Inside the AI Search Shift: A Q&A with Meghann Kinnard on AEO, GEO, and the New Rules of Visibility

Trevi’s VP and Head of Marketing Services, Meghann Kinnard explains why people are looking for answers instead of just clicking links, and what businesses can do to make sure they show up in those results.

Q: What’s actually changing about how people search?

Meghann: Search is getting much more conversational. For years, the process was pretty predictable. You typed a few words into Google, scrolled through a page of links, and clicked whatever looked most relevant.

Now, people are asking full questions in ChatGPT, or Google’s AI Overviews. Instead of just getting a list of websites, they’re getting a full answer with a few sources attached.

The simplest way I explain it is this: we used to compete for the click. Now we also have to compete to be part of the answer.

That changes what visibility looks like. Ranking and traffic still matter, but so does whether an AI platform understands your expertise well enough to quote or recommend you.

The tricky part is that you might not even see this shift in your analytics. Google rolls traffic from AI Overviews into its regular search reporting, and other platforms don’t always give you the full picture. A business might be gaining or losing ground inside AI responses without seeing a big change in their total traffic numbers.

Q: What does that mean for content strategy?

Meghann: It means ranking for a keyword isn’t the whole job anymore.

At Trevi, we look at content through two lenses: Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). They aren’t replacements for traditional SEO—SEO is still the foundation that helps search engines find and understand your site.

I like to compare it to a library. SEO makes sure your book is on the shelf and categorized correctly. AEO makes it easy to find and quote the exact page that answers a question. GEO helps establish why your book—and you as the author—should be trusted and recommended in the first place.

You need all three working together.

Q: Start with AEO. What is it, in plain terms?

Meghann: AEO is really just about answering the question before the reader loses interest.

If someone searches for something like “who are the top attorneys in Boston?” or “how much should I expect to pay for a website audit?”, they shouldn’t have to read 800 words before they see a clear answer. Give them the direct answer first, then provide the context.

That might mean putting a short explanation at the top, using clear headings, or organizing info into steps. Structured data helps too, but only when it’s relevant and done right.

Just remember there’s no magic switch. Adding an FAQ section doesn’t guarantee Google will feature you.

It’s all about reducing friction. If a human has to dig to find your point, a machine probably has to dig, too.

Q: And GEO? How is that different?

Meghann: GEO asks a bigger question: Why should the AI trust you enough to recommend you?

Imagine someone asks “when can you back out of a real estate deal?” That’s not a simple factual question. The platform is going to pull ideas from several sources.

One great webpage is a start, but it won’t carry your whole reputation. The AI needs enough consistent info to understand who you are, what you know, and if anyone else recognizes that expertise.

This is where thought leadership, original research, case studies, and media coverage come in. Reviews and industry mentions really matter here.

Anyone can say they’re an expert. GEO is about making sure there’s evidence beyond your own site to back it up.

I like to think of it as making your real-world reputation legible to machines.

Q: Do businesses really need AEO, GEO, and traditional SEO?

Meghann: Definitely, because they all solve different parts of the same problem.

SEO gets you discovered. AEO helps you become the answer. GEO helps you become the recommendation.

If your site can’t be crawled, you aren’t even in the conversation. If your content doesn’t answer questions clearly, it’s not useful to people or AI. And if there’s no evidence of your authority, a system won’t feel confident recommending you.

You need the technical foundation, the clear answer, and the credibility to back it up.

Q: Clients are asking a very direct question: “How do we get our company to appear in AI responses?” What do you tell them?

Meghann: First off, I tell them that nobody can guarantee it. There’s no form to fill out, no special tag, and no amount of money you can pay to force your way into a specific response.

There’s no VIP entrance for AI Overviews.

What you can do is improve your eligibility and give these platforms better information to work with.

Start with the basics. Make sure your pages can be crawled. Check your robots.txt so you aren’t accidentally blocking the crawlers these platforms use.

Then look at your content. Are you answering the questions customers actually ask, or just writing what your internal team wants to promote? They aren’t always the same thing.

Be specific, use real examples, and add original insight. Make sure it’s clear who the experts are behind the content, and keep your facts consistent across the web.

Finally, look beyond your own site. Media coverage, reviews, and industry publications show that your reputation is real and exists outside of your own marketing.

You can’t control the final answer, but you can control the quality and clarity of the info out there about your business.

Q: Does that mean every company should start producing significantly more content?

Meghann: No—more content isn’t the same as more authority.

Publishing 50 generic articles that say what everyone else is saying doesn’t make you an expert. It just makes you louder.

I’d much rather see a company publish five genuinely useful resources based on their actual experience. Answer the questions that come up on sales calls, explain things clients often get wrong, or share original data.

The internet doesn’t need another generic “Five Tips” article. It needs the insight your company has because of what you’ve actually done and learned.

AI makes it easy to churn out content quickly, which actually makes an original perspective more valuable, not less.

Q: How should companies measure whether this work is succeeding?

Meghann: Measurement is still catching up with how people search.

You can track referral visits from ChatGPT when someone clicks a link, or monitor search impressions and branded searches. Bing has also introduced some AI reporting that gives more insight into citations.

But a citation doesn’t always lead to a click. Someone might see your name in an AI response and search for you later, or use the answer to narrow their choices before they ever visit a site.

We have to look at the whole trail, not just the final footprint.

We monitor if the brand appears for key questions, if it’s described accurately, and if prospects mention AI as part of how they discovered the company.

Traffic still matters, it just doesn’t tell the whole story anymore.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d tell a business owner reading this?

Meghann: Don’t panic, but don’t sit this out.

You don’t need to abandon SEO or rebuild everything around a new acronym. But you do need to recognize that customers are changing how they look for info and make decisions.

Start with the basics. Make sure your site is sound, answer real questions clearly, and show who your experts are. Build a reputation that exists beyond your own website.

Don’t just chase the algorithm. Build a brand that’s clear and useful enough to be included wherever your customers are looking for answers.

That’s where visibility is heading, and it’s the work we’re doing every day for our clients.