The ultimate guide to AEO: How to get ChatGPT to recommend your product | Ethan Smith (Graphite)
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode, Ethan Smith, CEO of Graphite and SEO expert, discusses the transformative shift happening in search as users increasingly turn to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity for answers instead of traditional Google searches. (01:18) This has given rise to AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), essentially "SEO for ChatGPT," which focuses on getting your product to show up in AI-generated answers. Unlike traditional SEO where domain authority takes time to build, AEO allows even early-stage companies to win quickly by being mentioned across multiple citations. (12:54)
- Main themes include the practical strategies for optimizing content for AI answer engines, the significant differences between traditional SEO and AEO, and actionable frameworks for implementation across different business types
Speakers
Lenny Rachitsky
Host of Lenny's Podcast and author of Lenny's Newsletter, one of the most popular product management and growth newsletters in the tech industry. Lenny helps ambitious professionals become masters in their field through tactical insights and advice.
Ethan Smith
CEO of Graphite and leading SEO expert with 18 years of experience starting in 2007. Ethan began his career in programmatic SEO and commerce SEO with companies like NextTag and shopping.com. He has worked with major companies like Webflow and MasterClass, helping them achieve significant SEO and AEO wins.
Key Takeaways
Early-Stage Companies Can Win at AEO Immediately
Unlike traditional SEO where you need domain authority that takes months or years to build, AEO allows companies to show up in AI answers immediately. (12:00) Ethan explains that you can get mentioned by a citation tomorrow through Reddit threads, YouTube videos, or blog mentions and start showing up in AI responses right away. This is because LLMs summarize many citations rather than just showing the top-ranking result, so frequency of mentions across sources matters more than domain authority. For early-stage companies, this represents a massive opportunity to compete with established players from day one.
Focus on Citation Frequency, Not Just Top Rankings
The fundamental difference between SEO and AEO lies in how winners are determined. In traditional Google search, if your blue link shows up first, you win. But in LLMs, the AI summarizes many citations, so you need to get mentioned as many times as possible across different sources. (11:19) This means your AEO strategy should focus on getting mentioned across YouTube videos, Reddit threads, affiliate sites, and blogs rather than just trying to rank #1 for specific keywords.
AEO Traffic Converts 6x Better Than Google Traffic
Webflow saw a six times higher conversion rate from LLM traffic compared to Google search traffic. (14:44) This makes sense because users engaging with AI have built significant intent through multiple follow-up questions and conversations, arriving highly qualified and ready to take action. When someone asks ChatGPT for the best website builder and you're recommended, that carries enormous trust and authority.
The Long Tail is Massive in AI Conversations
The average query length in AI conversations is around 25 words compared to 6 words in Google searches. (13:21) This creates opportunities to win on highly specific, never-before-asked questions that traditional search couldn't handle. Companies can capture valuable traffic by creating content that answers very specific use cases and integration questions that might only get asked a few times but represent high-value prospects.
Reddit Optimization Requires Authentic Community Engagement
Reddit is heavily cited in LLM responses, but the winning strategy is authentic participation rather than spam. (16:58) The approach that works is having real employees create genuine Reddit accounts, clearly state who they are and where they work, then provide genuinely useful information in relevant threads. This authentic approach works because Reddit's community effectively polices spam, while LLMs specifically trust Reddit as a source.
Statistics & Facts
- Webflow gets 8% of their signups from LLMs, making it one of their top acquisition channels. (47:06)
- Around 10-12% of content appearing in both Google Search and ChatGPT citations is AI-generated, with 90% still being human-created. (54:37)
- In a study of 100,000 URLs from Common Crawl over five years, there is now more AI-generated content on the internet than human-generated content. (55:13)
