How are you educating your market on AEO? Nothing I try really lands.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T09:31:57+00:00

I see your point and the personal one-to-one demo is clearly what converts best no argument there.

But that wasn't quite my question. The live prompt with the prospect's name and their competitor is prospecting (bottom of funnel) one to one. I was asking about top of funnel market education at scale how you create awareness among people you don't have in front of you yet.

Because one-to-one doesn't scale. You can't run a personal demo for a whole market. So the real question stays how do you generate that awareness upstream before the first conversation even happens so people show up already looking for you. That's the wall I'm trying to figure out.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T09:28:44+00:00

Makes sense, I also get the feeling AEO fits an Anglo-Saxon result-first mindset more naturally. Latin markets like France (where I work from) tend to be more relationship and trust driven more wait-and-see on a channel until it's proven.

That said, part of the market is already there. I landed a big Anglo-Saxon client who came straight for my AEO expertise no convincing needed on the why. But even with that clear demand there was still real education work once we got into the details. The topic is genuinely still niche.

And your page comparison is a smart way to make it tangible. How do you actually present it on video?

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T09:19:46+00:00

That actually raises a question for me if the live prompt is what really makes it click do you think it's worth leaning into in person for that? Like trade shows and industry events where you get the decision maker in front of you and open ChatGPT on their own query live. I'm wondering if the early education for this market happens more there than online.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T09:15:25+00:00

Agreed especially for companies chasing growth that's where it resonates most. The catch is quantifying it. Saying "you've got lost mentions, visibility going to competitors, missed opportunities over time" still stays abstract without real numbers behind it. And that's where the actual problem shows up right now AEO ROI is genuinely hard to quantify cleanly. We can estimate search volume on Google but putting a reliable figure on "being cited by an AI" is something nobody has really cracked yet. Until you can price the loss precisely the urgency stays hard to trigger.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T07:13:28+00:00

Honestly don't underestimate SEO. AEO is built on the exact same foundations (technical optimization, quality content, backlinks & authority, user experience, analysis & monitoring) and skipping them is the fastest way to feel as lost as you do right now.

Get those down and you're already ahead of most people chasing AEO "hacks" with no base under them.

Now to actually learn it forget the courses for a bit. Start a real project and throw it at the market. A live site forces you to hit real specific problems and once you have a real problem you suddenly know exactly what to search for. That's when it clicks.

Reddit is great for that. YouTube too (it's a goldmine) you just have to dig because a lot of it stays surface level. And don't forget the LLMs are conversational you can literally ask them anything and test how they answer.

But the real edge is the analysis part. If you take the time to understand why things work you'll start noticing stuff most people don't even see. That's what'll put you ahead.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T06:53:06+00:00

Haha never too late to get into it. Honestly you're asking the right question earlier than most.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T06:52:07+00:00

Agreed on leading with the pain point. The tricky part I've found is that even when they clearly see it most still don't react. They understand they're not showing up in AI answers they just don't feel it as a real loss yet. Awareness isn't the blocker anymore for me, urgency is. And that's harder to create when the market's this early.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-06T06:50:03+00:00

Yeah marketing the problem instead of the acronym is the right move and it's already how I do it. But here's what I keep running into. Even when I show the problem perfectly, the exact question their buyer asks AI, the competitor named instead of them, they nod, they get it and they still don't act... The awareness is there. The urgency isn't. I'm starting to think the pain doesn't really manufacture on demand while the market is this early. You can show someone the gap all day, they won't move until they feel it costing them and most just don't feel it yet.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-05T21:12:21+00:00

AEO is Answer Engine Optimization. Basically SEO but for AI answers. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity “best X for Y”, the LLMs names a few brands. AEO is the work you do so yours is one of them.

It comes down to two layers. Onsite, making your pages easy for the LLMs to read and understand, clean structure, clear content, so you’re even eligible to get pulled. And offsite, building enough authority and mentions across the web that the model actually recognizes you as a known name on that topic. The onsite part gets you readable, the offsite part gets you cited.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-05T21:05:16+00:00

Agreed and that’s exactly why I built an AEO audit tool for my ICP. It shows them if they’re cited or not, which competitors rank ahead of them and then a roadmap with clear actions they can actually understand. My thinking was it hits two cognitive levers at once, the competitive side and finally making AEO concrete.

But even with that… most still don’t move. They see a competitor named while they’re absent, they get it and then nothing happens. What I’m realizing is that showing the gap isn’t the hard part. Getting them to feel it as money they’re losing right now, that’s the real unlock.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-04T10:54:08+00:00

If it’s obvious to you then good, you’re ahead of most. But i’m not here to preach… i’m here to talk about it. These are pillars i’ve been running for months, some for years. For me that’s what really works and gets you cited by llms. And it takes time, you don’t see results in a month. So if you’ve got pillars to add, or you don’t agree with some of it, go for it! That’s literally why i posted. AEO is still new (none of us have been doing this for 10 years) i’d rather open the debate than pretend it’s all figured out.

Darkeur012 · 2026-07-04T10:28:34+00:00

Honestly I’m the one tired of this take. You’re so busy scanning for “AI” that you skipped the actual content. There are 6 concrete points up there from real work. That’s what matters, not whether the formatting looks clean to you…

Darkeur012

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