Try Free \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nWhat Actually Works in AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
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Forget SEO. The new game is AEO \u2014 Answer Engine Optimization<\/strong>. Huang’s thesis: “SEO will continue to be important, but not as a channel to get rank #1 and therefore clicks. It’s a channel to influence AI models.”<\/strong> If your content isn’t in the training data or grounding sources for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, you’re invisible.<\/p>\nWhat’s working right now, according to Clearscope’s testing:<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n- Key Takeaway Sections at the Top<\/strong> \u2014 A few sentences summarizing the article before the main content. Correlation data shows this helps with AI citations.<\/li>\n
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- Native Original Video<\/strong> \u2014 Embedding a short (under 1 minute) video of the author explaining the post. This signals originality and human authorship to AI models.<\/li>\n
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- Clear Subheadings and FAQ Sections<\/strong> \u2014 Making it easier for AI to scan and chunk your content into passage-level citations.<\/li>\n
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- Technical SEO Still Matters<\/strong> \u2014 If AI agents can’t crawl, render, or understand your content quickly, you won’t be surfaced in responses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Huang references the “Metahhan example” \u2014 replacing standard social share buttons (Facebook, X) with AI-specific share buttons like “Summarize this on ChatGPT” or “Summarize this on Perplexity.” Metahhan claimed success, but Huang is skeptical about long-term validity. “Once everybody starts doing it, models suppress the validity of that signal.”<\/strong><\/p>\nThe pattern is consistent: someone discovers a loophole (like key takeaways or AI share buttons), everyone copies it, models adapt, and the signal degrades. This is the “what is old is new, what is new is old” cycle that’s defined SEO since 2013. The solution? Don’t chase tactics. Build genuine authority.<\/strong><\/p>\n\nThe Links vs. Listicles Debate: What’s Actually Old vs. New
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Siu’s observation: “A lot of people coming into the AEO game think they’ve discovered something new with listicles. They haven’t.”<\/strong> A year ago, everyone spammed “best SEO software” or “best digital marketing agency” listicles on their own domains, leveraging domain authority. Google and AI models caught on quickly: if you’re publishing on your own site and favoring yourself, that’s obvious bias.<\/p>\nThe “new” approach? Guest posting and PR. Agencies now exchange listicle placements with each other. But this isn’t new either \u2014 it’s just link building rebranded<\/strong>. Siu’s take: “Links are still a very strong signal even in 2026. But more importantly, you should be building relationships, not just links.”<\/strong><\/p>\nWhy relationships matter: Siu and Huang have met in person multiple times. They’ve done webinars together. They operate in the same circles. That relationship creates multiple angles for collaboration \u2014 guest posts, backlinks, co-marketing, referrals. “That’s actually how you do business,”<\/strong> Siu notes. The SEO beginner thinks, “I should email Bernard and ask for a link.” The experienced operator thinks, “I should build a relationship with Bernard so we can create value for each other over years.”<\/p>\nHuang adds: “Links and PR still work because AI models need to trust their sources. What better signal than links and citations from credible domains?”<\/strong> PageRank \u2014 the original algorithm Google was built on \u2014 still matters in the age of LLMs. AI models need to ground their responses in trustworthy data, and backlinks remain the best proxy for trust at scale.<\/p>\n\nThe “Chunking” Mechanism: How AI Models Actually Read Your Content
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Huang explains the technical process behind AI citations: “When models respond to user prompts, they look at their training data \u2014 their fundamental knowledge of the topic \u2014 then do grounding with Google search to ensure the content is factual and up-to-date.”<\/strong><\/p>\nHere’s the key: models don’t read your entire article. They selectively scan passages, paragraphs, and sentences<\/strong> that contain the right entities to build the answer. This is called chunking<\/strong>. If your content has clear subheadings, concise paragraphs, and entity-rich sentences (proper nouns, technical terms, data points), the model can extract the relevant chunks and cite you.<\/p>\nHuang’s recommendation: “Fill your content with as many entities as you can. That’s good for chunking and passage similarity.”<\/strong> Entities = people, places, companies, products, frameworks, metrics. The more specific and name-dense your content, the better AI models can parse and cite it.<\/p>\nBut there’s a risk: “Once everybody starts doing that, models will suppress the validity of that signal.”<\/strong> The arms race continues. The solution isn’t to game the system \u2014 it’s to produce content that genuinely contains valuable entities because you’re covering the topic thoroughly.<\/p>\n\nThe “Claude Code Mandate”: Why Every Employee Needs to Code by 2026
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Siu’s company mandate: every employee must be proficient with Claude Code within the next six months, or they can’t continue<\/strong>. This isn’t optional. It’s existential.<\/p>\nSiu has defined four proficiency levels:<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n- Unacceptable<\/strong> \u2014 Can’t use AI tools effectively<\/li>\n
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- Capable<\/strong> \u2014 Can execute basic prompts and workflows<\/li>\n
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- Adaptive<\/strong> \u2014 Can build custom agents and automate tasks<\/li>\n
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- Transformative<\/strong> \u2014 Can build revenue-generating tools (like the “Deal Reviral” agent)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The company is running mandatory weekly office hours and hackathons<\/strong> to help employees level up. Siu’s message is blunt: “I’d rather not have to cut a bunch of people. I’m going to do what I can to bring everyone with us. But you cannot be overwhelmed anymore.”<\/strong><\/p>\nHuang agrees: “It feels like we were plowing fields with horses and bulls. Now a tractor comes along. Either you get in the tractor and 10x your productivity, or you keep plowing by hand and get left behind.”<\/strong><\/p>\nSiu’s CTO told him: founders are sick of hearing employees say they’re “overwhelmed.” The reality: Week 52 of 2025 was probably the most important week of the year<\/strong> \u2014 that’s when everyone started adopting AI agents at scale. If you took a holiday break and missed it, you’re already behind.<\/p>\n\nThe Post-Labor Economy: Why Working Becomes Optional (And What That Means for SEO)
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Siu references the founder of Groq (the chip company that sold to Nvidia for $20 billion<\/strong>): his thesis is that working will become optional<\/strong>. Why? Because AI and robotics will drive deflation. The cost of producing physical goods (like a coffee cup) will approach zero. People will have abundance without needing traditional employment.<\/p>\nShort-term: job displacement and social unrest<\/strong>. Long-term: prosperity<\/strong>. Siu’s take: “When I was younger, I thought I just wanted to sit on the beach and do nothing. But you quickly realize it was never about that. It was always about being useful and doing something you wanted to do.”<\/strong><\/p>\nThe implication for SEO and marketing: we’re moving toward a world of high-agency entrepreneurs doing work they love<\/strong>, not employees grinding through jobs they hate. This creates an abundance of skilled people building niche products and content. The future of SEO isn’t big agencies with 50-person teams. It’s solo founders with AI agents doing the work of entire departments.<\/p>\nHuang adds nuance: “This assumes you got dealt a good hand in life \u2014 middle class or upper middle class upbringing, access to education, capital to experiment.”<\/strong> He references the “carnival” analogy from Y Combinator: if you’re born into privilege, life is like going to a carnival. You get multiple chances to throw the dart and hit the bullseye (start a successful business). If you’re born into poverty, you don’t even get to play \u2014 you’re working the carnival.<\/p>\nSiu’s counterpoint: “I think people who didn’t get to participate are now going to have more shots on goal.”<\/strong> AI democratizes creation. You don’t need a trust fund to build software anymore. You need Claude Code and a good idea. The world didn’t allow for mass entrepreneurship before. Now it does.<\/p>\n