AEO Tools and SEO Tools: A Powerful One-Two Punch

By Jayne Schultheis — The key differences between AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) tools and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools are:

• Purpose and focus. AEO tools optimize content to directly answer user queries for AI assistants, voice search, and answer engines like ChatGPT. SEO tools focus on improving search engine rankings.
• Content structure. AEO tools help to provide structured, conversational responses and featured snippets. SEO tools prioritize keyword density, topic relevance, and traditional ranking factors
• Measurement metrics. Monitoring helps to track AEO tools’ ability to improve answer accuracy, source-link trustworthiness, brand mentions, and voice search visibility. SEO  measures focus on organic traffic and keyword positions

The growth of answer engines has made this distinction important. ChatGPT has over 800 million weekly users, and Perplexity is serving over 780 million queries a month. These conversational AI models and Google's featured snippets (AI overviews) have changed the way users engage with information. 

For one thing, the responsibility to measure the integrity and trustworthiness of content has largely shifted to the searcher. (Answer engines don’t deliver pages of search results with links to assess and choose from.) And that's a pretty big responsibility, considering LLMs can sometimes get answers wrong and hallucinate data, case studies, and other critical information.

But many users prefer immediate, succinct answers rather than a list of links to explore. This changes how content creators must approach optimization strategies. It also creates a need for more tools that help marketers build their content in a way that's judged to be accurate and trustworthy to both AI algorithms and human readers.

In this article, we're going to take a look at AEO tools, as well as the more familiar SEO tools. We’ll explain how to use them to research, create, distribute, and measure your content in order to better serve your target audience.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the process of making sure that content about a brand, product, or service is represented in AI-generated responses on platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews.

AEO focuses on satisfying user intent and structuring content so that AI-powered systems can extract and present information as immediate, conversational responses. Although it's a fairly new landscape of products, AEO tools aim to track sentiment, trends in prompting, and multi-platform visibility.

Emerging AEO tools include:

• Writesonic's GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) tool. This helps optimize content for AI responses.
• AI citation monitoring tools. Newer startups like AI Brand Monitor and ScrunchAI track how brands appear across multiple AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Bing AI, and Google AI Overviews, providing real-time alerts and sentiment analysis.
• AI visibility optimization tools. Platforms like Goodie AI and AthenaHQ help structure content specifically for AI extraction and citation.
• Traditional SEO platforms. AI-integrative SEO tools from Ahrefs and Semrush have begun crawling and tracking AI mentions to help brands monitor their visibility in AI-generated answers.

Contrasts with search engine optimization (SEO) 

SEO is the process of improving a website's visibility and ranking in traditional search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google and Bing. SEO aims to drive organic traffic to websites by expert use of keywords, content quality, technical site structure, and backlinks.

The primary goal is to appear higher in search rankings when users enter queries, ultimately increasing click-through rates and website visits.

Popular SEO tools include:

• Ahrefs. Comprehensive backlink analysis and keyword research
• Semrush. All-in-one competitive analysis and rank tracking
• Moz Pro. Keyword research and site audits
• Screaming Frog. Technical SEO auditing

Should I use AEO tools or SEO tools?

If you're a professional who feels like your entire knowledge of online visibility has been upended with the proliferation of answer engines, you're in the right place. We're going to break down both types of tools and when to use them.

Scenarios where AEO tools excel

In March, 27.2% of U.S. searches ended without a click compared to 24.4% in March 2024. What does that mean? People are increasingly finding the information they need without making a single click on search engines. Let's look at some scenarios where AEO tools can really help your business stand out.

• Voice search optimization. AEO tools are designed to handle the conversational, natural language patterns that define voice search queries. When users ask their smart speakers "What's the best Italian restaurant near me?" or "How do I fix a leaky faucet?", they expect direct, spoken answers rather than a list of links. AEO tools are used to create content that satisfies these longer, question-based queries. The tools also help marketers structure content from which voice assistants can easily extract and deliver clear, actionable answers.
• FAQ and Q&A content. AEO tools help structure your FAQ sections and Q&A content to provide comprehensive, contextual answers that AI systems can confidently present to users. They help your content address follow-up questions and related queries that users might naturally ask in a conversation with an AI assistant.
• Local business queries. AEO tools help to structure content to answer location-based questions where users need immediate, accurate information about local businesses. When someone asks "What time does the nearest CVS pharmacy close?" or "Which coffee shop has the best WiFi for working?", AEO tools help keep your business information properly structured and accessible to AI systems that provide these instant local answers. They optimize for the specific data points that voice assistants and AI chatbots prioritize when delivering local business recommendations.
• Product information queries. For e-commerce and product-focused content, AEO tools help to serve users seeking specific product details, comparisons, or recommendations. They can help optimize product descriptions, specifications, and comparison content. When users ask "What's the difference between iPhone 15 and iPhone 14?" or "Which laptop is best for video editing under $1,000?", an AEO tool's goal is to make sure your product information appears in AI-generated responses with accurate details.
• Structured, labeled, and marked-up content. AEO tools can help you optimize content that uses proper schema markup, headers, and structured data formats that AI systems can easily parse and understand. When your content includes clear H2 and H3 headings, bullet points, numbered lists, and schema markup for things like recipes, events, or reviews, AEO tools keep these elements optimized to feed directly into AI responses. They help structure your content with the specific markup and labeling that search engines and AI assistants look for when extracting featured snippets, recipe cards, or step-by-step instructions. This means when users ask "How long does it take to bake chocolate chip cookies?" or "What are the steps to change a car tire?", your well-structured content gets pulled directly into conversational AI responses, complete with cooking times, ingredients lists, or detailed procedural steps that users can follow without ever visiting your website.

Scenarios where SEO tools are still essential

About 40% of U.S. Google searchers clicked on an organic result in March. While that number is slightly lower from the clicks at the same time last year, it still represents a significant portion of results. People are still looking for fresh content that provides what they're looking for.

• Traditional web search optimization. A huge volume of searching still is done the traditional way. SEO tools help you research keywords, track your rankings, and optimize content for the millions of people who still prefer clicking through to actual websites instead of getting a single answer.
• Competitive analysis. Want to know what keywords your competitors are targeting? Which backlinks they're getting? What content gaps you could fill? SEO tools give you the full picture of who's winning in organic search and why. This kind of insight is critical when you're trying to figure out your own strategy and find ways to outrank the competition.
• Technical website audits. SEO tools can crawl your site and flag everything from broken links to slow loading pages, mobile issues, and other technical problems that hurt your search rankings and user experience.
• Link-building campaigns. Backlinks remain crucial for search rankings and help establish the kind of authority that AI systems pay attention to. You need tools that find link opportunities, track your outreach efforts, analyze what your competitors are doing, and monitor the quality of links you're getting.

The integrated approach

The best digital marketing strategies combine both SEO and AEO tools to capture users across the entire search spectrum.

Think of it this way: your SEO tools still can do heavy lifting for your foundational work. They're helping you perfect your technical SEO, track what your competitors are up to, and drive organic traffic.

AEO tools will help your content show up in answer engine responses. These tools help you optimize for those "Hey Siri, what's the best ..." moments that are happening millions of times a day.

When you use both tool types together, you're essentially future-proofing your content strategy. You're capturing the users who still prefer traditional search results AND the growing number of people who just want quick, direct answers from AI.

The result? You're not scrambling to catch up when search behaviors shift. You're already there, ready for whatever comes next.

The future of AEO

The reality is: We don't need to choose between SEO and AEO—the most successful business strategy is to leverage both. As search behavior evolves, businesses that adapt will have a significant competitive advantage.

The key is to build content that serves both answer engines and traditional search engines.

If you haven't started exploring AEO, now is the perfect time to experiment with these tools and see how they can enhance your online presence. Early adopters are already seeing the benefits of comprehensive content optimization.

Ready to future-proof your content marketing approach? Rellify's content marketing solutions can help you navigate both traditional SEO and emerging AEO opportunities. With a custom Relliverse and mini Relliverses, you can discover exactly what your target audience is searching for and build (and optimize) content around it. Talk to one of our experts for a quick demo today.