heading toward a world where:
- More people will start searches directly in AI chatbots.
- Google and Bing will push more search results to their build in AI-powered answers
- Overall authority will be determined by both traditional search signals and conversational AI trust signals.
Winning brands will optimize for both environments — not just to keyword ranking, but also to be cited as a trusted source.
8. Conclusion
If you’re investing in SEO, you’re already 80% of the way to AI Search Optimization.
If you start optimizing for AI answers, you’ll also naturally strengthen your SEO.
This isn’t an “either/or” decision — it’s a both/and strategy.
Get both right, and you’ll rank in search results and be cited in AI answers. Owning visibility in all the places where people look for answers.
At GRAYBOX, we’ve been ahead of every major search shift for over 17 years. Now we’re helping brands master AI Search Optimization alongside SEO to dominate both the SERPs and the new AI-driven answer engines.
Ranking is no longer just about page one of Google. It’s about being cited, trusted, and surfaced inside AI answers where millions of people are now starting their searches. If your brand isn’t showing up in both places, you’re invisible to a growing share of your audience.
If you want to make sure you’re visible everywhere people search for answers — let’s talk.