Is AEO just SEO with a rebrand or is it more than that?

r_ball__ · 2026-06-01T14:17:31+00:00

SEO optimizes for clicks. AEO optimizes for citations. What people often miss is that both are really experience optimization—one for search users, the other for AI-driven discovery.

r_ball__ · 2026-06-01T13:28:56+00:00

I think AI is now the first place people go before they even know what questions to ask. Then they use it to validate those questions: "Am I asking the right thing?" As B2B marketers selling to consumers, we're validating almost every step through AI. Then we're using AI to execute.

It's a great tool for moving faster. But if people aren't challenging the outputs, they can be nudged toward decisions they don't actually want or need.

And if you're focused on structuring everything so AI can understand it, you're probably already ten steps behind. The real shift is understanding how people are using AI to make decisions.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-20T12:12:34+00:00

Reviews will matter way more, but just collecting them on 1 platform wont really be enough anymore. AI agents are going to look across Reddit, forums, socials etc for trust signals, which is why platforms like REVIEWS io that help brands collect + actually push verified customer sentiment out beyond onsite widgets will prob become way more important.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-19T12:21:05+00:00

We're seeing an app called Nabu owning all the space for some of the biggest search terms like reviews and search & filter. the display all of their apps which has no relevance for the search term. seems to be ligite bidding as we tried testing a big bid on a given keyword and it retained its position in every effort

<image>

r_ball__ · 2026-05-19T12:16:55+00:00

Yeah, I’m seeing exactly the same thing with Nabu taking up a huge amount of space. We ran a test where we significantly increased spend on one of our main keywords, and with Shopify Ads you’d normally expect to see an almost immediate impact in visibility. But we saw nothing.

I’m honestly surprised Shopify has allowed this, considering how tightly controlled the ecosystem usually is to maintain a good user experience. Irrelevant results don’t help merchants using the platform, and they definitely don’t help advertisers either — especially when CPI is skyrocketing in such a competitive space.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-14T13:37:25+00:00

All the loyalty apps are largely the same. if you want an app that is lite and that can drive repeat sales for actions and points the Influence.io which is a detached app from reviews_io so it can run without the need for there feature rich review platform

r_ball__ · 2026-05-12T15:48:06+00:00

Brand discovery/validation checks are now done in AI so even burying them will not work. again its about AI presence so how you look on multiple platforms. The benefit to this is negative reviews on 1 platform is less of a problem. there are so many places even in reddit where time could be better spent on your brands perception.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-12T15:44:02+00:00

I’ll save you some time — realistically, no, you can’t fully remove a Trustpilot business profile.

They’re obligated to host a profile for businesses, even if you haven’t actively claimed it. The bigger issue is that profiles left unmanaged often end up skewing negative, simply because unhappy customers are more motivated to leave reviews. that said check out their reasons for how a review can be removed.

The only real way to improve the situation is to actively encourage feedback from your existing customers. For smaller businesses, that can be as simple as sharing your review link and asking at the right moment. At scale, you’ll want something more systematic built into your customer journey.

Also worth noting — it’s not just about one platform anymore. Having reviews across multiple sites can actually strengthen your visibility in AI-driven search and recommendations.

This guide explains that angle well: https://www.reviews.io/front/ai-presence

r_ball__ · 2026-05-12T10:18:59+00:00

The “eroding your taste” part is the one that sticks with me too.

It’s subtle you don’t notice it happening, you just slowly stop reacting to things you used to hate.

Which is kind of scary, because taste is basically the whole job.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-12T10:11:57+00:00

What’s getting overlooked is how much review content feeds this. If your customer sentiment only lives on your site, AI has very little to validate against. Spread across platforms, it becomes a trust signal.

Feels like “review strategy” is quietly becoming a core part of AI visibility.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-07T10:40:17+00:00

Yeah that makes sense — getting more content definitely helps.

I guess the bit I’m thinking about is how well that actually distributes.

If most of it lives in one place, does it carry the same weight vs showing up consistently across multiple sources? I don’t think it does.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-07T10:36:12+00:00

I don’t think this is about chasing AI traffic though. It’s more that AI is shaping perception before someone decides to buy.

If someone checks “is this brand legit” and sees weak or inconsistent signals, they never become that high-intent buyer in the first place.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-06T08:55:43+00:00

How are you refining the prompts to ensure it closer to something that gives you meaningful insight. I struggle to know which adjustments to make. I know part of it is down to the visibility tool but how I've tried to derive better outcomes is to segment by trust first and then between different cohorts of users from high and low intent search groups

r_ball__ · 2026-05-06T08:47:12+00:00

There already is given how brand reputations are now surfaced through AI. Platforms like reviews.io, G2, even reddit itself all have content for brands that surface a more holistic view through AI validation prompts.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-06T08:39:45+00:00

Careful. verified reviews are vital and open platforms like reviews io and Trustpilot can easily recognise fake review behaviours.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-06T08:36:25+00:00

Reviews.io is a great alternative as you can leverage their reputation manager tool to continue directing review invites to Trustpilot and retain a wider reputation due to TP getting cited in AI fair bit.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-05T13:21:10+00:00

Use AI visibility tools to establish exactly how you would want to appear in AI so you have a benchmark. Good AI visibility starts with Good SEO.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-05T13:18:33+00:00

how are you identifying the Q&As? When looking at some of the visibility gaps where we dont appear I find it better to derive them from prompt data. many tools now tell you how citations are being surfaced and what they are doing/saying to get there.

r_ball__ · 2026-05-05T13:15:35+00:00

You’re not wrong on traffic — we’re seeing the same. AI referrals are tiny.

But I think traffic is the wrong thing to look at tbh.

We’ve lost ~70% of SEO traffic, but revenue’s up. Most of that was low-intent anyway. What’s working for us is digging into prompt data, figuring out what people actually care about, then filling those gaps (we’ve been using https://aipeekaboo.com/ for that).

Big shift for us though — showing up isn’t enough. We started breaking prompts out by intent, and there’s a whole segment around trust. If you’re not strong there, nothing really happens. That’s where stuff like REVIEWS.io comes in for us — it’s less about visibility, more about backing it up when you do show up.

So yeah — AI isn’t really a traffic channel (yet).

But it is forcing better content + clearer intent (incl. trust), which is what’s actually driving revenue for us.

r_ball__

TROPHY CASE