What Experts Say About AEO, GEO, and AI Search

The Definitive Guide for B2B SaaS Marketing Leaders Navigating AI-Powered Search

Your Prospects Are Getting Answers Without Clicking Your Website

Here is a reality check for every B2B SaaS marketer: over 60% of Google searches now end without a single click (SparkToro/Datos, 2024). Your carefully crafted landing pages, your SEO-optimized blog posts, your conversion-tuned product pages—they are increasingly invisible to buyers who get their answers directly from AI.

Google’s AI Overviews now appear in roughly 15–25% of all searches (Semrush 10M Keyword Study, 2025). Top-ranking content has seen a 34.5% drop in click-through rates when AI Overviews appear (Ahrefs 300K Keyword Study, April 2025)—and an updated Ahrefs study from December 2025 found that drop has worsened to 58% (Ahrefs Updated Study, Feb 2026). Meanwhile, traffic from AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity surged by 357% year-over-year in June 2025 (Similarweb Generative AI Report, 2025). The search landscape your marketing team optimized for three years ago no longer exists.

This is where two terms you are hearing everywhere come in: Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Together, these strategies represent the new frontier of AI Search optimization—a fundamental shift in how your B2B buyers discover, evaluate, and shortlist software solutions.

We dug into the research—including the landmark GEO study from Princeton, Georgia Tech, Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi published at KDD 2024—and compiled what 15 leading experts are actually saying. For each expert, we’ve included links to their most famous resources so you can go deeper. Here is what B2B SaaS marketers need to know, why it matters, and exactly what to do about it.

AEO vs. GEO: What Is the Actual Difference?

The terminology can be confusing, so let us cut through the noise. Here is how Neil Patel, one of the most recognized voices in digital marketing, frames it in his GEO vs AEO guide:

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

AEO is about structuring your content so AI systems can extract it as the direct answer to a specific question. Think of it as winning the equivalent of Google’s featured snippet, but across every AI surface—Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, voice assistants, and ChatGPT Search.

Best for: High-intent, short-answer queries like “How much does [your product] cost?” or “What is SOC 2 compliance?”

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

GEO goes deeper. It is about making your content authoritative and substantive enough that LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity cite you as a trusted source when they synthesize comprehensive answers to complex questions.

Best for: Complex, research-oriented queries like “What should I consider when choosing an identity management platform for a 500-person company?”

Why You Need Both

Experts are unanimous on this point: AEO and GEO are complementary, not interchangeable. Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite (the leading AEO agency working with Webflow, Upwork, and Notion), prefers the AEO umbrella term because it focuses narrowly on answer quality—but acknowledges that everything that works in SEO works in AEO, with additional strategies needed for LLM-specific citation optimization (Lenny’s Podcast, Sep 2025).

What 15 Leading Experts Actually Say About AI Search

We compiled positions from the industry’s most influential voices—including leaders from Semrush, Ahrefs, NP Digital, SparkToro, Graphite, and more. Here is the landscape of expert opinion, distilled for B2B SaaS marketers:

Five Themes Every B2B SaaS Marketer Must Internalize

1. Traditional SEO Tactics Are Failing in AI Search

The Princeton, Georgia Tech, Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi research paper on GEO (published at KDD 2024), tested nine different content optimization strategies and found something alarming: keyword stuffing—the backbone of traditional SEO—actually hurt visibility in generative engine responses.

When tested on Perplexity.ai, keyword-stuffed content performed 10% worse than unoptimized content. The strategies that actually worked:

• Quotation Addition (+40% visibility): Embedding credible quotes from recognized experts or studies

• Statistics Addition (+37% on Perplexity): Replacing vague claims with concrete data points

• Cite Sources (+30–40% visibility): Adding inline references to authoritative sources

• Fluency Optimization (+15–30%): Making content structurally clear and readable for LLM parsing

2. Information Gain Is the New Competitive Moat

Multiple experts converge on one principle: AI systems want information gain—unique data, firsthand experience, original research, or perspectives that cannot be found elsewhere.

Lily Ray, VP of SEO Strategy and Research at Amsive, warns against what she calls “GEO grifters.” At her highly acclaimed MozCon 2025 keynote, she emphasized that 95% of ChatGPT users still use Google, and that strong SEO fundamentals remain the best path to AI visibility.

Tim Soulo, CMO of Ahrefs, brings a contrarian but data-backed perspective. He points out that all LLMs combined drive less than 1% of total site traffic, while YouTube is consistently overlooked. His advice: don’t over-invest in AI assistant optimization at the expense of proven channels like video.

3. Off-Site Reputation Now Gates AI Inclusion

LLMs validate your claims against third-party sources. Ross Simmonds, founder of Foundation Marketing and Distribution.ai, has built an entire philosophy around this reality with his “Create Once, Distribute Forever” model.

As Ethan Smith of Graphite puts it:

Only 12% of URLs cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot rank in Google’s top 10, and 80% of LLM citations don’t even rank in Google’s top 100 (Ahrefs, August 2025). This is a massive opportunity for mid-market SaaS companies.

4. Machine Readability Is Non-Negotiable

Andrea Volpini, founder of WordLift, argues that the future of search is built on Knowledge Graphs and structured data. AI crawlers parse your content differently than human readers, and if your content is not structured for machine consumption, it will not be cited.

Patrick Stox of Ahrefs reinforces that keeping technical SEO foundations strong is essential. At Ahrefs Evolve 2025, he presented data showing that AI-driven visitors converted at a 23x higher rate for Ahrefs—with only 0.5% of AI visitors producing 12.1% of signups.

Here is what the technical implementation looks like for B2B SaaS:

• Schema.org markup (JSON-LD): Implement FAQ, HowTo, SoftwareApplication, and Organization schemas

• Modular content structure: Write in self-contained 200-word sections under clear question headings

• llms.txt file: Create in your root directory for AI crawler instructions

• Multimodal readiness: Add transcripts to videos, descriptive alt text, structured metadata

5. The Label Debate Matters Less Than Execution

There is an active debate. Ethan Smith prefers “AEO.” Michael King coined “Relevance Engineering.” Andrew Holland says “fame engineering” is the future. Google’s Danny Sullivan cuts through it all:

As Deepak Gupta, CEO of GrackerAI, observes:

What the Princeton/IIT Delhi Research Proves for B2B Content

The GEO research paper quantified which strategies increase visibility in AI-generated responses. The most important finding for B2B: GEO methods disproportionately benefit lower-ranked websites. Content ranked fifth saw visibility increases of up to 115% with proper optimization, while top-ranked content actually lost ground.

For mid-market SaaS companies competing against enterprise incumbents, AI Search platforms represent the best opportunity to get in front of buyers. The playing field is leveling because AI cares more about content substance than domain authority.

Domain-Specific Strategies Matter

• For factual content (product comparisons): Adding citations performed best

• For opinion/thought leadership: Statistics Addition was most effective

• For explanatory content (how-to guides): Quotation Addition from authorities boosted visibility most

• For business/commercial content: Fluency Optimization showed strongest gains

The combination effect: Fluency + Statistics outperformed any single strategy by over 5.5%. Do not pick one approach—layer them.

More Expert Resources Worth Exploring

Here are additional high-impact resources from the remaining experts featured in this guide:

The 90-Day AEO/GEO Playbook for B2B SaaS Teams

Days 1–30: Build the Technical Foundation

• Audit your Schema.org markup. Implement JSON-LD for Organization, SoftwareApplication, FAQ, and HowTo schemas.Deeper with Tushar Pol

• Create an llms.txt file in your root directory with explicit instructions for AI crawlers.

• Restructure your top 20 pages into modular, 200-word sections under clear question-based headings.

• Establish baseline KPIs for AI Search visibility using Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit, Otterly, or Profound.

• Add citations, statistics, and expert quotes to your five highest-traffic blog posts.

Days 31–60: Launch Your Content and Distribution Engine

• Publish your first original research piece (customer survey, benchmark report, or product usage data analysis).

• Build a systematic distribution workflow: every piece of content gets repurposed for LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, and YouTube.

• Create author pages with credentials for every content contributor. Demonstrate E-E-A-T.

• Optimize product documentation and FAQs with concise 2–4 sentence answers to high-intent questions.

Days 61–90: Measure, Iterate, Expand

• Audit AI citations: Query your top 50 terms across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews.

• Analyze which content strategies are driving the most AI visibility in your specific domain.

• Expand to additional AI surfaces beyond Google—optimize for Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot.

• Plan your Q2 original research calendar based on what AI systems are hungry for in your space.

How to Measure Success When Clicks Are Not the Goal

As Rand Fishkin argues in his zero-click marketing framework, traffic is a vanishing metric. New KPIs for B2B SaaS:

• AI Citation Frequency: How often is your brand cited in AI responses for target queries?

• LLM Share of Voice: What % of the time are you mentioned when AI recommends in your category?

• Brand Mention Accuracy: When AI mentions your product, is it positioning you correctly?

• AI Referral Conversion Rate: LLM visitors convert 4.4–6x better—are you tracking this segment?

• AI Overview Citation Rate: How often does your content appear in AI Overviews?

Tools like Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit (semrush.com), Otterly.AI, Profound, Scrunch, and GrackerAI help track these. Build a dashboard querying your top 50 terms across AI platforms weekly.

For a deeper dive on winning B2B buyers specifically through AI search channels, see our complete guide to winning B2B buyers in AI search, which covers the full buyer journey optimization strategy from awareness through purchase decision.

Essential Deep Research, Case Studies & Reports

For readers who want to go even deeper, here are the most important research papers, case studies, and data reports driving the AEO/GEO conversation:

Foundational Research Papers

Aggarwal, P., Murahari, V., et al. (2024). GEO: Generative Engine Optimization KDD ’24 Proceedings.

Ahrefs. (2025–2026). AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5%–58% (300K+ keyword study).

Semrush. (2025). We Studied the Impact of AI Search on SEO Traffic (LLM visitors convert 4.4x better).

Similarweb. (2025). 2025 Generative AI Report — AI referral traffic up 357% YoY.

Industry Reports & Benchmarks

Gartner. (2024). Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25% by 2026.

Conductor. (2026). The 2026 AEO/GEO Benchmarks Report (35.7M AI sessions analyzed).

Previsible. (2026). 2025 State of AI Discovery Report — 527% AI traffic surge Jan–May 2025.

SparkToro/Datos. (2025). State of Search 2025 — 60%+ zero-click searches.

Expert Publications & Must-Read Guides

King, M. (2025). The AI Search Manual — Complete Guide to Relevance Engineering (iPullRank, Nov 2025).

Haynes, M. (2024). SEO in the Gemini Era — Book on how AI changed Google Search.

Simmonds, R. (2024). Create Once, Distribute Forever — Book on content distribution strategy.

Smith, E. (2025). The Ultimate Guide to AEO (Lenny’s Podcast) — 7-step playbook for ChatGPT ranking.

Tools for AI Search Monitoring

Track your AI visibility across platforms with these tools: Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit | GrackerAI | Otterly.AI | Profound | Ahrefs Brand Radar | Conductor AISP

Industry Coverage & Press

The AEO/GEO space is attracting significant industry attention. Here is notable press coverage from both GrackerAI and major competitors entering this market:

GrackerAI Coverage:

• AP News: GrackerAI Launches Industry’s First GEO Platform for Cybersecurity SaaS

• USA Today: SF Startup Launches First Platform to Track Brand Visibility in ChatGPT, Claude, AI Search Engines

• Markets Herald: $68B SEO Industry Faces First Real Threat: Why VCs Betting on GEO

• Belmont Star: Cybersecurity Buyers Asking AI for Vendor Recommendations

Other AEO/GEO Expert Companies Coverage (Market Validation):

• Semrush (March 2025): Semrush Unveils AI Toolkit for AI Brand Perception — AI Visibility Toolkit for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity tracking

• Ahrefs (Jan 2026): Ahrefs Launches Custom AI Prompt Tracking for Brand Visibility — Brand Radar with 200M+ prompts across 6+ AI platforms

• Conductor (June 2025): Conductor Launches Revolutionary AI Platform to Amplify AI Visibility — Enterprise AEO with real-time AI indexing

The fact that Semrush, Ahrefs, and Conductor are all launching AEO/GEO products validates the core thesis of this guide: AI search optimization is no longer optional for B2B SaaS companies.

The Bottom Line

The shift from search engines to answer engines is not coming—it is here. Gartner predicted a 25% drop in traditional search volume by 2026 (Gartner, February 2024). Ahrefs’ latest data shows AI Overviews reduce clicks by 58%. AI referral traffic is up 357% and converts 4.4–6x better.

The threat is real: invisible to AI means invisible to a growing segment of buyers. The opportunity is equally real: generative engines care more about content quality than domain authority, meaning mid-market SaaS companies can compete in ways impossible in traditional search.

As Deepak Gupta of GrackerAI emphasizes, the companies that dominate the next decade are those that treat AI Search visibility as a core revenue channel today. The experts are clear. The research is clear. The data is clear. The question is not whether to invest in AEO, GEO, and AI Search optimization—it is how fast you can start.