Mukul Sharma

Posted on Sep 27

From SEO to AEO: How AI Engines Are Rewriting the Rules of Visibility

#ai #seo #llm #productivity

Hey devs 👋 Remember when swapping meta tags or adding a few backlinks could boost your site traffic? That playbook feels ancient now - like a build that only fails in production. Search is shifting fast, and the rules aren’t written for humans anymore… they’re written for AI engines.

I was listening to a podcast with Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot’s founder), and
he dropped a line that hit me like a fresh cup of coffee: AI isn’t just tweaking search—it’s completely reshaping it.

Across industries, organic Google traffic has dropped 20–40% because people no longer click through blue links. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini and get instant, synthesized answers - no browsing required.

For developers building web apps, SaaS tools, or even side projects, this shift to AI Engine Optimization (AEO) is the new battlefield. Let’s break it down dev-style - with actionable steps to keep your projects visible in an AI-first world.

The SEO Apocalypse: Why Your Traffic Is Vanishing

Picture this: you search “best CRM for startups” on Google. Classic flow: scan 10 blue links, maybe end up on a HubSpot blog.

Now in 2025, you type the same into ChatGPT: “I’m a small business owner needing to track customers and deals. What should I use?”

Boom - instant answer, with pros/cons and maybe a table. No click. No site visit.

Dharmesh even admitted HubSpot has seen this shift firsthand. With tools like ChatGPT now serving 800M+ weekly users, search traffic is siphoned away.

The reason? AI engines prioritize answers, not clicks. If your content isn’t ready to be surfaced as a direct citation, you’re invisible.

Enter AEO: Optimizing for Answers, Not Just Algorithms

Think of AEO as dev-friendly SEO: instead of hacking Google’s algo, you’re structuring content so AI crawlers can fetch, parse, and remix it easily.

Key difference:

SEO → clicks.
AEO → being the source of truth.

AI crawlers like OpenAI’s GPTBot or OI Searchbot are already hitting sites. They love structured Q&A content and schema markup - because it makes their job easier.

If your docs, blogs, or landing pages aren’t answer-friendly, you’re already behind.

Actionable Steps: How Devs Can AEO-Proof Their Projects

Here’s how to adapt your projects for an AI-first internet:

1. Enable AI Crawlers

Don’t block GPTBot or OI Searchbot. Update robots.txt like this:

User-agent: OISearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

Framework users (Next.js, Django, etc.): integrate crawler rules into configs and test visibility.

2. Restructure Content as Q&A

AI thrives on clarity. Instead of long walls of text, use FAQ-style formats.

Example:

Q: What’s the best way to set up state in React?
A: Use useState - here’s a quick example:

import { useState } from 'react';

function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>Increment</button>
    </div>
  );
}

Add FAQ schema (JSON-LD) to make it crawler-friendly.

3. Build Authority With Smart Linking

AI engines still use Google/Bing rankings as context. Backlinks matter. Publish on platforms like dev.to (yes, this counts!) and cross-link repos, demos, and case studies.

4. Monitor AI Traffic

Analytics tools are evolving. Some already show referrals from “chatgpt” or “perplexity.”

And if you want a head start, tools like betterAEO.com can audit your site for AI visibility - scoring your pages and suggesting optimizations specifically for Answer Engines. Think of it as Lighthouse, but for AI-first search.

The Dev Opportunity: Building the Next AEO Stack

This isn’t just defensive - it’s opportunity. Devs can build:

AEO analyzers: simulate AI queries, check if your site is cited.
CLI tools: run AEO checks for docs and APIs.
Monitoring dashboards: track “AI referrals” as a new analytics layer.

Dharmesh is already tinkering with AI side projects - why shouldn’t we?

Wrapping Up: AEO Is the New SEO Gold Rush

AI is shifting SEO from a click-driven chase to an answer-driven game.

Developers who adapt - by making their content AI-digestible - will thrive. I’ve seen traffic dip 25% on my own side project, but restructuring in Q&A format brought visibility back.

What about you? Have you noticed AI eating your SEO traffic? Tried any AEO hacks? Drop your experiences in the comments - let’s crowdsource the playbook for the next era of search.

And if you’re curious about your site’s AEO score, you can run a full gap analysis with AI-powered recommendations at betterAEO
→ It’s built specifically for this shift.

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