Explainer
Search is no longer the only place buyers ask questions. Here is what the new practice involves, what the vendor data says and what we think you should do first.
In 60 seconds
- AEO (answer engine optimization), also called GEO (generative engine optimization), is the work of getting accurate, favorable brand information into AI assistants' answers.
- Vendors now sell visibility tracking: HubSpot AEO, Adobe's LLM Optimizer with Semrush, Profound and Scrunch.
- Vendor data suggests change: Adobe cites +269% AI traffic to US retail sites; HubSpot reports its customers' organic traffic down 27% while AI referrals tripled.
- Start by measuring, and fix the basics before buying a tool.
Impact Layer
- What changed
- AI assistants now answer questions that used to produce lists of search links, and software vendors have started selling tools to measure brand presence in those answers.
- Why it matters
- If buyers get a shortlist from an assistant, a brand that is missing or described wrongly loses consideration before a visit happens.
- Who is affected
- SEO, content and brand teams; any business that relies on search to be found.
- Martech stack area
- Analytics, AI, SEO & Search, Content
- Stack impact
- A new measurement layer sits next to classic SEO tools. Many suites are adding it.
- Business impact
- High Vendor numbers are company-reported; there is little independent evidence yet on revenue impact.
- Related technologies
- What to watch
- Independent studies on whether AI visibility drives sales, vendor consolidation, and standards for how AI assistants cite sources.
For two decades, being found online mostly meant ranking in search results. Now many people ask an AI assistant a question and read a single written answer. Answer engine optimization (AEO), which is also called generative engine optimization (GEO), is the work of making sure those answers describe your brand accurately and include it when they should. People also call it “AI visibility”.
How it differs from SEO
Classic SEO tries to rank a page. AEO tries to influence what an AI system says, which may draw on many pages, and it may not show a link at all. Answers can also differ from one asking to the next and from one assistant to another, so measurement works by sampling many questions, not by checking a single position.
What vendors now sell
- HubSpot AEO tracks a brand’s visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, using prompts drawn from CRM data. It is included in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise, or $50 a month on its own (HubSpot).
- Adobe offers LLM Optimizer and, since completing the Semrush acquisition in April 2026, plans to connect Semrush’s tools to its enterprise products.
- Profound raised $96 million at a $1 billion valuation in February 2026 and says more than 700 enterprises use it.
- Scrunch is now part of Sitecore.
See our longer pieces on the category and on HubSpot’s launch.
What the vendor data says
Two figures are often quoted, both from vendors. Adobe says AI traffic to US retail sites rose 269% year over year. HubSpot says organic traffic for its customers fell 27% while AI referral traffic tripled. Both show direction, but neither is an independent study, and neither says how much revenue AI-referred visits produce.
Editorial guidance
The rest of this article is our advice, not a finding from the sources above.
- Measure first. List the 20 to 50 questions a buyer would ask. Run them regularly across several assistants and note whether your brand appears and what is said about it.
- Fix the basics. Make sure your own site states plainly what you sell, for whom, and where. Keep facts consistent across your site, profiles and listings.
- Check accuracy, not just presence. A wrong description is worse than silence.
- Be wary of a single score. Results vary between runs. Ask any vendor how they handle that.
- Do not rebuild strategy on one number. Treat AI referral traffic as one more channel in your analytics, and watch its conversion rate.
Sources
- HubSpot: Spring 2026 Spotlight (opens in a new tab)
HubSpot AEO and the traffic claim.
- Adobe: Adobe completes Semrush acquisition (opens in a new tab)
The 269% claim and integration plans.
- GlobeNewswire: Profound Raises Series C at $1B Valuation (opens in a new tab)
- Sitecore: Sitecore acquires Scrunch (opens in a new tab)