Question 1

Is classical SEO dead now that AI engines exist?

Accepted Answer

No. Classical Google search (with AI Overviews integrated) still drives roughly 80-90% of organic discovery for most Canadian commercial queries in 2026. AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) are growing fast but remain a smaller share of total organic discovery. The right strategy: run a full SEO program with explicit AEO measurement and reporting, not AEO-only or classical-only.

Question 2

How do I get my site cited by ChatGPT?

Accepted Answer

ChatGPT Search retrieves and cites live web content based on relevance and authority signals. To increase citation probability: write declarative, self-contained answer paragraphs at the top of every relevant page; use FAQ schema for question-shaped content; ensure all content is server-rendered or static (ChatGPT-User crawler does not execute JavaScript); allow ChatGPT-User and OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt; build topical authority through comprehensive coverage of your category; earn brand mentions across reputable sources.

Question 3

How do I get my site cited by Perplexity?

Accepted Answer

Perplexity sources are typically drawn from Bing's index (with some additional retrieval). Optimize for Bing rankings (submit to Bing Webmaster Tools, ensure clean technical SEO), allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt, write answer-first content with clear declarative sentences, and use schema markup (Article, FAQPage, Organization). Perplexity favours sources with clear authorship and date metadata — strong author Person schema helps.

Question 4

How do I get my site cited by Google AI Overviews?

Accepted Answer

Google AI Overviews draw heavily from sources already ranking top-10 organically for related queries — so classical SEO ranking is the foundation. Additional optimisation: structured-data depth (Article + FAQPage + BreadcrumbList + Person), explicit answer paragraphs early on the page, comprehensive coverage of the topic across the page (not just the query), and topical authority across your domain. Pages cited in AI Overviews are typically high-quality, well-schema'd, well-authored editorial content.

Question 5

Should I track AI citation share or classical rankings?

Accepted Answer

Both. Classical rankings remain the primary ranking surface for the majority of organic discovery; AI citation share is the growing secondary surface. Track them in parallel monthly. We typically report a 'top 50 keywords' classical-ranking view alongside a 30-50 query AI citation share view across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.

Question 6

What does llms.txt do that sitemap.xml doesn't?

Accepted Answer

sitemap.xml lists all crawlable URLs for search engines. llms.txt is structured for LLM agents: it surfaces the most important pages with brief descriptions, links to documentation and policies, and provides a curated 'this is what matters' map rather than a complete URL inventory. Adoption by AI engines is partial in 2026 but cost-to-implement is low. We include it on AEO-focused programs as a supplementary signal.

Question 7

Do I need a separate AEO content strategy from my SEO content strategy?

Accepted Answer

No — you need an integrated content strategy with AEO requirements baked in. Most AEO best practices are simply better SEO practices: declarative answer paragraphs, comprehensive topic coverage, schema markup, named author E-E-A-T signals. Running AEO as a separate workstream typically means duplicating effort. Run one editorial program with AEO measurement and reporting.

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