Parts of SEO are Being Rewritten by AI: What Digital Marketing Students Need to Know
By Prof. Thomas Hormaza Dow
If you learned SEO the “classic” way, the objective sounded simple: rank on Google, earn the click, get the visit.
That model still exists, but AI is reshaping the search experience itself. Increasingly, search engines don’t just point to answers, they produce answers — and then offer links for anyone who wants to go deeper. Google describes AI Overviews as an AI-generated snapshot that includes links for deeper exploration.
Here’s what that means in plain business terms: visibility is no longer guaranteed to equal traffic. Your content (or product information) might influence the decision before a click ever happens.
That is the core reason Microsoft Advertising argues we’re moving “from discovery to influence,” introducing two practical ideas that help marketers adapt: AEO and GEO.
The proof that “the click” is changing
This isn’t just hype. Pew Research Center found that when an AI summary appeared, users clicked a traditional search result less often (8% of visits) than when no AI summary appeared (15% of visits).
So the modern SEO question becomes:
How do we get selected, cited, and recommended inside AI-powered search experiences — not just ranked as a blue link?
The new SEO sequence: Retrieved → Understood → Trusted → Chosen
In the AI era, search behaves more like a shortlist maker.
- Retrieved — Can the system find you?
- Understood — Does it clearly understand what you offer, for whom, and what makes it different?
- Trusted — Does it believe your information is accurate and reliable?
- Chosen — Does it feature you in the answer, recommendation, or comparison?
Google has also published guidance for website owners about AI-related search features, which is another signal that this isn’t temporary — it’s now part of the search landscape.
Microsoft’s two ideas: AEO and GEO (explained simply)
Microsoft’s guide reframes optimization into two goals:
1) AEO — Answer Engine Optimization (Clarity)
AEO is about making your information easy for AI to read and summarize correctly.
Think: “If an AI assistant had to explain our product in 15 seconds, could it do it accurately?”
What helps AEO:
- clean product/service descriptions
- consistent specs and attributes
- structured data and organized information
- up-to-date facts (especially price, availability, hours, policies)
This is especially important for shopping scenarios, where “fresh” and structured information matters.
2) GEO — Generative Engine Optimization (Credibility)
GEO is about making your brand safe to recommend.
Think: “If an AI assistant recommends us, does it have enough reason to trust us?”
What helps GEO:
- strong review signals and reputation indicators
- clear expertise content (guides, comparisons, FAQs)
- consistency across the web (name, identity, details)
- third-party references that confirm you’re real and reliable
Microsoft frames this as building trust so AI systems can confidently recommend your products.
The biggest “aha”: AI uses more than your website
One of the most useful parts of Microsoft’s guide is the idea that AI draws from multiple pathways, not only your webpages.
A simplified version:
- Your website (crawled content)
What your pages say. - Structured feeds / APIs / organized data
The “official truth,” especially for commerce (inventory, price, variants). - Offsite signals
What the wider web says about you (reviews, citations, consistency).
In practice, this means:
- Great content won’t fully save you if your product data is messy.
- Great data won’t fully save you if your trust signals are weak.
Three quick examples (easy to picture)
Example 1: Local café (service business)
Search: “Best brunch near me with vegetarian options”
- AEO: Your menu clearly lists vegetarian options, hours are accurate, location is consistent.
- GEO: Reviews repeatedly mention vegetarian choices and good service.
Result: you’re more likely to appear in the AI-generated shortlist, not just on the map.
Example 2: E-commerce running shoes (product business)
Search: “Best running shoes for flat feet under $150”
- AEO: Your product page clearly states support type, price, size range, and availability.
- GEO: You have credible reviews and a short guide explaining who the shoe is for.
Result: the AI can both understand your product and justify recommending it.
Example 3: B2B project management software (SaaS)
Search: “Best project management tool for a small marketing team”
- AEO: Features, pricing tiers, and integrations are clearly stated and easy to compare.
- GEO: You have case studies and third-party references that confirm your value.
Result: you become selectable for an AI comparison answer — not just “ranked.”
What I’d want you to remember as a student
- AI search is making some queries more “answer-first,” which can reduce clicking.
- Modern SEO expands into AEO (clarity) and GEO (credibility).
- Your visibility now depends on multiple inputs: site content, structured data, and offsite trust signals.
The punchline is simple:
In the AI era, it’s not enough to be “findable.” You also have to be “understandable” and “recommendable.”
REFERENCES
Google. (n.d.). Find information in faster & easier ways with AI Overviews in Google Search. Google Search Help. https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/14901683
Google. (2024, July). How AI Overviews in Search work [PDF]. https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/google-about-AI-overviews.pdf
Microsoft Advertising. (2026, January). From discovery to influence: A guide to AEO and GEO [PDF]. https://about.ads.microsoft.com/content/dam/sites/msa-about/global/common/content-lib/pdf/from-discovery-to-influence-a-guide-to-aeo-and-geo.pdf