Matt Turley, Continuum. Sources checked 2026-11-05.
SEO is about ranking in Google’s results, and AEO is about being named inside the answers that AI tools like ChatGPT give. For a business owner the two share most of the work, so you should not pay for them twice.
We make the Get Named Sprint at Continuum, a done for you service for AI answers, so we say where plain SEO work is the better buy.
AEO stands for answer engine optimization, the work of getting named in an AI answer. SEO stands for search engine optimization, the work of ranking on Google. We weighed them on what a buyer with an existing business cares about:
What we say about Semrush and Optimizely comes from two guides they published, which we fetched on 2026-11-05. Both are written by companies that sell software in this area, so read them with that in mind. The links are at the bottom.
Semrush describes SEO as ranking high in organic search, with the search results page as the place a reader decides which link to click. Optimizely puts it as SEO helping search engines find your content.
It is the older, better understood work, and you can see the rankings and clicks. It fits any business whose customers still type a need into Google, such as a plumber in a town or an agency with a service page. The drawback is that a page that ranks well may still go unmentioned in an AI answer. Semrush says AI often pulls deeper subpages within trusted domains instead of the exact ranking URLs.
Semrush describes AEO as being included in AI-generated answers. Optimizely describes it as helping AI understand and use your content, and lists mentions in AI answers and citation tracking among the ways to measure it.
It is good at reaching the buyer who asks a chatbot who to call instead of searching, and it fits a business whose customers say they asked ChatGPT first. The drawback is that results are harder to see. Semrush says Perplexity lines up most closely with Google and ChatGPT the least, so a good Google ranking does not tell you what ChatGPT will say about you. The only way to know is to ask the engines your customers’ questions and read the answers.
Our own log shows how easy it is to get this wrong. In the week of 2026-10-05 we asked 17 of the same buyer questions and were named on 1 of 17 in ChatGPT. Perplexity named us on 0 of 17 and Gemini on 0 of 17. We publish that weekly in the AI visibility log, bad weeks included, because you cannot fix what you have not measured.
Both guides land in the same place. Semrush says AEO extends SEO rather than competing with it, and that many of the same signals that help you rank in Google also increase your chances of being cited by AI tools. Optimizely says AEO is not replacing SEO and is evolving it. Optimizely also sells a content management system and says that system is built for both, which is a reason to weigh its advice with care.
In our view that is the useful finding for an owner. Clear pages that answer the buyer’s question and real listings elsewhere help you in both places, so paying one team for SEO and another for AEO usually buys the same work twice. The new part is checking what the engines say, question by question.
This is our own offer, so weigh it with that in mind. It is not software and it does not replace SEO. For $1,500, one time, we spend 2 weeks fixing what keeps AI from naming your business, ask 10 buyer questions of the engines before and after, and show you the two side by side. The sprint page lists what is included.
It does the fixes for you at one price with no subscription, so it suits an owner with no one in house to act on a report. It is a project, not a monitor, so it will not tell you when an answer changes next month, and it will not get a site that ranks nowhere onto Google. If you only want a first look, the does ChatGPT recommend my business check shows who the engines name today, and our AI visibility page covers ongoing work.
This is ordered by who is asking, not by which option is best.
Whichever work you pick, begin by asking the engines your customers’ questions and reading the answers.