A.K.A. “How to Stop Letting AI Steal Your Traffic and Start Making It Work For You Instead”
There was a time — a simpler, happier, less chaotic time — when you could publish a blog post, sprinkle in some keywords, toss in a stock image of a woman laughing at salad, and call it SEO.
That era is dead. Google killed it. AI dug the hole and buried it. And Perplexity is currently dancing on the grave.
But here’s the plot twist no one bothered to tell you: Content is not dead. It just has a new search engine.
Search isn’t just Google anymore. Search is now:
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Perplexity
- And Google’s “AI Overviews” experiment that has SEOs crying into their sitemaps
If you want visibility in 2026 and beyond, you don’t just write for Google (and ideally humans first…)…
You write for the AI engines answering your audience’s questions for them.
Why AI Overviews (and AI Answers) Matter — Even If You Hate Them
Love them, hate them, or fantasize about throwing Google’s Gemini into the sea… AI Overviews are already shaping how people discover information.
Google calls AI Overviews “an AI-generated snapshot with key information & links.”
Cool. Cute. What it actually means is:
Google answers the question itself… then decides whether you deserve a mention.
And here’s the kicker:
👉 YouTube videos are disproportionately cited — some studies show 30%+ of AEO citations come from YouTube.
👉 Perplexity is heavily citing blogs with structured answers.
👉 ChatGPT and Claude love anything that looks like:
- steps
- templates
- definitions
- checklists
- “the quick version:” blocks
- Q&A format
AI engines aren’t pulling content because it’s good, poetic, laid out pretty, or long.
They’re pulling it because it’s useful, clear, structured, and easy for them to chunk. Peep this article from Search Engine Journal.
And that, my friend, is amazing news for creators and business owners…
because this is something you can control.
The #1 Fastest Way to Get Cited in AI Answers
Answer a very specific question your buyer is asking ChatGPT.
This is the AEO cheat code.
It’s not:
- authority
- backlinks
- domain age
- traffic
- or praying to the SEO gods
It’s this:
Directly answer the EXACT question your ideal buyer is typing into ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity.
This works because AI engines retrieve content based on intent-matching and question-answer structure — not keyword density. This literally came straight from OpenAI.
Examples of buyer questions:
- “How do I create a custom GPT for my business?”
- “How do I repurpose my podcast with AI?”
- “What’s the best AI workflow for writing blog posts?”
If your blog post mirrors their question AND immediately answers it?
AI will pull from you.
Creators are literally proving this on YouTube right now — rewriting posts around common ChatGPT queries and getting cited in AI answers within weeks…
This is the part where we stop overcomplicating content and start playing the actual game.
What AI Engines Love (and Why They Cite Some Content and Ignore the Rest)
Let’s break this down like we’re explaining it to Google itself:
1. Structured, scannable content
LLMs are chunk monsters. They love:
- Lists
- Steps
- Checklists
- Questions as headers
- TL;DR blocks
This is backed by multiple SEO pros analyzing AEO patterns.
2. Entities, not keywords
K(With an Email Service Provider SaaS example)
Old-school SEO was all about keywords:
“email marketing,” “email software,” “email automation,” blah blah blah.
But AI search doesn’t work that way.
ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews rely on entities — recognizable, specific, real-world things.
An entity is:
- a product
- a feature
- a brand
- a tool
- a process
- a concept
- a framework
- a specific use case
They’re the “nouns with meaning” that help AI engines understand context and relevance.
👉 Example using an Email Service Provider SaaS
Instead of trying to rank for bland, outdated keywords like:
- “email marketing tools”
- “best newsletter software”
- “email automation platform”
An ESP SaaS should intentionally embed ENTITIES like:
- “automation workflows”
- “drag-and-drop email builder”
- “segmentation rules”
- “contact scoring”
- “SMTP integrations”
- “CRM sync”
- “visual journey builder”
- “AI subject line generator”
- “A/B testing for email campaigns”
- “behavior-triggered automations”
These are the things users actually ask about →
And the things AI engines actually recognize.
Here’s why entities matter:
If someone searches (or asks ChatGPT):
“What’s the best ESP for automation workflows with CRM sync?”
AI isn’t looking for a blog that keyword-stuffed “email marketing tools.”
It’s pulling:
- the blog with automation workflow entities
- the landing page describing CRM sync
- the help doc explaining behavior-triggered email sequences
- the case study mentioning visual journey builders
Entities = clarity.
Clarity = citations.
Citations = visibility.
Simplified:
Keywords say “I’m trying to rank.”
Entities say “I actually know what I’m talking about.”
AI engines reward the second one 100% of the time.
3. Clear “answer blocks”
Direct answers like:
- “The quick version:”
- “Answer:”
- “TL;DR:”
4. Multimedia — especially YouTube
YouTube is disproportionately cited in AEO because… surprise… Google owns YouTube.
5. Topic Consistency Across the Web
If you talk about:
- Custom GPTs
- AI-first blogging
- AI workflows
Across blog → YouTube → social → email…
AI calls this semantic authority and rewards it.
So… What Do You Actually Do With All of This?
Here’s the part where I tell you the truth most marketers won’t say out loud:
AEO isn’t mystical. It’s mechanical. It rewards clarity, specificity, structure, and actual expertise.
Which means…
If you can:
- answer real buyer questions
- structure your content like a useful tool instead of a thought spiral
- embed real entities
- give direct answers
- and repeat your message across platforms
—you’re already ahead of 95% of the internet.
Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT’s responses, Claude’s explanations, and Perplexity’s citations are all pulling from the same basic content signals:
“Is this easy to understand, easy to use, and directly relevant to what the human asked?”
That’s it.
It feels new because the interface changed.
But the fundamentals did not:
People are still asking questions.
Your job is still to answer them.
AI is now just the middleman deciding who gets visibility.
And here’s the best part:
You actually have more control than ever.
You just need:
- specific buyer questions
- specific answers
- structured content
- and a willingness to write like you give a damn
That’s the new game.
And you? You’re perfectly positioned to win it.
Want Me to Build You an AI Agent That Writes AI-First Blog Posts for You?
If all of this feels:
- exciting
- overwhelming
- or like you can see the opportunity but don’t have the hours to execute it consistently…
There’s an easier way.
I can build you a Custom AI Agent that:
- finds the exact buyer questions your audience is asking
- writes AI-first blog posts designed for ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity & Google AEO
- formats everything in scannable, chunkable, citation-ready blocks
- uses your brand voice (even if you think you don’t have one)
- and delivers a publish-ready draft every time
Think of it like hiring a digital coworker who actually knows what they’re doing — no ghosting deadlines, no burnout, no “sorry I forgot.”
👉 Book a Custom AI Agent Build
Because you deserve content that works for you — not another algorithm stealing your spotlight.
