Reaching for Position Zero
Episode Two: What Is AEO?
Date Published: May 11th 2026
Duration: 9 minutes 09 seconds
TL;DR - Speed Read
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is about making your website easier for AI systems and modern search engines to understand, trust and use as an answer.
In this episode, Susi and Kev unpack why search has changed from keywords to conversations, what AI search engines are actually looking for, and why small businesses may be better placed than they think to compete in AI search.
In this episode
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What AEO actually stands for
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Why people stopped searching like robots
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How Google and ChatGPT now deliver direct answers
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The difference between keywords and conversational search
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What good AEO looks like in practice
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Why clarity matters more than budget
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How small businesses can compete with bigger brands
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One simple thing you can do today to improve your website for AI search
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What does AEO stand for?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation (or Optimization - American spelling). It is the process of making your website easier for AI systems and modern search engines to understand and use as a trusted answer.
Is AEO different from SEO?
Yes - but they are closely connected. Traditional SEO focuses on helping websites rank in search results, while AEO focuses on helping websites become part of the actual answers shown by AI search tools and modern search engines.
Why has search changed so much recently?
Search became more conversational. People stopped typing short keyword phrases and started asking full questions using voice search, smartphones, Google AI summaries and tools like ChatGPT.
What does good AEO look like?
Good AEO usually means:
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clear answers
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sensible page structure
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straightforward language
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question-led headings
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useful FAQ sections
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pages that genuinely answer the question being asked
Can small businesses compete in AI search?
Yes. Small businesses are often better at explaining services clearly and answering specific customer questions. AI search rewards clarity and usefulness more than brand size alone.
Do I need to rebuild my whole website for AEO?
Not necessarily. In many cases, improving clarity, structure and content quality can make a significant difference without rebuilding an entire website.
Listen & Subscribe
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Chapters
00:03 - Intro
00:28 - Overheard in the Studio
00:48 - What Actually Is AEO?
02:43 - Why Search Changed
04:21 - What Good AEO Looks Like
06:03 - Why Small Businesses Can Compete
07:07 - Quick One Before We Go
07:38 - If You Do One Thing
08:10 - Next Time
08:36 - Pub?
08:46 - Outro
Transcript
Susi: Hello and welcome to Reaching for Position Zero. I am Susi, your host, and this is the podcast where we tackle AI search one question at a time, with the occasional help of my sidekick Kev and a guest or two along the way. Why don't you come with us? We are figuring this out as we go.
Kev: Nah mate, it’s stuffed. Three hundred quid. No. To look at it sadly.
Susi: Some consultants are absolutely living the dream.
Kev: I’m telling you now, I’m getting into boilers.
Susi: Okay, enough of the small talk. Today’s question is a big one. What actually is AEO?
Kev: And more importantly, why has everyone suddenly started saying it like we’re all supposed to know what it means?
Susi: Fair question indeed, Kev. AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation.
Kev: Right, hang on. Not another acronym I’m supposed to remember.
Susi: Afraid so, Kev.
Kev: I’ve only just got my head around SEO.
Susi: Honestly, this is really just the next evolution of that. But the idea behind it is actually very simple. AEO is about making your website easier for AI systems and modern search engines to understand, trust, and use as an answer.
Kev: Okay. Explain that like I’m someone who nearly electrocuted himself changing a light fitting last week.
Susi: Again?
Kev: Different light fitting.
Susi: Remember that for years, websites were mostly trying to rank in a list of links on Google.
Kev: The old “get me to page one” dream?
Susi: Yes, exactly that. But now, more and more often, people are getting answers before they even reach the list.
Kev: Like the little summary Google sticks at the top now.
Susi: Yes, just like that. Or the answer ChatGPT gives you directly. Search is becoming much more answer-led.
Kev: So instead of ten blue links, it just sort of tells you.
Susi: Exactly that. And AEO is about helping your website become one of the sources behind those answers.Why Search Changed
Kev: Okay, but why now? What changed?
Susi: Honestly, people changed first.
Kev: People?
Susi: Yes. We stopped searching like robots.
Kev: We absolutely did search like robots.
Susi: We really did. Think about how people used to type into Google.
Kev: Emergency plumber Hull.
Susi: Exactly.
Kev: Cheap holiday Spain.
Susi: Yes. Ooh, holidays.
Kev: Back pain standing up help.
Susi: That one feels personal.
Kev: It was three in the morning.
Susi: But that’s the point. People started searching more naturally, more conversationally.
Kev: So basically, we spent twenty years training ourselves to talk like machines.
Susi: Yes.
Kev: And now the machines are learning to talk more like us.
Susi: Kev, annoyingly, that is exactly what happened.
Kev: Thank you very much.
Susi: Smartphones changed habits. Voice search changed habits. And then AI tools like ChatGPT arrived, and suddenly people realised they could just ask properly.
Kev: Like talking to an actual person.
Susi: Yes, like a conversation. A real one. And once search engines started understanding intent instead of just matching keywords, websites had to adapt too.What Good AEO Looks Like
Kev: Right then. So what actually helps?
Susi: Clarity, mostly.
Kev: That’s less dramatic than I expected.
Susi: I know, it’s that simple. Everyone wants there to be some secret AI trick. But honestly, good AEO usually looks like:
Kev: So not trying to sound clever then?
Susi: No, trying to sound useful.
Kev: I feel like that applies to quite a lot of the internet actually.
Susi: Honestly, yes.
Kev: So if somebody asks, “How much does a new website cost?”
Susi: Then somewhere on your website there should probably be a clear answer to that question.
Kev: Instead of “innovative, scalable digital solutions.”
Susi: Please, Kev, never write that on a website. Ever.
Kev: Noted.
Susi: One of the easiest ways to think about AEO is this. Imagine your customer has asked you a question in real life. The clearer your answer would be face to face, the clearer your website should be too.
Kev: So your website basically needs to stop speaking corporate.
Susi: Yes. It needs to be more how we all speak in real life.Why Small Businesses Can Compete
Kev: Does this actually work then? Or is this another one of those marketing things everyone talks about for six months before forgetting it existed?
Susi: No! This is very real. We’ve already seen newer websites picking up traffic from ChatGPT within weeks of launching.
Kev: Which still sounds completely mad when you say it out loud.
Susi: But it makes sense when you think about it. Smaller businesses often explain things more clearly than huge brands do.
Kev: Because they actually talk like humans.
Susi: Exactly that. They answer specific questions. They describe real services. They solve real problems. That’s incredibly useful to AI systems trying to generate answers.
Kev: So weirdly, smaller businesses might actually have an advantage here.
Susi: In some ways, yes, because this is less about budget and more about clarity.
Kev: That is going to upset some very expensive agencies.
Susi: Well, who knows, eh?Quick One Before We Go
Susi: Okay, quick one before we go. AEO is not about tricking AI.
Kev: Important distinction.
Susi: Very much so. It’s about making your website easier to understand. Most businesses already know the answers their customers need. The challenge is putting those answers somewhere machines can actually find and use them.
Kev: Which suddenly makes FAQ sections feel a lot less boring.If You Do One Thing
Susi: Yes, and very doable. If you do one thing this week, go to Google and start typing a question your customers genuinely ask you.
Kev: And look at all the suggested questions underneath.
Susi: That’s it. Those suggestions are telling you what people genuinely want answers to. If your website answers those clearly, you are already thinking in the right direction.
Kev: That actually feels weirdly doable, as you suggested.
Susi: Good. Because it is.Next Time
Susi: So that’s it for this episode. Next time we are getting into one of the biggest myths in AI search. And we ask: do you actually need to rebuild your whole website for AEO and getting chosen by AI?
Kev: Please say no.
Susi: You’ll have to come back next time and find out.Pub?
Kev: Right then. Pub?
Susi: Thought you’d never ask.
Kev: You getting these in?
Susi: Absolutely not.
Kev: Worth a try.Outro
Susi: Thanks for joining us on Reaching for Position Zero. Subscribe so you never miss an adventure and find us at kingstown-web-studio.co.uk. This has been a Kingstown Web Studio production. Come with us. We are figuring this out as we go.
Next Episode
Do you actually need to rebuild your whole website for AEO and AI search?
Next time, Susi and Kev tackle one of the biggest myths in AI search - whether small businesses really need a brand new website to compete in AI-driven search results, or whether improving what you already have might be enough.
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For more on this site....
Read the full answer
Each episode has its own dedicated answer post - structured for AI search and written to stand alone. What is AEO?
Part of the Zipping In series - one question, one clear answer, every episode.
Explore our → AI Search Optimisation Services or for a deeper read visit our → AEO Knowledge Hub Page