SEO is so Yesterday. The future is here with AISO, GenAO, and AAO!
- Jenny Kay Pollock
- Jul 9
- 4 min read
By Robyn White: I’m a UX Director with expertise in content strategy and AI-enhanced user experiences. With a background in leading UX strategy and cross-functional teams, plus an insatiable curiosity about emerging technologies, I enjoy helping organizations create impactful digital solutions in the rapidly changing AI landscape.
Annie Deihl: Ecommerce, Marketing & Fintech Product Leader | Expert in Shopping & Customer Operations User Journeys | Business Strategist for Startup through Enterprise-sized Companies | Innovator & Transformer of Operational Infrastructure | Mentor
How to Get Discovered in the New World Of Search
With the acceleration of AI development in just about every aspect of life, digital marketing is no different. From enhanced personalization and more comprehensive data analysis to the automation of workflows, AI is transforming how the business of marketing gets done.
These changes are huge, but the biggest disruption is yet to come: search optimization becomes discoverability optimization. SEO isn’t getting replaced, it’s going 3D.
New Terms Hint At What’s Coming
You may have heard of AIO (AI Optimization), but what about AISO (AI Search Optimization)? Or AAO (Autonomous Agent Optimization), LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization), GenEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)? Just alphabet soup? We wish!
Each of these initialisms relates to new, specific, important ways that customers and AI Agents will explore and shop.
Will one term eventually dominate all the rest?
The answer is so annoying—probably not.
At least for now, because AI is not just making search faster, it’s changing what shows up in the results.
AI search engines reply to your questions (natural language queries) with direct answers and/or recommendations rather than a ranked list. To create these AI overview summaries, the LLMs value different indicators than standard SEO. For example, backlinks aren’t valued as highly as well-structured content, like thorough tutorials and FAQs.
Additionally, content will be assessed for how AI systems understand, summarize, and reference information, drawing both on what models it’s been trained on and your input. Gulp! That means the “best” dog leash Perplexity recommends for you may not be mentioned when you ask Claude.
Separately, while there could be consolidation of AI companies, it’s unlikely Google, Open AI, Microsoft, Anthropic, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Mistral, and Meta will collapse into one giant, predominant AI company, so the model of one hegemonic dominating search is unlikely to continue. Thereby lessening the chance that one single initialism will win out.
New Term | What It Does | Best For |
AISO (AI Search Optimization) | Umbrella term for making content discoverable in AI conversations AND for Agentic Agents to take action. | All AI-driven search and agentic scenarios |
AIO (AI Optimization) | Two meanings:
| AI-driven conversations, model improvement |
LLMO (LLM Optimization) | Makes content discoverable in AI conversations by focusing on conversational, structured content, and authority | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, etc. |
GenEO/GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) | Prioritizes intent and context in generative AI search engines | Generative AI search, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc. |
AAO (Agentic AI Optimization) | The newest frontier: optimizes for autonomous AI agents that don’t just answer questions, but take action | Agentive AI that executes tasks |
AI Agents are Evolving, Too
The other big factor at play is Autonomous Agents. Today, most think of AI Agents as the friendly bots encountered on AI conversation platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, Grok), as customer service agents, or even as hotel booking assistants. However, that’s just one type of AI Agent, where the bot is taught how to complete “closed” tasks.
Soon, another type of AI Agent, an Autonomous Agent, will be able to complete “open” tasks, where it can reason and make decisions on your behalf.
So, for example, if you need a new refrigerator, your Autonomous Agent can find the most efficient, correctly sized, right color refrigerator for your home, including all the features you want, handle the financing arrangements, and go ahead and make the purchase and set up delivery. Pretty incredible!
How Do You Prepare for These Changes?
The good news is that there are several steps you can take now to help make sure your site is ready to meet the future. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
First, it’s important to point out that SEO isn’t going away because the AI models use training data (hello, world wide web!) and website summaries to predict their recommendations. E-E-A-T is still relevant and useful. Remember, OpenAI relies on Bing, so you’ll want to make sure your site ranks well there, too.
Second, make sure your site is accessible to the AI models and LLMs with content that is well-structured and indexed. Today, most AI platforms don’t allow direct brand submissions for inclusion in overview summaries, though that seems to be changing with the introduction of OpenAI's “Search Product Discovery Initiative” and Perplexity’s “Merchant Program.”
Third, similar to traditional Google Search, focus on high-quality content and seek third-party validation in the form of awards and partnerships; think industry-specific awards for excellence, as well as customer awards from Yelp!, TripAdvisor, and Trustpilot. Partnerships with other prominent brands or industry associations like the Better Business Bureau help build credibility. This is important because while SEO matches keywords, AI matches ideas and authority.
Finally, remember to monitor and test out how the different models talk about your brand. You want to measure what’s working best for each platform so you can adjust your strategy as you go. At least some things never change!
Here's a reminder of the new AI search terms. Save a copy or bookmark this article to help you stay up to date with AI's impact on search.
We’d love to hear about your experience and how you’re thinking about evolving your approach to marketing, design, content, and product requirements to meet this new challenge. Please share in the comments!
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