From clicks to credibility: Optimize your content for AEO and GEO
For years, success in content marketing meant ranking high in a Google search. Now it means being cited by AI.
As we all know, search habits are undergoing a sea change. More than three-quarters of ChatGPT users employ it as a search engine, which means successful content is no longer about clicks: it’s about being referenced in AI-powered results.
Answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) still incorporate the classic SEO signals of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), but the inputs are different. AIs largely pull from authoritative sources like original data and research reports, trade journals and news sources, podcasts, prominent newsletters, and occasionally LinkedIn posts.
In other words: it’s all about earned media and original thinking, not blog posts written for keywords that repeat the same information you can find on your competitors’ sites. Ideas, strong arguments, and hard data are today’s marketing currency.
But getting search engines and AI platforms to cite your articles or quotes requires a strategy beyond posting them on your own site and in email newsletters.
My advice:
CEOs and other leaders should register on platforms like Qwoted where journalists seek sources for comment or information. Marketing teams can also proactively look for relevant requests for subject matter experts.
Executives should explore publication in Forbes Councils and industry publications that are looking for expert takes on industry trends and developments.
Seek opportunities for C-suite leaders to appear on podcasts and video series in your industry and pitch them as a guest. This can lead to additional media opportunities as their profile and credibility grow.
All of these tactics do more than enhance visibility. They help you reinforce the impression you want to make about the type of company you work at and the type of customer you serve. You want your potential customers not just to understand that your business is legitimate, but make them feel comfortable enough to decide to buy your product.
This has always been the goal of marketing, but there are so many more ways to influence that perception today. Are you taking full advantage of them?