How To Get More Clients With SEO and AEO
“How do I get more clients with SEO and AEO?” We have the answers, and online visibility matters—use SEO, AEO, and social media marketing to help potential customers discover your business on Google and beyond. A MacBook Pro opened to Google search engine helps with SEO.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) has been the key to getting reviews on Google for the past few years. In fact, it’s been around since the beginning of search engines, which was basically the beginning of the internet in the 1990s. The past few decades with the accessibility of the internet at home, experts have been assisting business owners with their websites to make them appear sooner in search engines, the predominant one being Google, so that businesses will garner more clients and customers.
SEO was a way of life… That is before AI started coming on the scene. While SEO is made for written search engines with questions people are already looking for, AI presents answers that the questioners sometimes never thought to ask in the first place. This is where AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) comes in. AEO appears when you ask AI for a question, it gives you answers to your question and sometimes to related questions you didn’t ask that may broaden your horizons. AEO appears when AI answers rely on other websites and forums, like Reddit or YouTube, contribute to the AI answer and present sources of reliability with the answer.
A 2026 BrightLocal study found that 84% of consumers searched online for a local business within the previous three months. Google was the starting point for 52%, with another 9% starting on Google Maps. Overall, 75% used multiple channels during their most recent local-business search, including social media, AI tools, and review sites.
For comparison, Pew research studies found that 30% of consumers used newspapers for local information. Print advertising can still have value for certain businesses and audiences, but relying on print alone means missing a large portion of today's customer discovery process. Your potential customers aren't just looking for businesses—they're searching for answers, reading reviews, watching videos, checking social media, and increasingly asking AI what businesses they should consider.
So now that we’ve defined, or refreshed, what both SEO and AEO are and do, how do you get more clients with SEO and AEO?
The answer starts with understanding what your customers are searching for — and creating useful content that helps them find you!
Start With Customer Questions
Think about the questions people ask before they hire you. What do they type into Google? What might they ask ChatGPT or another AI tool? What problem are they trying to solve?
For example, a Pittsburgh landscaping company might target searches such as “best landscaper near me,” “how much does lawn care cost in Pittsburgh?” or “when should I plant flowers in Pennsylvania?” Those questions can become blog posts, website FAQs, social media posts, and videos.
Focus on clear, useful answers that demonstrate your expertise and build trust.
Make Your Website Easy to Understand
Your website should clearly explain what you do, who you serve, where you serve them, and how customers can contact you. Important services should have their own pages, supported by FAQs that answer common customer concerns.
Local SEO is especially important for small businesses. If you serve Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities, make that clear on your website. Mention your service areas naturally and provide useful, location-specific information.
Clear headings, direct answers, detailed FAQs, consistent business information, and credible content make it easier for AI systems to understand your business and potentially use your information when answering relevant questions.
Use Social Media as Part of Your SEO Strategy
If you haven’t noticed, social media accounts are starting to pop up first on Google and other search engines. SEO and AEO shouldn't exist separately from your social media marketing. Your social media content can reinforce the topics you want your business to be known for.
One question can become a TikTok or Instagram video, blog post, email, Facebook post, or YouTube video. Instead of constantly creating completely new content, you can build a connected strategy around the questions your customers actually have.
Social media also gives you an opportunity to show your expertise. Educational posts, testimonials, and demonstrations can help turn discovery into trust.
The written information in your captions, the written words on the videos, and other aspects of your social media can make you a top search in search engines and on AI platforms when strategically created and implemented.
Build Trust Online
Getting discovered is only the first step. Once someone finds your business, they need a reason to choose you.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave honest Google reviews. Keep your business name, contact information, website, and service descriptions consistent across relevant online profiles and directories. Look for legitimate opportunities to be mentioned by local organizations, publications, industry websites, or reputable businesses.
These efforts strengthen your online presence and provide more information for potential customers and AI systems.
Don't Just Market for Google
Today's customers aren't searching in one place. They may use Google, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, maps, online directories, or AI platforms.
Someone might discover you through Google, watch a video, see an AI recommendation, and then visit your website before contacting you.
Creating content, researching keywords, managing social media, monitoring analytics, responding to comments on your Google Business, updating your website, and keeping up with search and AI changes can quickly become a full-time job. A social media manager can connect these pieces into one strategy.
When SEO-focused content, AEO-friendly answers, local marketing, and social media work together, your business has more opportunities to be discovered and trusted.
SEO helps people find your business. AEO helps your business become part of the answers people receive. Social media helps build the relationship that can turn that discovery into a customer.
If you want to spend less time wondering what to post and more time running your business, professional social media management and digital marketing can help you create a consistent online presence designed to attract the clients you actually want.
Every little nook and cranny matters when making your business stand out online. Book a consultation today to find out how Courrier Media Creations can help you grow your business by making your name known.
