If you've spent time and money on SEO over the years, the last thing you want to hear is that it doesn't matter any more.
Good news: it does. Genuinely. The work you've done on your website isn't wasted.
But something has shifted - and if you're not across it, you're probably already losing enquiries you don't even know about.
So what's SEO again? Just to be sure we're on the same page.
SEO - Search Engine Optimisation - is the practice of making your website easy for Google to find, understand, and rank. It covers things like using the right words on your pages, getting other websites to link to you, making sure your site loads quickly, and having your business information set up consistently across the web.
The goal of SEO is to appear high up on Google's results page when someone searches for what you do. "Plumber Derby." "Family dentist near me." "Solicitor Chesterfield." That sort of thing.
And it worked brilliantly. For a long time, Google was the way people found local businesses.
Here's what's changed
People are still searching. But a growing number of them aren't bothering with the results page any more.
They're asking AI directly.
"Who's a good dentist near me?" "Can you recommend a reliable builder in Belper?" "What's the best restaurant in Derby for a birthday dinner?"
They type that - or say it - into ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, or Copilot, and they get a direct answer. Not a list of ten blue links. A recommendation. Two or three businesses, named, with a reason why.
If your business isn't one of them, you've lost that customer before they've even seen your website.
What is AEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It's the practice of making your business easy for AI to understand, trust, and recommend - not just easy for Google to index and rank.
The name is a bit clunky, honestly. (The industry's still working out what to call this stuff.) Some people say "AI visibility", some say "AEO", some say "GEO" (Generative Engine Optimisation). They all mean roughly the same thing: making sure AI can confidently recommend your business.
What matters is what it involves - which is a bit different to traditional SEO.
The actual differences
SEO and AEO share a foundation. Fast websites, clear content, consistent business information - all of that matters for both. If your SEO is in good shape, you're not starting from scratch.
But there are real differences in what each one asks of your website.
SEO is optimising for ranking. It's about appearing in a list and being clicked on. The measure of success is your position in search results and the traffic that flows from it.
AEO is optimising for recommendation. It's about being understood well enough that an AI feels confident naming you specifically. The measure of success is whether AI mentions your business when someone asks a relevant question.
Here's where that plays out practically:
Keywords vs questions
SEO has traditionally focused on keywords - the specific words and phrases people type into Google. "Derby dentist." "Emergency plumber Ripley." Short, clipped search terms.
AI search works differently. People talk to AI like they talk to a person. "I'm looking for a dentist in Derby that's good with nervous adults - can you recommend one?" That's a full question, with context, nuance, and intent baked in.
Your website content needs to actually answer questions like that, not just contain the right keywords. There's a difference between a page that mentions "nervous patient dentistry" and a page that explains what you do for nervous patients, how your approach works, and why people trust you with it.
Ranking signals vs trust signals
Google uses hundreds of signals to decide where to rank your website. Backlinks, page speed, mobile friendliness, keyword usage - the list is long and forever changing.
AI uses a different set of signals to decide whether to recommend your business. It's looking for things like:
- Structured data - the behind-the-scenes code (called Schema.org markup) that explicitly tells AI "this is a dental practice, it's located here, it offers these treatments, it's been trading since this year." Think of it as a label on a tin. Without it, AI has to guess what's inside.
- Consistent entity information - your business name, address, phone number, and description should be identical everywhere they appear: your website, Google Business Profile, directories, social media. AI cross-references these. Inconsistencies make it nervous.
- Topical depth - does your website genuinely demonstrate expertise in what you do? A single page mentioning your service isn't the same as a proper, thorough explanation of how you work, who you help, and why you're good at it.
- Clear, direct answers - FAQ sections, specific service pages, content that answers the exact questions people ask AI about businesses like yours.
Ranking vs being cited
The goal of SEO is to rank highly. Position one on Google. Maybe position zero (the featured snippet at the very top).
The goal of AEO is to be cited - to be the business AI mentions by name when someone asks a relevant question. That's a different thing. You're not competing for a position in a list. You're competing to be the answer.
Does this mean SEO is dead?
No. Firmly not.
Google still sends enormous amounts of traffic to websites. Traditional search results still exist and still matter. Good SEO foundations - well-structured pages, fast loading times, consistent business information, quality content - directly support your AI visibility too.
Think of it less as "SEO is dead, AEO is the new thing" and more as "AEO is a new layer that sits on top of the SEO you've already done."
The businesses that will struggle are those who stop at SEO and assume it's enough. The businesses that will thrive are those who add the AEO layer - the structured data, the question-answering content, the genuine topical depth - on top of solid SEO foundations.
Where most local business websites fall short right now
We've looked at a lot of local business websites in Derbyshire and beyond. The honest picture is that most of them are reasonably well set up for traditional SEO - they've got the basics right - but almost none of them are properly set up for AI.
The most common gaps:
- No structured data at all. The behind-the-scenes markup that tells AI what your business is, what it does, and where it operates. Most websites don't have any.
- Vague service pages. A single page listing everything you offer in a few bullet points. AI can't confidently recommend you from that because it can't understand the detail of what you actually do.
- Inconsistent information. Different phone numbers on different directories. A slightly different business name on your Google Business Profile vs your website. These small inconsistencies are much more damaging in an AI world than they were in a purely SEO world.
- No FAQ content. FAQs aren't just helpful for humans - they're one of the clearest signals to AI that your business genuinely knows its stuff. A well-written FAQ page that answers real questions is one of the most effective things you can add to your website right now.
What to do about it
If you want to check where you actually stand, our AI Visibility Checker will give you a quick read on how visible your business is to AI right now - and where the gaps are.
If you'd rather get stuck in yourself, these are the things worth looking at first:
- Check your structured data. Google's Rich Results Test will tell you what markup your site currently has - or doesn't.
- Audit your service pages. Does each service get its own dedicated page? Does that page actually explain what you do, who it's for, and how it works - or does it just name the service?
- Look at your Google Business Profile. Is the information there exactly consistent with what's on your website? Category, name, address, phone number, description?
- Add an FAQ section. Think about the questions your customers actually ask you, then answer them properly on your website.
None of this is complicated. It's genuinely not. It just needs doing - and most of your competitors haven't done it yet.
That window won't stay open forever.