How Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) fits into your SEO playbook

Last week, we explored how Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and GenAI are transforming product discovery. This week, we're diving deeper into how SEO and AEO work together. Traditional SEO remains critical for ecommerce success, no question about it. But AEO is quickly emerging as the next frontier of digital visibility. Let's explore where the market is heading and how CommerceIQ is evolving to help brands excel at both.

The Market shift: From SEO to SEO + AEO

Where we are today

SEO continues to drive the majority of organic product discovery, with brands competing fiercely for keyword rankings on Amazon, Google, and retailer sites. But the landscape is shifting faster than many realize.

Consider these statistics: Nearly 60% of Google searches in the US and Europe don't lead to a click (Sparktoro). Even more telling? The top 10 Google search results appear in AEO answers only 8% of the time, meaning strong SEO performance doesn't automatically translate to AEO visibility.

The most cited sources in AI-generated answers paint a revealing picture: Reddit (45%), Wikipedia (40%), YouTube (25%+), and yes, even Facebook. Having a robust third-party social strategy is now essential to being part of the conversations that AI models reference.

Where the market is heading

AI assistants like ChatGPT, Amazon's Rufus, and Walmart's Sparky are gaining adoption rapidly. Consumers increasingly use conversational queries to discover products, and Gartner predicts search volume will drop 25% as shoppers shift to AI chatbots and virtual agents.

The winners in this new landscape will master both SEO and AEO simultaneously. CommerceIQ is building toward this future, expanding our industry-leading SEO capabilities to address the emerging AEO opportunity.

The brands that prepare now for this dual-engine world will dominate tomorrow's digital commerce.

Augmenting your SEO playbook with AEO best practices

While some tactics overlap, such as creating well-structured content or optimizing product titles, AEO demands more with nine essential actions for success, as mentioned in a previous discussion. Focus on AEO success factors across core disciplines, such as:

Content Indexing

SEO Practices

• Product titles designed for retailer search (keywords, categories) 
• Inconsistent metadata, 
• attributes across retailers 
• Static content updated infrequently

AEO Practices

• Description text should mirror how consumers naturally phrase their prompts, such as "best shampoo for controlling frizz and adding shine" 
• Consistent schema markup and rich metadata (sulfate-free, moisturizing, suitable for daily use, etc.) 
• SKU attribute completeness for better inclusion in AEO graph

Content Relevance

SEO Practices

• Copy built around keyword density 
• Generic claims not tied to shopper intent or context 
• Minimal use of review or Q&A insights to refine messaging 

AEO Practices

• Content aligned to consumer intent and conversational search patterns 
• Integration of live consumer sentiment and ratings into PDP copy 
• Adaptive content that evolves with trending AEO queries

Media

SEO Practices

• Media plans focused on impressions, CTR, and ROAS
• Channel-siloed execution across Amazon, etc. 
• No direct linkage between content performance and media ROI

AEO Practices

• Unified, cross-channel visibility linking paid, organic, and AEO media performance 
• Agentic optimization making thousands of bid decisions 
• Real-time reallocation toward SKUS with higher incrementality

Management and Measurement

SEO Practices

• Fragmented ownership across teams and regions 
• Manual workflows with limited version control 
• Reactive reporting cycles that lag real-time changes

AEO Practices

• Automated real-time workflows for AEO-ready product data 
• Versioned content tied to data accuracy, sentiment, and compliance 
• Real-time dashboards linking PDP completeness, conversion, media incrementality

Why CommerceIQ is positioned to deliver

SEO isn't going away, as millions of shoppers still start with search bars. But AEO is rapidly emerging as AI assistants gain consumer trust. The market is heading toward a world where both matter equally.

CommerceIQ's foundation in digital shelf optimization provides the perfect launching pad for AEO capabilities. We already excel at data unification across retailers, automated content optimization, real-time performance monitoring, and scalable syndication infrastructure, exactly what brands need for AEO success.

Preparing for the dual-engine future

What brands should do now:

• Strengthen your SEO foundation: Use CommerceIQ to maximize current search visibility
• Prepare your data: Ensure product information is complete and structured
• Monitor the shift: Track how AI assistants discuss your category

The transition is beginning. Brands that partner with CommerceIQ today for SEO excellence will be positioned to seamlessly adopt AEO capabilities as we look to the future.

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Ready to future-proof your digital discovery strategy? Download our whitepaper to learn how CommerceIQ is evolving to power your SEO + AEO strategy.