We just wrapped up our latest workshop on SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for small businesses. Here’s a quick recap of the key takeaways, whether you attended live or are catching up now.
View the Workshop Slides
SEO Still Drives the Majority of Traffic
Around 68-70% of online experiences still begin with a search engine. Organic search remains the top traffic channel for most of the sites we manage. And the best part? Good content compounds - articles we published two or three years ago are still driving traffic today.
If you’re not investing in SEO, there’s a good chance your competitors are.
What We’re Doing for SEO Right Now
A few things that are working for us and our clients:
- Creating free tools. We’ve built 10 free marketing tools (website audits, AI search audits, etc.) and they’re already generating organic traffic after just a couple of months. Think about what tools you could offer in your industry.
- Blogging on a daily cadence. We started publishing daily about a month ago and are already seeing results.
- Internal linking. Every time we publish, we’re linking keywords to relevant pages across our site. This helps search engines understand the relationship between your content.
- Technical SEO. Clean code, no errors, and proper schema markup (review schema, software schema, etc.) tailored to your product or service.
- Link building. Getting featured in articles on other sites and earning backlinks, especially to our free tools.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Is the New Frontier
AEO is about optimizing your brand to show up when people ask questions in AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overview. This is now part of our standard SEO process.
Here’s why it matters: studies show that when AI recommends your brand, people are three times more likely to convert compared to a traditional Google search. And right now, 90% of businesses don’t have an AEO strategy, so there’s a real first-mover advantage.
How AI Decides Who to Recommend
A few of the key signals:
- Clear, structured content that directly answers questions. FAQs on as many pages as possible are a quick win.
- Strong brand presence across the web. Reviews, mentions, press coverage, and even Reddit comments where you naturally mention your brand.
- E-E-A-T signals. Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. Author bios with real credentials, linked to LinkedIn profiles, matter especially in industries like healthcare and finance.
- Schema markup. Make sure your backend code is structured for AI to read.
- Consistent NAP data. Your name, address, and phone number should be identical across every directory and listing.
One of the most underrated tactics right now is showing up in online conversations - forums, Reddit threads, industry communities. Real participation builds the kind of brand signal that AI models pick up on.
What It Looks Like in Practice
When someone searches for the best AEO agency in Los Angeles in ChatGPT, Emarketed shows up. That’s not an accident. It’s the result of consistent content, citations, and brand mentions across the web. This is what we’re helping clients build toward.
Quick Wins You Can Start Today
- Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile.
- Add FAQ sections to your key pages (use AI to help draft them).
- Ask for reviews and respond to every one.
- Write a definitive guide for your core service or product.
- Add author bios with real credentials to your site.
- Search for your industry in ChatGPT and Perplexity to see who’s showing up, then study what they’re doing.
Tools We Recommend
- SEMrush - keyword tracking, competitor analysis, AI visibility monitoring
- Google Search Console - free, essential for seeing exactly what keywords your site ranks for
- Claude and AI tools - we use these for internal linking audits, turning a full day of work into 30-60 minutes
- Our free tools at emarketed.com/tools - start with the website audit and AI search audit
The opportunity is real and the window is wide open. If you want to talk through how this applies to your business, we offer a free 15-minute consultation - just reach out.
Workshop hosted by Matt Ramage, Emarketed - March 19, 2026
