Strong SEO only gets you so far in AI Search

In generative answers, visibility is often decided at the passage level. Systems retrieve a set of pages, then select specific chunks to support sub-claims in an answer. If your content is hard to extract or ambiguous to attribute, you can rank well and still lose citations.

The practical split is:

• SEO strength improves the likelihood your pages are crawled, indexed, and retrieved as candidates.
• AEO (answer engine optimization) improves the likelihood your passages are selected as evidence and shown as links/citations.

The two gates you must pass: retrieval, then selection

Gate 1: Retrieval (candidate set). If your page isn’t accessible, indexable, and eligible to show with a snippet, it won’t be used as a supporting link in answer surfaces.

Gate 2: Selection (evidence/citation). Among retrieved pages, systems tend to prefer passages that are:

• Direct: answers a sub-question without needing surrounding context.
• Extractable: clean structure, predictable formatting, minimal filler.
• Attributable: clear entity signals (who/what the content refers to).
• Verifiable: precise claims, constraints, and supporting detail.

Write passages that are easy to quote

Most “SEO-strong but never cited” pages fail because the best information is not packaged as quotable evidence.

Passage patterns that work well

• Answer-first: lead with the definition/conclusion in the first 1–2 sentences.
• Self-contained: each key paragraph should stand alone; avoid pronouns that depend on prior sections (“this/that/it” without a noun).
• Constraint-aware: include “works when / fails when” conditions, not just generic advice.
• Comparable: use consistent structures for “X vs Y” and “best for / not for.”
• Specific: include steps, settings, thresholds, and edge cases where true.

Editing test: copy one paragraph into a blank doc. If it loses meaning or accuracy without the rest of the page, it’s harder to cite.

Technical foundations that affect extractability

Answer systems are more sensitive to technical friction than classic “blue link” SEO, because they need to reliably extract text.

High-impact technical checks

• Crawl + index: confirm robots.txt, meta robots, canonicals, redirects, and status codes are clean for target URLs.
• Snippet controls: avoid accidentally suppressing usable text with aggressive snippet directives (for example, blocking snippets sitewide when only a small section needs protection).
• Rendering: keep core answers in the initial HTML where possible. If key content is only available after heavy client-side rendering or user interaction, extraction becomes less reliable.
• Template predictability: consistent page templates help systems learn where definitions, steps, and comparisons live.
• Information architecture: internal links should point to the canonical “best answer” page per concept, using descriptive anchor text.

Entity clarity and structured data: make ownership unambiguous

In generative answers, attribution matters. If the system can’t confidently connect a claim to your company/product, it may cite a clearer competitor source.

Structured data hygiene that’s worth doing

• Match visible content: markup must reflect what users can see on the page (avoid “marketing-only” schema that isn’t supported by the content).
• Use the right types: typically Organization + Product or SoftwareApplication + Article/BlogPosting for B2B SaaS.
• Consistency: one canonical URL per concept; consistent product and feature naming across marketing pages, docs, and support content.
• Proofing: validate JSON-LD output, fix warnings that indicate missing required properties, and prevent stale schema during template changes.

Measurement: rankings won’t tell you if you’re being used as a source

Generative answers can change traffic patterns even when rankings look stable. You need to measure citation visibility, not just position and clicks.

Track three layers

1. Candidate visibility: do you consistently rank in the range where retrieval is likely?
2. Citation visibility: are your URLs being cited for target prompts, and for which sub-claims?
3. Brand visibility: are you mentioned (even without a link) as the recommended product or method?

Operational loop (simple and effective)

• Pick 30–50 prompts that trigger generative answers in your category.
• Log: cited domains, cited URLs, and the passage format used (definition/steps/comparison).
• Improve 5–10 URLs at a time (passage rewrites + template tweaks + schema fixes).
• Re-test weekly and measure citation frequency, not just ranking.

Clavius supports this with brand and competitor mention tracking across AI-generated answers, structured data issue detection, and analytics that separate “ranking” from “being cited.”

A practical 30-day plan to start earning citations

Week 1: Map where citations come from

• Build a query set (definitions, comparisons, “best tool for,” troubleshooting, implementation questions).
• For each prompt: record what’s cited and what passage format the answer uses.

Week 2: Upgrade extractability on your top 10 pages

• Add an answer-first block near the top (definition + constraints + when to use).
• Convert key sections into short paragraphs and step lists.
• Remove long intros before the answer; move context after the core definition.

Week 3: Fix technical blockers

• Ensure the key answer text is present without interaction and is not hidden behind tabs/accordions by default.
• Audit snippet/indexing directives to prevent accidental suppression.
• Strengthen internal linking to the canonical answer URL.

Week 4: Entity + schema hardening and iteration

• Implement/validate Organization + Product/SoftwareApplication + Article/BlogPosting schema aligned to visible content.
• Standardize naming for products/features across templates.
• Re-test the same prompt set; iterate based on which sub-claims you still don’t win.

• Indexing: Target pages are crawlable, indexable, and snippet-eligible.
• Answer blocks: Each target page has an answer-first paragraph + constraints near the top.
• Structure: Descriptive headings; key answers live in short self-contained paragraphs and lists.
• Rendering: Core answers are available as text without interaction.
• Canonicalization: One canonical URL per concept; internal links reinforce it.
• Schema: JSON-LD is implemented and matches visible content.
• Entity consistency: Product and feature names are consistent across site and docs.
• Measurement: You track citations and mentions, not just rankings.

FAQs

Is AEO different from SEO? Yes. SEO helps you get retrieved. AEO helps your content get selected as evidence and cited.

Do I need special markup to appear in generative answers? There’s no single “AI markup.” The win is making content extractable, attributable, and verifiable (plus solid technical SEO).

Why do weaker sites sometimes get cited? They often provide a more direct, self-contained passage (definition/steps/comparison) with clearer structure and attribution.

How should we report progress? Weekly: citation count and coverage across your target prompt set, plus which sub-claims you’re winning/losing.

Want to see exactly where you’re being cited (and where competitors are taking the sources you should own)? Run an AEO visibility audit in Clavius to track mentions, compare competitors, and surface technical issues that block citations.