Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, let's unpack
this.
The digital world, I mean, itmoves an incredible clip,
doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It really does Blink
and you miss something.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Exactly.
New terms just pop upconstantly and it can feel less
like evolution and maybe morelike just a blur sometimes.
We all kind of know thetraditional search engine
landscape.
You know how Google works, yeah, but there's this huge shift
happening, especially with AIbecoming so well everywhere.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Absolutely, and
that's where our source material
today from Don Phelps comes in.
It dives right into this.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, helping us
navigate some of these newer
terms.
You really need to get yourhead around now.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And that's sort of
our mission for this deep dive,
isn't it To you know?
Cut through that noise for you.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We want to clarify
these different but very
connected strategies SEO, a, eo,geo and AI.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Oh, because it's not
just buzzwords.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
No, not at all, it's
really about understanding how
content gets found, how it getsused now and like how you can
make sure your stuff staysvisible, because fundamentally,
these concepts, they representthis big shift, a shift towards
optimizing for AI-powered searchexperiences.
You know where people areleaning on AI to kind of
(01:11):
synthesize information and justgive them answers.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sometimes without
even seeing a results page right
.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Exactly Without ever
hitting that traditional Google
page.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Okay, so before we
jump into all the new acronyms,
let's just quickly groundourselves.
Traditional SEO, search engineoptimization we all know it, but
what does it actually entail?
Just as a baseline?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, good starting
point.
So SEO, that's your foundation.
It's focused on making yourwebsite more visible in the
standard search engine resultspages, the SERPs.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Right the Google list
.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Pretty much, yeah,
and the core stuff involves
optimizing your content usingthe right keywords strategically
, getting good quality backlinksand making sure all the
technical bits like site speedare sorted.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
All aiming to rank
higher.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Exactly, it's the
regular one.
We're all familiar with Gettingyour website to show up high on
Google.
Still super important, stillworks.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so SEO is the
bedrock, got it.
But, like you said, said,things are changing.
Ai is here, so the questionshifts a bit, doesn't it?
From how do I get found on apage, hmm, to maybe how do I get
answered?
Precisely and that brings us, Iguess, to the first new one, a
EO.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right yeah,
(02:22):
definitely so what is answer?
Engine optimization how'sdifferent?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
okay, so a EO?
This is specifically focused on.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right?
Yeah, definitely.
So what is answer?
Engine optimization.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
How is it different?
Okay, so AEO, this isspecifically focused on getting
your content into those answerboxes?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh, like the featured
snippets at the top Exactly
Featured snippets or the answersvoice search gives you.
The whole point is to givereally clear, concise answers to
specific questions.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
In a way, the AI can
just grab it.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Precisely In a way
that AI-powered search engines
can easily understand and justpresent straight to the user.
So the strategy shifts a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
How so.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, you're looking
at things like structured data,
writing super clear, directanswers and really optimizing
for those featured snippets.
The main goal is for yourcontent to be extracted as the
answer.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So less an article,
more an answer machine.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Kind of yeah, You're
structuring it for ultimate
clarity for extractability.
Sometimes people get theiranswer and never even click
through.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Wow, okay, I can see
that being efficient.
So AEO is about being theanswer, the snippet.
But what about when the AIdoesn't just pull a snippet but
it actually like creates a newresponse, mixing info from
different places?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Ah right, Good
question.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
That sounds like this
next one, GEO generative engine
optimization.
That feels like a wholedifferent thing and maybe where
some confusion comes in, You'reabsolutely right, and the
distinction is it's prettycrucial.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Geo is about
optimizing, so your content gets
surfaced within those AIgenerated responses.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So like in ChatGPT or
perplexity result.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Exactly those kinds
of tools.
The strategy here is stillabout structure, clear
formatting, making it AIfriendly, but the goal is to be
cited or included in the answerthe AI construct.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay, hang on.
That's a big difference.
You said these tools don't rankpages like Google does.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Right, that's a key
insight.
They don't really rank in thesame way they generate answers,
so you're not just trying to benumber one on the list anymore.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You're trying to be
part of the AI's knowledge.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Essentially, yes, you
want to become a trusted source
, a component that the AI usesto build its answer.
You're kind of subtly shapingthe AI conversations people are
having.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Kind of wild.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It is.
And just to clarify somethingour source mentions, because it
comes up a lot, some people useGEO and AEO almost
interchangeably.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right, I can see why?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But that key
difference is vital.
Geo is about citation orinclusion within an AI answer.
Aeo is about being extracted asthe direct answer, like in a
snippet Subtle but reallyimportant for strategy.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, that
distinction cited versus
extracted.
That helps.
So if my goal is GEO gettingcited by, say, chatgpt, am I
basically writing for the AI tolearn from me?
Risa?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
GOLUBOFF, that's a
great way to put it.
Yeah, you're thinking along theright lines, mark.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
BLYTH, Rather than
directly for a human reader
necessarily.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, it needs to be
good for humans too.
But, yes, your content has tobe so well-structured, so clear,
trustworthy, authoritative thatthe AI chooses to reference it.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It has to see you as
a source of truth.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Exactly For the
language model itself.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Fascinating stuff.
Okay so, AI consuming andgenerating answers, AEO and GEO
but what about us using AI?
That brings us to AIO right AIoptimization.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
This sounds even
broader somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It is yeah, and our
sources point to sort of two
main facets here.
First, aio can mean just youknow the process of using AI
tools.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Like ChatGPT, jasper
Surfer, those kind of things.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Exactly Using them to
help you write content or
improve it, structure it.
Think of it like having areally smart assistant.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Speeding up research
outlining.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, cleaning up
grammar, finding keyword ideas,
all that stuff You're stilldoing.
Your SEO, your ADO, maybe GEOAIO is just using AI as a tool
to make those processes fasterand more efficient.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Okay, so that's one
side, Using AI to optimize.
What's the other?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
The second facet is
broader.
It's about optimizing yourcontent and your whole website
so that it can be easilyunderstood and used by lots of
different AI tools.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Like chatbots or
voice assistants.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Chatbots, voice
assistants, personalized content
feeds yeah, it's about makingsure they can use your
information effectively to giveusers relevant personalized
experiences.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Ah, so it's about
optimizing for AI interaction
across the board.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Exactly personalized
experiences.
So it's about optimizing for AIinteraction across the board.
Exactly this broader sensereally gets into blending human
creativity with AI tools tocreate these really tailored
user experiences across thiswhole emerging AI ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That makes a lot of
sense.
Okay, so we've got SEO, aeo,geo, aio.
What does this all meantogether?
Are they fighting each other,or do they fit?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
yeah, that's the key
question, right, and what's
really clear from the sources isthey are definitely not
competing.
They actually work besttogether.
They each have a specific rolein how information gets
discovered.
Now, if you want, like aone-line summary for each, no,
let's do that okay, seo isbasically ranking in google got
it.
Aio is using AI tools to helpyou make content.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Right the assistant.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
GEO is getting cited
in AI-generated answers.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Inside chat GPT's
response.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yep and AEO is
getting featured as a direct
answer.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The snippet or voice
answer.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Exactly See how they
complement each other.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, I do Different
ways of showing up.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And the really
critical takeaway here for you
listening is that you know,heading into 2025, just doing
SEO probably isn't going to beenough anymore.
Right, we really need to thinkdifferently about how both
people and AI find informationand use it.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
So if SEO used to be
about getting on the results
page and use it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So if SEO used to be
about getting on the results
page, Now it's much more aboutshowing up period, whether
that's in a result or as ananswer, or even just being part
of an AI conversation.
Yeah yeah, it's a whole new wayof thinking about
discoverability.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Wow, we have
definitely covered some serious
ground today, from the familiarworld of SEO all the way out to
these AI-infused branches of AEO, geo and AIO.
This whole deep dive was reallyabout trying to give you that
map, you know, to navigate thislandscape that's changing so
fast.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
It really is and
maybe as you think about your
own work or even just how youfind information yourself these
days, here's a question to mullover straight from our source
material.
So what's your current edge?
Are you building for users,crawlers or language models now?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Ooh, that's a good
one.
Users, crawlers or languagemodels definitely something to
think about.