Search isn’t what it used to be.
And if you’re in marketing, sales, or L&D, you need to know that what’s coming next is bigger than a Google algorithm update. It’s a rewiring of how people find, trust, and act on information.
In a recent post titled “Goodbye SEO, Hello AEO”, analytics expert Avinash Kaushik (I have to admit, I’m a bit of a fanboy) lays it out in no uncertain terms:
“Search is changing to answers.”
That’s not just semantics. It’s a transformation. One that will leave behind those still playing by the old rules of keyword optimisation and metadata tweaks.
The SEO model is quietly collapsing
In his analysis, Kaushik notes:
- Organic traffic is plummeting across the board. Some sites are down 50%+.
- 70% of Google searches now result in zero clicks. No one visits your site.
- AI Overviews (Google’s new “answers at the top” feature) reduce click-throughs by 35%.
- Paid media isn’t safe either – non-brand click-throughs are down ~20%.
If you think this is a Google problem, think again. It’s a consumer behaviour shift. People are using tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude to ask complex, nuanced questions – and getting brilliant, human-style answers without ever touching a link.
Enter AEO: Answer Engine Optimisation
In-person learning brings things that digital canKaushik coins a new discipline: AEO – Answer Engine Optimisation.
Unlike SEO, which optimised for page rank and keyword density, AEO is about:
- Understanding user intent at a much deeper level
- Anticipating complex, layered questions
- Making your brand useful in an agentic, answer-first world
He breaks it down into four action areas:
- Pre-Search – Understand how people express their problems in natural language.
- During Search – Optimise for answers, not links.
- Pan-Search – Prepare for AI agents to be the new searchers.
Measurement – Rethink how you track visibility, influence and action in zero-click environments.
What this means for Digital Teams and Learning Leaders
We’ve covered before at Cognitive Union how AI isn’t just another tool. It changes how people learn, work and decide.
In our post “The Downside of Off-the-Shelf Learning”, we argued that content alone doesn’t create capability. Context, conversation, and curation matter more. The same applies here.
Your brand’s job is no longer to “own the search result.”
It’s to be the answer in the flow of someone’s decision-making.
That takes more than great copy. It takes real strategic alignment between your:
- Marketing content
- Sales enablement
- Internal training
- Digital tools
- And AI integrations
Because if you’re not teaching people (or machines) how to find you, why you matter, and how you help – someone else will.
From keywords to conversations
Kaushik draws a brilliant parallel:
Google search is like a BlackBerry. ChatGPT is the iPhone moment.
It’s faster. It’s more personal. It “feels” human. And it’s already changing behaviour.
Just as SEO made marketers obsess over keyword intent, AEO demands we understand conversational intent:
- What questions are your customers asking?
- How are your people answering them – in person, in pitch decks, in training?
- And how do you train AI agents (and LLMs) to answer on your behalf?
That’s right – we’re entering an era where AI models become your brand’s first impression. That means your knowledge, your tone, your insights – need to be available, accessible, and designed to be learned by machines.
What to do next
If you’re in L&D, Marketing or Leadership Development, here’s your AEO starter list:
- Audit your existing content
- Is it keyword-rich… or question-ready?
- Does it sound like something a person would ask or say?
- Capture human expertise
- Build internal Q&A libraries that reflect how your people sell, explain, convince.
- Use interviews, sales call transcripts, training sessions.
- Design for agents, not just audiences
- Start thinking about how AI might answer questions about your brand, product, service or strategy.
- Build narratives, not just decks.
- Collaborate across functions
- AEO is not just Marketing’s job.
- Sales, L&D, Product and even Ops all need to contribute insight.
In the old world, SEO helped you be found.
In the new world, AEO helps you be understood.
That’s the shift. And it’s already here.
Let’s stop optimising for search engines.
Let’s start optimising for understanding.
Because the brand that educates best, wins next.
Cognitive Union is a progressive, boutique learning and performance consultancy. We work with forward-thinking businesses. Transforming their people. Shaping their culture. Helping them embrace change and take on the world. Find this blog useful? Sign up to our email newsletter (bottom of this page) where you can receive articles like this and other insights (not publically published), and you can also follow us on LinkedIn.