What SEO and AEO are (and why you now need both)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the lifelong work of an online store: getting Google to show you at the top when someone searches for what you sell. You optimize titles, product pages, categories and links to win positions in the classic results, the ten blue links.
AEO (AI Engine Optimization) is newer, and it’s worth understanding because it changed the game. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot or Google’s AI Overviews «what ergonomic chair should I buy in Argentina?», the AI doesn’t show ten links. It answers with a text assembled from a handful of sources it considers trustworthy. If your store is among those sources, you get cited, named, and sent traffic. If you’re not, you don’t exist for that answer.
The key difference: SEO is about ranking on Google; AEO is about being the source the AI picks when it answers. They’re not the same thing, but they’re built on the same foundation: clear, organized, credible content.
On-page SEO for your store
Titles rule. Every page needs a unique title that describes exactly what’s there. On a product page: brand, model, category, and one differentiating feature. «Nike Pegasus 40 Men’s Running Shoes – Size 42» beats «Nike shoes». The meta description (the text under the title on Google) doesn’t define ranking, but it does define whether you get clicked. Write it as a pitch: what it is, who it’s for, why it’s worth it.
URLs should be short and readable. A URL like /shoes/nike-pegasus-40 is readable by a person and a bot. One full of numbers and symbols helps no one.
Structure your categories. Each category should have its own text explaining what’s there, who it’s for, and what to consider before buying. Google doesn’t rank an empty category, just a grid of products, any more than it ranks a listing that says nothing.
On product pages, write useful content, not filler. Specs, measurements, materials, what’s included, how to use it, shipping and returns FAQs. Answer what your customers ask you on WhatsApp and chat before buying: that’s exactly what they search for on Google.
One point many stores skip: content isn’t only text. Images need descriptive filenames and alt text. A product with «nike-pegasus-black-shoes.jpg» and a descriptive alt adds up in image search, which for ecommerce is a concrete traffic source.
Practical AEO: how to get AI to cite you
AEO stands on three legs: structured data, direct answers, and authority.
Structured data is code that tells Google and the AIs what each thing on your page is. Use schema.org: Product with name, brand, price, stock and ratings; Organization with your legal name, logo and social profiles; and FAQPage when you have real FAQs. For ecommerce, Product markup with Review and AggregateRating is what gives you the best shot at showing in rich results and at an AI picking up your price and rating as hard data. Validate everything with Google’s Rich Results validator.
AIs answer questions, not keywords. So structure your content to answer the direct question. If you sell mattresses, a section that says «Which mattress is best if you sleep on your side?» with the answer in the first two lines is worth more than a thousand vague words. Think question-answer format: the question as a subheading, the short, direct answer below it.
Citable content answers with data, figures and clear definitions, not waffle. An AI would rather cite «a medium-density mattress, between 28 and 35 kg/m3» than «a very good quality mattress». The concrete gets cited; the vague gets discarded.
Authority, the famous E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust), is what makes an AI pick you over someone else. It’s built with verified customer reviews, an about-us page with real data, clear shipping and returns policies, and up-to-date prices and stock. But the strongest lever for AEO is another one: having trustworthy sources mention you. A media outlet, an industry blog or a price comparison site talking about your store or linking to your products. AIs don’t invent sources: they cite the ones already circulating on the web. If nobody mentions you, it’s very hard to get cited.
How they complement each other: one piece of good content, two results
The good news is you don’t have to do two separate jobs. The same well-made content serves both channels.
A product page with a clear title, complete specs, FAQs and structured data ranks better on Google and is at the same time citable material for an AI. A blog post comparing two models from your catalog wins informational searches on Google and becomes the source an AI uses when someone asks «which one should I get?». The structured data that feeds Google’s rich results is the same data AIs read to build their answers.
The difference is the focus. For SEO you optimize the page to rank. For AEO you optimize the page to be cited: answer the direct question, organize information in clear blocks, and make sure your brand gets mentioned outside your own site. Do the first and, almost without noticing, you’re advancing on the second.
Checklist: where to start, in order of priority
- Unique titles and meta descriptions on all pages and categories. It’s the fastest and the highest impact per hour of work.
- Clean URLs and categories with their own text.
- Product structured data (with price, stock and rating) on every product page, validated in Google’s validator.
- Real FAQs on every page and category, with the direct answer in the first lines.
- Useful content on product pages: measurements, materials, shipping, returns. Everything you answer on chat, written down.
- Images with descriptive names and alt text.
- Visible verified reviews on product pages, with Review markup.
- Trust pages: about us, clear policies, contact details.
- Seek external mentions: appear in media, blogs and comparison sites in your niche. This is the part of authority you don’t control directly, but it’s worked through relationships and content worth linking to.
- Measure: search your brand and categories on Google, and ask an AI what it recommends in your niche. If you don’t show up, go back to step 3 and step 9.
SEO gives you the traffic you’ve always had. AEO gives you the traffic that’s coming: people who ask and get an answer assembled by a machine. Both are worked the same way: clear, organized, trustworthy content.
