Why AEO Matters More Than SEO Now

byJohnMaluth

433 followers

1 week ago

When I started building websites years ago, SEO felt like the whole game. Find the right keyword. Write the post. Pray Google likes you. That was the routine. Simple, steady, and old school. I grew up in a village where life was already complicated enough. So when SEO came along, I liked the structure. It felt familiar.

NOTICE: This post was inspired by this post => https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/orgainitguy/blog/holy-s-t-check-out-the-great-google-giveaway-your-brand-creative-inspirations

I didn't know what Google Pomelli was, neither what AEO meant before reading the above post.

Okay, let's keep going now...

...but the internet has changed. Google has changed. And the world of content is moving faster than a fishing canoe when the river rises. That is how I learned about AEO. Answer Engine Optimization. It is not replacing SEO. It is expanding the battlefield. Today, we are not writing for search engines alone. We are writing for answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Bing Copilot, and even Google’s new AI search results.

Google Search Console Stats for 03-11-2025

Here is the truth. These engines do not just show links. They pull from your content. They summarize you. They quote you. They measure whether your sentences can stand alone as answers. I like that. It rewards clarity and purpose. It rewards real stories. It rewards people who talk like humans and not robots.

Let me tell you something from home. In my village, when an elder asked you a question, you answered directly. You did not circle the mango tree five times to explain a simple thing. You said the thing as it is.

That is AEO.

Clean.

Direct.

Useful.

No noise.

No show-off language.

Google Search Console stats for 25-11-2025

I started noticing that when I added TLDR sections, FAQs, and short clear sentences, my posts performed better. Not just on Google, but even on Bing and Pinterest. Then Perplexity picked up some of my content, or did it? That one shocked me. I smiled like a boy who found a forgotten coin in his father’s pocket. You mean the machines are reading me now? That is wild.

Here is why AEO matters for us here at WA. Many people create long posts, but they hide the answers deep in the jungle. AI engines do not have time for that. If your answer sits in the first paragraph, the machines pick it. If your story is clear, they keep it. If your content is structured well, they reward you.

So here is what I am doing on my site. You can try the same.

1. Start every article with a direct answer.
2. Add a simple TL; DR (Too Long; Didn't Read) or something like that?
3. Include FAQs.
4. Use short sentences.
5. Write like a human who has lived something.
6. Keep meta titles short.
7. Keep pages clean and purposeful.
8. Build your identity.

Answer engines like sites with identity. They want to know who is speaking. They want to know if you stand for something. I like that too. It forces us to write with meaning.

Let me be honest. Some days I wonder how a boy who studied under trees ended up competing with global writers online. Then I remember something a relative told me a few days ago. He said, keep fighting the good fight with the pen. I think AEO is part of that fight now. Not just writing for traffic. Writing for clarity. Writing for people. Writing so that answer engines see value in your voice.

A child can play with its mother's breasts, but not its father's testicles. This means clarity matters. Honesty matters. And getting straight to the point protects you from unnecessary trouble.

Let me know if you want more content like this, explaining these key elements of your online business. Remember, I am a student. As I said from the very beginning, I didn't know what the hell was Pomelli, or AEO. I was guessing until I did my research.

"Is it AI Engine Optimization (AEO) ?" I asked. Now I know and so do you.

Let me know what you would like me to write about next in the comments. Something you would like to know about instead of searching everywhere.

John