AI is transforming not only how people search, but how brands are discovered, evaluated, and trusted. Today, terms like Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), and AI Optimisation (AIO) are emerging as digital marketing buzzwords.
While they may sound like separate disciplines, they all point to one core truth: Marketing is evolving, and businesses need more than tactics to succeed.
Let's explore what this transformation really means, and how our methodology supports sustainable, scalable growth.
SEO vs. Everything Else Explained
It's tempting to think these new acronyms represent separate disciplines, but in reality, they are just different lenses on the same emerging field: AI Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
- SEO: focused on rankings, clicks, and traffic
- GEO: focused on showing up in AI-generated content (e.g. ChatGPT answers)
- AEO: focused on optimising for answer boxes, voice search, and zero-click responses
- LLMO / AIO: Variants emphasising optimisation for large language models and AI platforms
The goal is unified: help your brand become visible, trusted, and cited by both humans and machines, regardless of platform. But here's the nuance: AI systems don't just rank results. They synthesise, summarise, and cite. That means your brand needs to show up in the proper context, across a distributed web, not just on your own site.
What's Actually Changed and Why It Matters
The way people search for information has fundamentally changed. AI-powered systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google's AI Overviews no longer serve up a list of links in response to a keyword query. Instead, they generate direct, conversational answers, often quoting or summarising content from sources they deem credible.
For businesses, this redefines what marketing success looks like. Where traditional SEO focused on page rankings and click-through rates, today's AI-first landscape prioritises content that can be cited, quoted, or trusted by large language models.
Visibility is no longer just about ranking at the top of Google; it's about being retrieved and referenced across a web of content, from Reddit threads and YouTube videos to product reviews and community forums.
This evolution impacts four core areas:
- Measurement: Success is no longer measured purely by clicks and traffic. Now, it's about how often your brand is mentioned, cited, or recommended by AI systems.
- Content Structure: Long-form content still matters, but it needs to be modular and answer-focused, structured in a way that makes it easy for AI to extract insights.
- Authority Building: Backlinks are no longer the only signal of credibility. AI engines also look for sentiment, brand consistency, and how widely your expertise is recognised across platforms.
- Discovery Channel: Google is still important, but it's no longer the only destination. Your visibility now depends on your presence in diverse environments, such as Reddit, YouTube, Quora, G2, and other trusted knowledge hubs that feed into AI systems.
The Loop Framework and What It Means for Strategic Marketing
HubSpot's recently introduced Loop Marketing Framework offers a compelling model for this new era of marketing. At gigCMO, we've aligned key aspects of our playbook to this framework to help our clients operationalise it.
Here's how the four stages of the Loop Framework connect to a strategic, sustainable marketing approach:
1. Express your distinct brand identity
The foundation of effective marketing in the AI era starts with clarity. Clearly defining your ideal customer profile (ICP) for each initiative ensures that your messaging is relevant and grounded. From there, develop consistent language, tone, and value propositions that reflect your brand's perspective and resonate with your audience. These defined attributes not only guide human-led campaigns but also provide the input structure needed for AI tools to generate aligned, on-brand content at scale.
2. Tailor messaging to your customers' needs
Modern marketing demands more than surface-level personalisation. This stage is about using real-time data, customer behaviour, and market trends to adapt messaging for specific audiences. With AI, businesses can now analyse patterns, segment audiences dynamically, and create highly contextualised interactions that feel personal, without being generic. The goal is to deliver the right message, to the right person, in the right context.
3. Amplify across channels
Visibility today is about being discoverable not just by people, but by AI systems. This requires a shift from traditional SEO to answer engine optimisation (AEO). Brands must structure content so it can be retrieved, quoted, and referenced by large language models. This means investing in short-form, modular content, building presence in ecosystems like Reddit and YouTube, and participating in conversations where customers seek answers. Amplification is no longer just about reach; it's about relevance in the right platforms and formats.
4. Evolve your strategy
Speed of iteration has become a competitive advantage. In this stage, performance data is continuously reviewed, not quarterly, but in real time. Engagement signals, completion rates, and AI visibility metrics offer insights into what's working. Agile marketing teams use this feedback to refine messaging, reposition assets, and adapt strategies quickly. With AI as both a feedback loop and execution engine, the ability to evolve is no longer optional; it's expected.
The gigCMO Growth Playbook: Designed to Evolve
At gigCMO, our playbook doesn't sit still. We update it continually to reflect global best practices, emerging technologies, and shifting buyer behaviours. The AI-driven disruption we're seeing today, marked by the rise of answer engines, generative content, and zero-click experiences, has accelerated the need for brands to evolve how they approach visibility, messaging, and measurement.
This is why we've integrated key principles of the Loop Marketing Framework directly into our playbook. Our modules are not just strategy checklists; they're living components that respond to market changes and client realities.
Here's how we've adapted our methodology to help businesses operate and grow within this new AI-first environment:
We Start with Clarity
Before amplifying anything, we help our clients express who they are. That includes refining their brand voice, defining value propositions aligned with their ICPs, and articulating points of view that are not only distinct but credible, especially to AI engines that seek consistent, authoritative sources. This foundation is crucial in both traditional brand-building and AI-driven visibility.
We Embrace Data-Led Personalisation
Modern marketing is now a mix of art and algorithms. We guide clients to tailor their messaging using behavioural insights, CRM data, and industry benchmarks, making each interaction feel personal, contextual, and useful. This isn't just good user experience; it's now a prerequisite for being surfaced by large language models.
We Optimise for Real-World Reach
Incorporating AEO and GEO principles, our playbook ensures that clients amplify their presence across the platforms that matter—Google, yes, but also the forums, video channels, and communities that AI models learn from. We structure content for both human consumption and machine readability, increasing the chances of being cited, quoted, or recommended.
We Enable Rapid Learning Loops
Lastly, we help clients evolve in real time by embedding performance tracking and adaptive testing throughout their marketing strategy. Using tools like SEMrush and our internal dashboards, we monitor brand visibility in both traditional and AI-powered ecosystems.
Future-Ready Marketing Starts with Strategic Leadership
As our COO Siyuan Ren, highlighted in her Newsletter, we're at a turning point. Traditional approaches to digital marketing are no longer delivering the same results, because the environment itself has changed. AI doesn't just automate tasks; it transforms how people find answers and make decisions.
The fundamentals of great marketing remain: clarity of message, quality of content, trustworthiness of brand. What's changed is how those signals are interpreted, and that's exactly where strategy comes in.
At gigCMO, our updated playbook, collaborative delivery model, and Fractional CMO Service ensure your business doesn't just keep up, it leads. If your company is navigating the complexity of AI-driven marketing and needs more than tactics, let's talk.
