With platforms like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Grok transforming search, it’s crucial for local businesses to adopt Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) alongside traditional SEO to boost visibility in AI-generated answers.

Why Ranking in AI Overviews Matters for Local Business

Zero-click traffic: AI Overviews now occupy ~40–70% of SERP real estate, reducing click-throughs to traditional results

Higher click share: Businesses featured in AI summaries—especially within top 3 snippets—capture up to 75% of clicks

Conversational local queries: AI answers more natural language searches like “best pizza near me”, making AEO essential for voice search and smart speakers

AEO vs Traditional SEO

Strategy                                               SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)                                                AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)                   

Focus                                                     Keywords, links, ranking pages.                                                        Full answers, question clusters, conversational tone

Content format.                              Blog post, landing page, keywords                                                  Q&A, bullet lists, schema, direct summaries                       

Goal                                                        Rank on page 1 for relevant terms                                                 Appear in AI Overviews, be cited as the answer

Metrics                                                 Impressions rankings, backlinks                                                      Featured answers, snippet wins, voice search hits