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Most AEO “strategies” are tactic lists dressed up as long-term direction. They often break the first time a platform changes or leadership asks questions. A real AI SEO strategy starts with the business problem, builds on your brand’s unique advantages, and lets tactics come last.

This week, we’re covering:

  • How to identify your actual AI SEO challenge (it’s a business problem, not a channel problem).
  • A three-part strategy document structure that survives leadership scrutiny and platform shifts.
  • How to present AI SEO investment using scenario planning instead of traffic forecasts.
Image Credit: Kevin Indig

1. Tactics Without A Strategy Waste Quarters Of Work

Strategy as a concept is even more misunderstood in the AI SEO era than it was in traditional SEO. Most “AEO/GEO strategies” I see are actually just tactics: Optimize for long-tail queries, add structured data, create FAQ content. These might be part of your execution, but they’re not your strategy.

The result? Teams chase citations in ChatGPT without understanding if that’s a solution to an actual business problem. They optimize for Perplexity when the real challenge is protecting branded search volume. They copy competitor tactics instead of building on their unique advantages.

When you set out to build (or repair) your AI SEO strategy, distinction matters because a tactic list can’t answer the one question strategy exists to answer: What problem are we solving?

Image Credit: Kevin Indig

2. Start With Your Brand’s Unique Challenge

Your strategy must answer one question first: What business problem are we solving?

This sounds obvious. Most teams skip it. They see “AI search is growing” and immediately jump to “we need to rank in ChatGPT” and start trying new tactics. That’s a reaction, not a clear strategy.

Use the same approach I outlined in creating an SEO strategy from scratch: Identify your actual challenge through research, then build your approach around solving it.

Common AI SEO Challenges I See:

  • Brand visibility erosion. Branded queries get answered by AI without attribution, bleeding awareness over time.
  • Pipeline protection. Qualified traffic is shifting to AI Mode, but your brand is invisible in those results.
  • Category definition. AI models cite competitors as the category solution. Your brand doesn’t appear.
  • Conversion influence decay. Users research in ChatGPT, arrive at your site decision-ready, or don’t arrive at all. The pre-site journey now happens inside an AI interface – and you can’t see your target audience’s detailed behaviors via analytics.

These are business problems, not channel problems. Your challenge should connect directly to revenue, market share, or competitive position. If it doesn’t, you’re optimizing for a metric that can’t survive a budget review.

3. Do Your Research First To Kill Your Own Incorrect…


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Last Update: March 3, 2026