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AI Engine (AEO) Playbook

HubSpot's Early-Signs Guide to AI Engine Optimization (AEO)

Featuring strategies, insights, and tips developed by the HubSpot Blog team along with new data from +300 marketers on how they're navigating AEO. Learn how to create content and position your brand so it appears in AI engines, like ChatGPT, Claude, and more.

Get strategic recommendations to optimize your brand's AI visibility
Grade your brand with HubSpot's AEO Grader

Foreword

How do you find answers to your questions?

A few years ago, you’d type your question into Google, scan the results page, and click through to a website. Today, you might find your answer directly in one of Google’s AI overviews—or skip traditional search entirely and ask ChatGPT or Claude.

The shift in user behavior is dramatic. Over 70% of consumers now use ChatGPT for searches, and 25% of them actually prefer it over Google. A quarter of the world’s audience no longer views Google as their sole source of information.

Even HubSpot experienced this transition firsthand. Earlier this year, reports claimed we’d lost 80% of our blog traffic—news that spread quickly across LinkedIn and X. While the full story proved more nuanced, the experience reinforced a fundamental truth: AI adoption is reshaping how content performs across every industry.

HubSpot has navigated search changes before. We helped pioneer inbound marketing, published thousands of articles to help businesses grow, and adapted to countless Google algorithm updates. Now, we’re developing the playbook for AI Engine Optimization (AEO)—and sharing our early findings with you.

Chapter 1

The AI Engine Revolution is Happening Now

HubSpot Search Pictogram

Digital marketing is undergoing its most significant transformation since the advent of mobile search. More than ever, brands face a critical choice: adapt to the new reality of AI-powered discovery, or run the risk of becoming invisible to an increasingly AI-dependent audience.

The numbers tell a compelling story: ChatGPT sees over 5 billion visits each month—with users spending an average of over 12 minutes on the site. 58% of Google searches now result in zero clicks, as AI overviews continue to dominate search results.

Reality check: The search landscape is fundamentally changing

  • AI overviews now appear in 47% of all Google search queries.

    Source: Writesonic

  • 65% of organizations regularly use generative AI, marking a 49% increase from 2023.

    Source: AmplifAI

  • The average ChatGPT prompt is 23 words long, compared to 4.2 words for a traditional Google search.

    Source: Exploding Topics

  • Organic traffic could drop by 18% to 64% for businesses that fail to adapt to AI-driven search.

    Source: Writesonic

But here’s the good news: Marketers still have time to adapt to these changes. As users change how they search, from keyword-based queries to conversations with AI engines, tech-savvy marketers need to change how their businesses get found.

The competitive advantage is real—but temporary

  • The AEO services market is projected to grow from $886 million in 2024 to $7.3 billion by 2031.
  • Early AEO adopters report 27% of AI-driven traffic converts to sales qualified leads.
  • Average time on site for LLM-driven traffic is 30% higher than Google visitors.

As more organizations recognize the importance of AI visibility, the competition for AI citations will intensify. The brands that establish authority and optimize their content today will maintain their competitive edge tomorrow, as the market matures.

How 300+ Brands are Navigating AEO

To better understand how brands are navigating AEO, we surveyed 309 marketers in July 2025. 

Here are some major takeaways: 

  • AI Search Traffic

    32% of brands we surveyed say 10% to 25% of their website traffic comes from AI-powered search engines.

  • AEO's Importance

    88% of marketers believe AI search optimization will be important to their marketing strategy in the next 2 years.

  • Budget Changes

    Most brands (80%) are allocating up to a third of their marketing budgets to generative engine optimization projects.

  • Challenges

    Brands’ top AEO challenges are understanding AEO, measuring the success of their AEO efforts and implementing technical AEO strategies.

  • Measuring AEO

    29% of brands don't measure AI search engine performance, with nearly half (14%) of that group not knowing how to.
As AI search grows, brands face the decision of optimizing for these new platforms. The data shows nearly half have yet to start. 

Is your organization currently optimizing content specifically for AI search engines?

% of Respondents
Yes, we already have a dedicated or documented strategy.

20%
Yes, we are still just experimenting and/or determining our strategy.

37%
No, but we have plans to optimize or experiment with optimizing for generative AI engines.

22%
No, we have no plans to optimize or experiment with generative AI engine optimization in the future.

10%
Our organization is undecided or unsure of if or how we plan to optimize for generative AI engines.

7%
I am unsure of my organization's plans or stance around this.

4%

A key finding is that brands are making strategic shifts in how they create and structure content.

We asked marketers which content strategies they're prioritizing in response to answer engine optimization, here’s what we found:

The top 2 content strategies brands are investing in for AEO are expert-driven quotes (18%) along with original research (18%). A close third is the use of a conversational writing style (16%).

As for AEO metrics, most businesses are relying on tools like Google Analytics, Looker, and HubSpot Marketing Hub to monitor their brand’s visibility in AI search results. 

 

Which metrics do you currently use to measure AI search engine performance?

% of Respondents
Traffic to our site from AI-driven search engines.

31%
Conversions attributed to AI-driven search engines.

21%
AI citations to our content

10%
Brand mentions in AI responses

9%
We don't know how to measure this yet.

14%

We don't measure this.
15%

This survey confirms a few key things: AI-powered search is a meaningful traffic driver and marketers are shifting their strategies in response. 

While some are slow to get started, most have already hit the ground running. 

What this playbook delivers

You'll learn how to:

  • Build a clear AEO explainer page that answers reader questions and drives a next step (demo, template download, or signup).
  • Prioritize topics so your brand is tied to key product categories—and quickly fill the highest-impact gaps.
  • Write AI-ready, human-ready paragraphs: name the feature → explain how it works → describe the outcome; add short subject–verb–object claims.
  • Add trust signals AI engines look for (schema, author pages, credible citations, smart internal links) so your content gets quoted.
  • Increase information gain with original data, concrete examples, and a clear point of view.
  • Measure what matters in AEO: use AEO Grader, track share-of-answer, and monitor the impressions-to-clicks gap.

AEO Insights Provided by:

  • Amanda Sellers Headshot

    Amanda Sellers

    Manager, EN Blog Growth @ HubSpot
  • Amanda Huffman Headshot

    Amanda Huffman

    AI Search Strategist @ HubSpot

Chapter 2

Why AEO & Why Now

AI Writer Illustration

Search is shifting from “find the best page” to “get the best answer.”
AI engines assemble responses from multiple sources—often without a click.

That decouples impressions from traffic.
More of the buyer journey now happens inside chat-style experiences.

The opportunity: shape what engines say about your category and your product.
AEO makes your content easy to find, trust, and quote so answers point back to you.

The Great Decoupling between Impressions and Clicks
"The great decoupling," coined by SEO Darwin Santos, refers to the divergence between click and impression trendlines. As Google rolls out more AI features, publishers see fewer clicks, even if ranking and impressions improve.

How to win (at a glance):

  1. Consensus: reinforce key facts across credible, interconnected pages.
  2. Information gain: add original data, concrete examples, and POV.
  3. Entities & structure: use clear entities, schema, and short subject–verb–object claims.

  • The shift

    Best answer > best page. Engines compile; clicks aren’t guaranteed.

  • The impact

    Impressions and traffic split. More evaluation happens in chat.

  • The move

    Make content easy to find, trust, and quote—so answers reference you.

Chapter 3

How AI Engines Choose Answers

HubSpot Bot Illustration

AI answers are built, not guessed. Most engines lean on three simple signals.

1. Consensus

Facts that show up across credible sources—and are echoed inside your own site—get trusted and reused.

2. Information gain

Net-new insight beats generic advice. Original data, concrete examples, and clear POV are more likely to be cited.

3. Entities & structure

Clear entities (people, products, features) and tidy structure (headings, schema, short subject–verb–object claims) reduce ambiguity and boost quotability.

Chapter 4

What This Means for Your Pages

Make pages easy to find, trust, and quote. Do these on every page—short, concrete, repeatable.

State the category and the product/feature in simple terms. Engines map clear names to entities; readers do too.

Before: “Smarter customer growth solutions.”

After (H1 + subhead): Marketing Automation Software
HubSpot Marketing Automation helps B2B teams automate email, lead scoring, and nurturing.

Use Feature → How it works → Outcome. Keep each paragraph scannable (2–4 sentences).

Example:

Lead Scoring helps sales prioritize. It combines page views, email engagement, and firmographic data to assign a score, then auto-enrolls high scorers into a follow-up sequence. Reps focus on the right accounts and book more qualified meetings.

Turn key claims into Subject–Verb–Object facts. Triples reduce ambiguity and boost quotability.

Example triples:

  • HubSpot Forms captures lead data on submit.
  • Workflows enroll contacts when score ≥ 80.
  • Salesforce integration syncs companies and deals to CRM.

Cross-link related internal pages and cite credible external sources; add one proprietary stat, mini-case, or example per section.

Example (on-page execution):

  • Internal links: “What is Marketing Automation?” (explainer) → “Workflows” (feature)
  • External citation: Analyst/standard (e.g., industry benchmark or reputable review)
  • Proprietary info gain: “In a 30-day pilot, our team reduced manual follow-ups by 22% using score-based enrollment.”

Add Article/FAQ schema, visible author + last updated, and one primary CTA.

Example (footer block):

Author: Jordan Lee, Marketing Ops • Last updated: August 2025
CTA: Start a free CRM (primary) — repeated once near the end
FAQ (if used): Add 3 concise Q&As and apply FAQ schema.

HubSpot Guides Illustration

Semantic triples — 10-second primer

  • What they are: compact facts that engines (and humans) can’t misread.
  • Pattern: Subject (entity) — Verb (action) — Object (thing/result).

Examples (swap in your entities):

  • [Product] syncs contact and company data.
  • [Feature] triggers email sequences based on events.
  • [Integration] passes deal stage updates to CRM.
HS_Pictograms_Checklist_500px

Paragraph pattern (fill-in template)

  • Feature: [Feature] helps [User/Role] with [Job].
  • How it works: It [mechanism/inputs] to [process].
  • Outcome: Teams see [metric/result] in [timeframe/context].
  • Triples (add 2):
    • [Subject] [verb] [object].
    • [Subject] [verb] [object].
HubSpot Dev Illustration

Minimum technicals (do everywhere)

  • Schema: Article + FAQ (if you use an FAQ).
  • Authorship: Author bio and “last updated.”
  • Links: 3–5 internal (upstream/downstream) and 1–2 credible external citations per section.
  • CTA: One primary action (demo, template, signup), repeated once near the end.

Chapter 5

All Page Types — AEO Essentials (Do These Everywhere)

☐ Start with a one-line definition + value promise.

☐ Link plan: category hub + 1–2 product/feature pages.

☐ Write using Feature → How it works → Outcome; add 2 semantic triples per paragraph.

☐ Add 1 proprietary stat/example for information gain.

☐ Include 2 credible external citations.

☐ Implement Article + FAQ schema, show author and last updated, and set one primary CTA.

☐ Make an explicit S-V-O claim: [Product/Feature] enables [Outcome] for [User].

☐ Link back to the Category Explainer; link forward to demo/trial.

☐ Include a 3-question FAQ + FAQ schema.

☐ Use 2–3 semantic triples to clarify capabilities and fit.

☐ Add 1 external benchmark or customer proof.

☐ Note any requirements/limits (pricing tier, integrations).

☐ Use a clear criteria table (features, limits, requirements)—avoid adjectives.

☐ Source-back claims with links/citations in the table or footnotes.

☐ Add 2–3 semantic triples stating when your product is the right fit.

☐ Cross-link to the Category Explainer + relevant feature pages.

☐ Include 2 independent citations (analyst, standard, reputable review).

☐ End with a single CTA (try, demo, or talk to sales).

☐ Lead with a quantified outcome/KPI (e.g., Reduce X by Y%).

☐ Add one mini case (3–4 lines) with named entities + metrics.

☐ Map adjacent entities (roles, tools, workflows) and mention naturally.

☐ Link to product/feature pages + one supporting blog post.

☐ Implement Article schema, show author + last updated.

☐ Use a contextual CTA (industry template, demo variant).

☐ Match definitions to the Category Explainer (no new terms for same concept).

☐ Add one novel data point (survey, benchmark, internal study).

☐ Include 1 internal (product/feature) + 1 external citation per section.

☐ Use the paragraph pattern + 2 semantic triples where relevant.

☐ Close with a single primary CTA (template, demo, signup).

☐ Show author and last updated.

☐ Maintain author pages (credentials + cited work).

☐ Publish an editorial policy; use Organization/Website schema.

☐ Avoid orphan pages: 3–5 internal links in/out per page.

☐ Show published + updated dates; keep URLs descriptive and consistent.

☐ Implement FAQ, Article, and Breadcrumb schema where applicable.

☐ Keep canonical/redirect hygiene clean (no duplicate URLs).

Free Resource

AI Engine Optimization Templates

Guiding Example

AI Engine Optimized Article Example

What Is Customer Onboarding Automation?

A plain-English guide for B2B teams to go live faster and reduce churn.

What works: Human-first headline + promise. Names the category and value (faster go-live, lower churn). No product pitch.

What it is

Customer onboarding automation moves new customers from “signed” to “live” without manual chasing. It turns your checklist into clear steps, assigns owners, and nudges everyone (your team and the customer) to finish what’s next. HarborFlow Onboarding is customer onboarding automation software for B2B teams. The result: fewer stalls, faster time-to-value, and a smoother first 90 days.

Key facts

  • Onboarding automation assigns the right task to the right owner at the right time.

  • Playbooks standardize steps across every new account.

What works: Early brand–category link: “HarborFlow Onboarding is customer onboarding automation for B2B teams.” One clean sentence.

Why it matters now

First impressions decide renewal. Deals close faster than teams can staff, and customers expect a clear path on day one. A consistent onboarding plan keeps momentum, shows early value, and prevents new users from drifting.

Key facts

  • Clear steps reduce setup delays.

  • Early wins increase first-year retention.

What works: Leads with outcomes (retention, time-to-value) and current context. Zero jargon; keeps reader intent front and center.

How it works (no jargon)

1) Task lists that run themselves
Pick the steps; the system creates tasks, assigns owners, and sets due dates.

  • HarborFlow Playbooks assign tasks automatically after kickoff.

2) Customer-friendly checklists
Customers see what’s done and what’s next. They can upload files, book calls, and mark items complete.

  • Shared checklists show status to both teams.

3) Simple rules for timing
“If kickoff is complete, create data-import and training.” Late tasks escalate to a manager.

  • Escalation rules notify a manager when a task is late.

4) One place for handoffs
Sales, onboarding, and support work from the same plan. Notes, links, and dates live in one timeline.

  • Account timeline centralizes notes and milestones.

What works: Feature → How it works → Outcome. Add short S-V-O facts (e.g., “Playbooks assign tasks automatically”). Clear, quotable claims.

What you can do with it

  • Shorten time-to-value: Give customers a small win in week one.

  • Cut busywork: Automate reminders and status emails.

  • Make handoffs clean: Sales → onboarding → support with zero re-asking.

  • Spot risks early: Late tasks trigger a check-in before momentum dies.

Simple truths

  • Kickoff calls unlock the project plan.

  • Late milestones trigger an escalation.

What works: Benefits > features. Bullets map to jobs-to-be-done: shorten TTV, cut busywork, clean handoffs, surface risk. Quick to scan.

A quick pilot (fictional example)

A mid-market HR software company piloted HarborFlow Onboarding for 25 new accounts over 30 days. Using a standard 8-step plan and automatic reminders, the team:

  • Reduced average go-live time from 28 days to 17 days

  • Cut “where are we?” emails by 60%

  • Increased first-month product adoption by 18%

Pilot details

  • Every account followed the same 8-step plan.

  • Overdue items created an escalation task for the manager.

What works: Info gain: 30-day pilot with clear deltas (28→17 days, −60% emails, +18% adoption). One brand mention anchors proof.

Where it fits

  • Sales: Hands off the deal with goals, dates, and key contacts.

  • Onboarding: Drives the plan and reports progress.

  • Support/CS: Takes over with a clear history and next steps.

What works: Stack fit: shows where it plugs into Sales, Onboarding, Support. Names adjacent entities to reduce ambiguity.

Getting started (3 steps)

  1. Pick your core steps (7–10 max): kickoff, data import, training, first win.

  2. Assign owners and due dates for each step (both sides: you + customer).

  3. Turn on reminders and escalations for late tasks; review weekly until it’s smooth.

What works: Three steps, one screen. Actionable, time-boxed, repeatable—ideal for quick wins and snippet-friendly summaries.

FAQ

Will this feel robotic to customers? No—templates save clicks, but you still personalize goals and dates.
What if every client is different? Keep the base plan, then add 1–2 custom steps per account.
How soon will we see impact? Most teams see faster go-lives in the first month.

What works: Compact FAQ (3 Qs). Answers objections in one line each and enables FAQ schema without adding scroll. 

HubSpot's AI Engine Optimized Articles

See how HubSpot deploys AEO best practices.

Analyze how your brand appears on answer engines

HubSpot's free AI Engine Optimization Grader reveals how leading AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini interpret your brand. Get detailed competitive analysis, brand sentiment scoring, and strategic recommendations to optimize your brand's AI visibility.

Grade your brand with HubSpot's AEO Grader