https://www.indiehackers.com/post/aeo-the-next-big-shift-in-saas-visibility-4328620b61

Forget SEO — AEO Is Where Visibility Is Moving Next (and Why It Matters for Indie SaaS Builders)

If you’ve been relying on SEO for traffic, there’s a quiet shift happening that you can’t afford to ignore.

AI search engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s SGE — are slowly replacing “10 blue links” with a single summarized answer.

And the game isn’t about ranking anymore.

It’s about being cited inside that answer.

That’s the new layer marketers are calling AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).

🚨 Why It’s Suddenly a Big Deal

✅ OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search went live this year.

✅ Google’s AI Overviews rolled out globally.

✅ Perplexity and Anthropic are eating share fast.

These tools don’t just index — they synthesize. They scan trusted sources, pick the best explanations, and blend them into a conversational response.

If your content doesn’t get pulled into that summary, you’re invisible — even if you still rank #1 on Google.

💡 What AEO Really Means

AEO = structuring your content so AI systems can understand, trust, and cite it.

It’s not about tricking algorithms — it’s about feeding them clarity.

That means:

✅ Writing in direct, factual sentences (AI prefers unambiguous statements)

✅ Adding FAQ and How-To structure