E1182: AEO companies keep presenting old SEO tactics as if AI search invented them.
Harpreet Singh joins me to break down what is actually different about AEO/GEO, what is simply traditional SEO with new terminology, and where companies are wasting time because they do not understand the history of search.
We start with the tactics now getting promoted on AI search conference stages: keywords in URLs, FAQs, meta descriptions, paragraphs, press releases, solution pages, listicles, and other concepts SEOs have used for years. Harpreet explains why removing the historical context around these tactics leads companies to overuse them and damage their search strategy.
Then we get into what is genuinely changing.
Harpreet walks through how he analyzes query fan-out, including ChatGPT searches that use site: operators to pull information from Gartner, G2, Capterra, and other third-party sources. For some brands, optimizing those profiles matters more than publishing another page on their own site.
We also talk about how difficult competitive AI visibility becomes when an LLM already associates established brands with a category. If a company spent 10 years being known as a mid-market product and suddenly wants to become an enterprise brand, changing a few pages will not rewrite that positioning. The company needs consistent signals across its own site, third-party profiles, reviews, media, creators, press, and search results.
In this episode:
- Why Harpreet says AEO companies are selling 2016 SEO
- Old SEO tactics getting repackaged as new AI search tactics
- Why SEO remains the foundation of AI visibility
- What query fan-out actually changes about keyword research
- Why Gartner, G2, Capterra, Reddit, YouTube, and other third-party sources matter
- How to optimize third-party profiles for the positioning you want LLMs to understand
- Why industry pages matter more as AI results become personalized
- How Harpreet tracks prompts like keywords instead of tracking endless prompt variations
- Why he ignores top-of-funnel AI citations that do not connect to revenue
- How to attack hyper-competitive terms such as "best email marketing software"
- Why solution pages and listicles still matter
- How reviews, press releases, influencers, and outside websites create consensus around a brand
- Why moving a brand from mid-market to enterprise creates an AI visibility problem
- How New Balance can outrank Nike and Adidas with basic category-page SEO
- Why enterprise SEO is often much worse than people assume
- Why creator-led AEO still has an attribution problem
- The simple "How did you hear about us?" field Harpreet uses to track AI-driven customers
- Why cheap press releases still influence AI answers
- Why AI search optimization remains a game of Whac-A-Mole
- Why search optimization does not disappear even if AI companies build their own indexes
The biggest point: AI search changes the surfaces and the retrieval process, but it does not erase the fundamentals. Relevance, authority, positioning, third-party validation, keyword targeting, internal linking, and strong pages still determine what gets found and trusted.
Harpreet Singh joins me for a 90-minute breakdown of what serious AI search optimization looks like once you strip away the new labels.
⭐️ Harpreet Singh's Personal Site - https://harpsdigital.com
⭐️ Harpreet on X - https://x.com/harpreetchatha_
⭐️ Harpreet's Newsletter - https://seoespresso.com
⭐️ Harpreet on LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/harpreetsingh8/
⭐️ Harpreet on TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@seoharp
⭐️ Harpreet on YouTube - https://youtube.com/@harpsdigital
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 AEO and GEO Repackaging
01:27 Conference Speaker Concerns
04:14 Misleading Studies and Statistics
07:02 Debating AEO Tactics
08:47 Business Expansion Beyond AEO
10:57 Current AEO Sprint Work
13:24 Press Releases and Parasite SEO
15:41 Versus Pages Strategy
17:06 Industry Pages and Personalization
19:28 Query Fan Out Analysis
23:34 Profile Optimization Tactics
25:37 Award Winning Strategies
26:37 Brand Reviews Domain Tactic
28:13 Small Business Advantages
29:38 Tools and Tech Stack
30:34 Prompt Tracking Strategy
32:23 Hyper Competitive Keywords Approach
39:40 Brand Repositioning Challenges
43:26 AI Has Picked Winners
46:00 New Balance SEO Example
48:53 Fixing Page Copy
49:29 Internal Links Win
50:35 Enterprise SEO Fails
54:28 Why Copy Moves Rankings
56:29 Small Brands Need More
58:54 What AEO Talks Miss
01:00:34 Creator Led AEO ROI
01:07:27 Attribution Workarounds
01:09:10 Reputation and Affiliates
01:13:48 Small Business AEO Playbook
01:16:40 Press Releases Game AI
01:28:09 Why SEO Never Dies
01:29:41 Wrap Up and Where to Find
The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/
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