AEO: how to position yourself in AI results and measure ROI

Traffic coming from ChatGPT converts almost 9 times better than organic Google traffic. Yet, only 19.6% of Italian marketing teams know the term AEO — and even fewer are doing anything about it.

Is it really worth investing in AEO for your business?

Yes, and sooner than you think: in Italy, over one in three adults already use AI to choose what to buy, and traffic coming from these channels converts at rates that traditional SEO has never seen.

The AEO — Answer Engine Optimization , i.e. optimization for AI response engines — is the process by which a company ensures that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and similar mention it when a user asks a question relevant to its industry. It's not classic SEO: the rules are different, the KPIs are different, and the results arrive on channels that many competitors are still ignoring.

What is happening: why has AI search become urgent?

AI platforms have almost doubled global visits in a year, while Google barely grows. Those who don't manage these channels today are losing ground to those who do.

Global visits to AI search platforms rose from 15.6 billion in Q1 2025 to 27.4 billion in Q1 2026, a 42.8% year-on-year growth, according to Rise at Seven based on Similarweb data . In the same period, Google Search only grew by 2.4%.

In Italy the change is even faster. According to the Observatory Search in Italy 2026 , 35.34% of online adults use generative search tools for purchasing decisions in March 2026, almost double the 19.6% in February 2025.

There is another piece of data that changes the perspective: when Google shows an AI Overview (the generative answer box at the top of the results), the click-through rate on traditional organic results drops to 8%, compared to 15% without AI Overviews. A relative drop of 47%, according to a Pew Research Center study of nearly 69,000 real searches, reported by Omnibound . Fewer organic clicks mean traffic is shifting: either you are in the AI answer, or you do not exist.

Which AI platform matters most for visibility in Italy?

ChatGPT dominates with almost 70% of Italian referral AI traffic, but ignoring Gemini and Perplexity is a mistake: optimizing for just one platform doesn't guarantee visibility on others.

According to data from cancankiran.com on Similarweb/SE Ranking data , in Italy AI referral traffic is very unevenly distributed among platforms. ChatGPT is the main channel, but Gemini — Google's AI engine — is already in second place with a significant share.

The critical point is that AI platforms do not pull from the same sources. According to an analysis by Averi/Discovered Labs on 680 million AI citations , only 11% of domains are cited by both ChatGPT and Perplexity. This means that an effective AEO strategy must cover multiple platforms with distinct approaches. The topic is explored in our article on ChatGPT Ads, GEO and paid and earned visibility on AI .

Why does AI traffic convert better than organic traffic?

Those who come from ChatGPT or Perplexity have already received a qualified answer and are looking for the right provider: they are users much further along in the buying process than those who click on a Google result.

A Seer Interactive case study on a B2B client (October 2024–April 2025), reported by Citeproof , measured conversion rates by AI channel. The result is clear: traffic from ChatGPT converts at 15.9%, from Perplexity at 10.5%. Organic traffic from Google stops at 1.76%.

The explanation is simple. When a user asks ChatGPT, "What is the best inventory management software for a manufacturing SME?" and receives an answer that mentions your company, they arrive at your site already convinced of its relevance. They aren't exploring anymore: they are choosing.

Is AEO really different from classic SEO?

Yes, substantially: 80% of URLs cited by AI search engines don't even appear in Google's top 100 for the same query. Being good at SEO doesn't automatically get you into AI answers.

According to Ahrefs, reported by Brand Auditors 80% of the URLs cited by AI platforms do not appear in Google's top 100 for the same query. This data overturns a common assumption: it's not enough to do SEO well to be visible on AI. Content needs to be structured differently, with an authority that AI models recognize as reliable.

The main difference lies in the format. Google rewards relevance for a keyword. AI engines reward the clarity of the answer, the structure of the information, and the reputation of the source in its digital ecosystem. An article written to answer a specific question, with cited data and logical structure, is much more likely to be cited by ChatGPT than a page optimized for ranking.

To understand how this translates into practice on the content front, our article on how to get AI citations and measure visibility offers a useful operational framework, with specific metrics to monitor.

Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an e-commerce, a professional firm, and a manufacturing company?

AEO applies differently depending on the sector and the type of questions customers ask AI engines. Here are three illustrative cases to understand where to intervene.

Illustrative examples: the numbers are meant to show the logic, they are not real client data.

In the case of a professional firm, the logic is particularly clear. AI engines are queried daily on tax, legal, and accounting issues. Those who publish accurate, up-to-date, and well-structured content on these topics have a huge advantage over those who have never thought about AEO. The same applies to B2B manufacturers: buyer scouting queries are increasingly shifting towards AI, as highlighted by HubSpot's guide on AEO for demand generation teams .

What concrete KPIs are used to measure AI visibility?

AI visibility is measured with different metrics than SEO: mention rate, citation share, and AI referral traffic are the three fundamental indicators to monitor from the first month.

The most common problem is that companies do not know what to measure. According to data from On Marketing Survey , only 37.2% of marketing teams are actively optimizing for AI search, and only 19.6% know the term AEO. Starting now gives you a real advantage over competitors who are waiting.

AI referral traffic is already measurable today in Google Analytics 4: just create a segment that filters sessions with source «chatgpt.com», «perplexity.ai», «gemini.google.com» and similar. It's the quickest starting point to get real data without additional tools. To delve deeper into specific metrics, our article on AI visibility as a new metric for SMEs offers a complete framework.

How do you actually get started with an AEO strategy?

Start with a citation audit to understand where you stand today, then define priority queries and structure content to respond authoritatively. Five steps, in order.

For the part on building authority through the media, our article on Digital PR and AI: how to get cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity explores specific tactics to get earned citations on AI engines.

What are the most common mistakes for those starting with AEO?

The most common mistake is treating AEO as an extension of classic SEO: same content, same metrics, same logic. It doesn't work that way.

Those who approach AEO with the traditional SEO mindset almost always make the same mistakes. Here they are in order of frequency.

How to tell if your AEO strategy is working?

Three clear signals: AI referral traffic is growing month over month, your brand mentions are increasing in priority queries, and conversion rates from these channels exceed organic ones.

AEO measurement requires a mix of automated tools and manual verification. There isn't a Google Search Console for AI engines yet, but the data is already available if you know where to look.

For broader context on how SEO and AI visibility are evolving together, our article on SEO in the AI era: metrics, budget, and priorities offers a useful strategic framework for planning the 2027 budget.

So, is it worth starting an AEO strategy for your company?

It is worth it if you already have a content base, you operate in a sector where customers do research before buying, and you want to secure a channel that your competitors are still ignoring.

A middle ground you are still building your classic SEO presence: start structuring content in AEO format right away, so you work on both fronts simultaneously.

Not yet if you don't have content, you don't have an editorial strategy, and you don't have the resources to maintain it over time. Consolidate the basics first, then scale to AI search.

How we see it at SHM

For us, AEO is not a trend to chase: it's the logical consequence of a change in how people search for information and choose suppliers. We believe AI should be integrated to free companies from routine and give back time, not to replace strategic reasoning. And a well-done AEO strategy is exactly that: a system that works continuously to build authority, not a one-off campaign.

We work with Italian SMEs and B2B companies to build strategies for SEO for AI that start from citation audits and arrive at ROI measurement. If you want to understand where you are today and what to do to improve your visibility on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, the starting point is our service of strategic AI integration . For those who also want to train their internal team, we offer training paths for AI training for businesses tailored.

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Frequently Asked Questions

The question isn't whether your customers use AI to search for suppliers: they already do. The question is whether they find you or a competitor.