Podcast Summary

Rachel Sterling, an expert marketer at Identity Digital, joins the Cambridge Marketing Podcast to discuss how traditional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is evolving into Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), and what this means for marketers in an AI-driven search landscape.

She explains that while Google’s AI features and multimodal search are rapidly expanding, it is not too late for brands to adapt by refreshing cornerstone content frequently, updating statistics, and dramatically scaling content production with AI, provided that humans still shape brand voice and authenticity.

 

Key Points

  • SEO focuses on traditional search rankings, while AEO aims to make content the direct answer in AI overviews and voice assistants, and GEO helps AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini understand and cite content.
  • AI search is growing rapidly, with Google reporting over 1 billion monthly AI Mode users and 2.5 billion monthly AI Overview users.
  • Brands still have time to adapt by updating key pages regularly, dating content, and refreshing statistics, as AI tends to favour newer information.
  • Marketers should scale content production using pillar-based strategies, creating one core piece of content that can be repurposed into multiple assets.
  • AI is best used for drafting and optimisation, while humans should oversee editing, brand voice, storytelling, creativity, and ethics.
  • Verified domains and strong SEO foundations remain important for credibility and visibility, as traditional SEO principles still support success in AI search.

Transcript 

Transcripts are auto-generated

Kiran Kapur, Host (00:01):
Hello and welcome. We are in the very interesting world of SEO and AEO.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (00:06):
In a world of deep fakes where you have AI-generated influencers, synthetic reviews, a verified descriptive domain is one of the few tools that a marketer has in their toolbox that allows you to apply your digital existence, your credibility, all in one glance.

Kiran Kapur, Host (00:23):
I'm delighted to welcome back to the podcast, Rachel Sterling, who is Chief Marketing Officer at Identity Digital. Rachel, welcome back. I'm so pleased that the last time you were on I didn't put you off, and you're happy to come back on again.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (00:35):
I could not be more excited to be here.

Kiran Kapur, Host (00:37):
Tell me a little bit about Identity Digital.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (00:40):
So as always, I always start by explaining who we are here at ID because my assumption is that nobody has heard of us. We are an internet infrastructure company that ensures web addresses. So the domains that you put in your web browser, that they work safely and seamless. And here's a really fun, interesting challenge as a marketer. If we do our job right, you never hear about us. And so it's sort of the opposite of what most marketers deal with where they're trying to get their brand out in the world. I'm like, no, nobody should hear about us. That means we're doing it right.

Kiran Kapur, Host (01:13):
Yes. And the last time you had the podcast, you were explaining this very interesting part of the marketing world, but not one that one tends to know about, which as you said, it means you're doing your job excellently well.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (01:23):
We are the oldest part of the internet.

Kiran Kapur, Host (01:26):
That's true because we are without an address. There's not an awful lot that anyone could do. So you've talked about navigating SEO to AEO. So I think we all know what SEO is. So what's the difference with AEO?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (01:39):
Well, I love a good level setting where we talk dictionary. And so let's first define the difference between SEO, AEO, and then the elusive GEO. So SEO is how your content gets found in a traditional search engine. These are the blue links on Google. This is still the foundation of discovery on the internet. AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. And this is how your content can become the answer to a generative AI search. And so you would typically optimise this for AI overviews, voice assistance, and zero click results. GEO is Generative Engine Optimisation. I feel like that's a tongue twister. This is a step further. This is how LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity understand your content well enough to cite you in generated responses. So this would be almost like if we're going to use a school example, this is how you get into the bibliography of the search results, if that makes sense.

Kiran Kapur, Host (02:45):
Things are changing so fast. As you said, listen back to the previous podcast and some of it's the same, and so much has changed. I sort of feel like if I haven't got an AEO strategy or a GEO strategy, I'm now a bit behind the times. Is it too late to sort this out?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (03:01):
Well, before we get into that, let's first talk about what changed last week. Google IO happened last week, their annual conference, and this is the big moment where they take out all of the different leaders who talk about all the different advancements that they've done over the last year. And so quickly, just like consolidating all of that information, they share that AI mode had passed one billion monthly users, and queries are doubling every quarter. And then AI overviews now reach 2.5 billion users a month. So, as marketers, we have to understand what has changed. So number one, the search box, it's now multimodal. You can query with text, image, files, video. There's also going to be background search agents, which are coming this summer, which will allow users to search when they're not even actively on their computer. And then there's generative UI, which is SearchBuild's custom interfaces on the fly.

(03:58):
And so I wanted to bring all of that up because the question is, is it too late? And the answer is no, it's not too late. Even though things are changing fast, there is this understanding that everybody needs time to come along for the ride. And so while AI mode is only a year old, most brands are still figuring out how it works right now. And so the window is wide open for folks to figure out their marketing strategy. And so what moving now looks like is you want to update your cornerstone pages every quarter. AI loves fresh content. It has to be dated for it to be relevant. You want to refresh your stat. If a stat is older than 18 months, AI will discount it. It will no longer consider it relevant. And then this is the part that we're tackling here. You have to publish 10 times more content than you think you actually need.

(04:53):
So I feel like two years ago, people might have had a social strategy where they were going to go out and post on LinkedIn once a day or post on X once a day. Now the strategy is how do I build out a content marketing structure where I am building and generating content at scale across the different content pillars that I think are important for discovery for my business.

Kiran Kapur, Host (05:15):
Wow, that was a lot to take in. So let's pick you up on the 10 times more content than I thought I needed to. I can't do content the amount I was told to do four years ago, let alone 10 times more. Is that seriously what I have to do?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (05:31):
Yes. Yes. But here's the thing that gives me hope about it is that now marketers are thinking about what is their AI tech stack? So I would say two years ago, if you were thinking about generating 10 times more content, you would be staring with paralysis at the blank page. You'd be like, "Oh my God, how do I even know where to start?" Now there are tools that allow you to use AI to generate the first draft. I think where things can get broken down is if people take that first draft that's published from AI and immediately publish that. You are then potentially damaging your brand because that content isn't authentic. But if you use AI to generate that first draft and you have a tech stack and that text stack says, "Here are my content pillars, here are my stats, here are my audiences, here are my goals." You can use AI to generate first drafts and then put it through its paces with actual humans to edit it, and cultivate it, and make sure your brand is accurately being represented.

(06:31):
We are starting this right now at ID, and it's been really fun.

Kiran Kapur, Host (06:36):
It's been fun in what sense? Sorry, I'm still boggling at this amount of content. Well,

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (06:43):
Karen, do you like to write or no?

Kiran Kapur, Host (06:44):
Oh yeah, I do. I love to write and obviously, I love to do podcasts, so I wouldn't be doing what we're doing.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (06:50):
I love to write, and writing a blog post allows you more flexibility than trying to goose social media algorithms, if that makes sense. You actually get to let a concept breathe, you get to do research, you get to find that data point that's compelling and craft a narrative around it. And so maybe I'm just really nerdy, but I think it represents a really great opportunity for marketers to put their creative self first and to actually use AI to become truly creative content marketers.

Kiran Kapur, Host (07:22):
Yes, I can cope with the idea of writing a blog post. I'm then wondering about, do I then cut that up? Do I use AI to cut that up to the various content pillars?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (07:30):
Well, I think the blog post should be one content pillar. I think every blog post should have a very clear purpose for its existence. And then if we're thinking about how it's used for AI discovery, it should take into consideration question answer schema that resembles what an actual search would be. And you can use that in your prompting of your AI tools. This is the question that I anticipate a user will ask, "Here is the answer. Now let's write the blog post that's directly aligned with that question and answer prompt framework." When I think about the go- to-market motion for that blog post, the blog is only one element. Then I would think through, okay, well, what are the different social posts I can create from this? Is there an opportunity to make a video from this? Is there an opportunity to feature businesses that represent this best practise, like in a case study or in a mini case study?

(08:23):
So if you have one content pillar, one data source and one blog post that explores it, you can get to 10 pieces of content just from that one primary source of content, and that's where it gets really fun.

Kiran Kapur, Host (08:36):
All right, that did sound a lot more fun. So the opposite side of the AI side, and we're talking so very positive about it and yes, as you said, there's huge amounts of changes and what have you, but it's also generating an element of trust. And you said you can damage the trust if you just take what the AI says and chuck that out. Absolutely. And we also talk a lot in the UK about AI content slop. It's things that doesn't make sense, but you've just been created in order to fill out content. So, given the high levels of distrust, how do I make certain that my content is trustworthy and authentic?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (09:10):
I think you're a hundred percent right. There is a real risk with pushing out AI slop, and that's where we as marketers have job security, if you will. There has to be the human layer that comes in and says, "Is this my brand? Does this sound human? Will this be authentic to the people who are reading this content?" Because if people are discovering your brand for the first time through a generative AI search, they're not discovering you through a website. They're not discovering you through a social post. Another entity is sharing who you are. And so it has to be authentic to your brand, and it has to represent you well. And so the way that I think about it is that there's a practical split. Humans handle creative ideation, brand voice, authentic storytelling and ethical judgement . The AI handles optimisation, audience segmentation, A/B testing, and then that content scaffolding that we were talking about previously.

(10:09):
And then this is where my business comes in. I do believe that the domain where you're hosting this content does matter. And this is why we're talking about this today. In a world of deepfakes where you have AI generated influencers, synthetic reviews, a verified descriptive domain is one of the few tools that a marketer has in their toolbox that allows you to apply your digital existence, your credibility, all in one glance. And so the domain you pick for your business is very, very important.

Kiran Kapur, Host (10:42):
Should I think about changing my domain in this new world, or do I keep the same domain that I've always had? What's the recommendations?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (10:50):
I don't think anybody should change a domain if they've built brand equity in that domain. What I do see is that people are starting to create name-based frameworks, meaning let's say you are a company that is building out developer tools, and that isn't your core brand. Your core brand describes the benefit of your product, but now you have a separate entity that is specifically for developers. You want to take your name of your business, but build in another domain that very clearly speaks to the fact that this destination is for developers. Let's say that you are doing something that is community-based. You would want to create, again, your name, let's say Doc Community to ensure that people understand that this is where you go for community information. Let's say you wanted to create a site that houses all of your frequently asked questions. You might take your name and then get a.

(11:48):
FYI domain, and use that as a repository for all of your FAQs. And so this idea that you only need one domain, I think, is a little bit passe. And as you think about expanding the content that you're creating, you're also thinking about the surface areas in which people interact with that content. And then is there an opportunity to take that name and carve it out into different instances with a different top-level domain that articulates exactly what that surface area is for? Does that make sense?

Kiran Kapur, Host (12:20):
That does. And it's really interesting because I'm trying to think of an example where I've seen a company do that, and perhaps the fact that I can't think of one merely means that they did it brilliantly and therefore I didn't notice

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (12:33):
Well, I'm going to point out, we talked about Google before. Google has Google.ai where they have all of their AI tools, and Meta has meta.ai as well. At ID, we manage a registrar, which is a company that sells domains directly to end customers, and we built out this really robust API that Vibe coding platforms are now using in order to sell domains directly to their customers. And so we built out name.dev. So our site is name.com, but all of our developer tools now live at name.dev. And as marketers, it's really fun because we invested in a new brand specifically for developers. And you're recognising that a small business that lands on name.com who's curious about like, well, how do I buy a domain or email or like a platform for my business, is not the same audience as the developer that's looking to download documentation on how to install an API.

Kiran Kapur, Host (13:30):
And so we would, you previously have done this all under one domain and lots of subsections and what have you, but is this better for search engines to find what we're looking for? Is it better for the customer experience?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (13:44):
Well, let me answer that question in two parts. I think before I started working here, I would've done it underneath one domain because I would not have been necessarily privy to the value of breaking it out under different domains. Having worked here for, I've been here almost four years, I do see a ton of data that implies that when you do carve out your namespace and take on different top-level domains, it has helped with search because your domain is now more relevant to the question that somebody's putting into search. So if somebody's doing a search for developer tools for domain APIs, name.dev would queue higher in those search results than name.com.

Kiran Kapur, Host (14:27):
How interesting. And can you replicate the information on the two sites, or does that cause problems? You wouldn't want to replicate all the information, but you might want to replicate some of it.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (14:37):
I think that you get to relevancy through backlinking. So you can get to the name.dev experience from the navigational architecture on name.com, but the content itself is not duplicated on both pages.

Kiran Kapur, Host (14:50):
Okay. Because I know that's something that everyone really worries about is duplication, and will we get penalised for duplication?

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (14:56):
It's not something I have heard is a big worry, but we'll call it an old wive's tale of the internet.

Kiran Kapur, Host (15:03):
Well, that's always possible, isn't it? Yes.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (15:07):
I did work at Google for a significant amount of time, and I heard no shortage of rumours about how people perceived the truth behind the algorithm. And what I would say is that Google does publish really robust SEO documentation, and people should use that as the gospel, if you will, on what is true versus what is not true. And Google came out with a new document, I think it was two weeks ago now, where they basically said the principles of SEO apply to AEO. And it's not like you have to start over from scratch, which is why when we talked about it, I said it's not too late. If you've been optimising for SEO, you're already halfway there.

Kiran Kapur, Host (15:44):
Yeah, I must admit, I read the Google document was quite reassured because you do sort of think, I have to tear it all up and start again, but in that case, you didn't. I did want to finish with a discussion of a wonderful article you wrote, which you said, we've seen all this before. And what was the motive? I'm sort of interested in what made you write that because I always feel like I sound terribly old when I say, but I remember computers coming in. I remember it all starting in the offices and things.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (16:15):
Well, I started it. I wrote the article because I can tell that fear is pervasive online and fear begets more fear. I was in a meeting last week, and we were talking about AI capability, and somebody on the team brought up the fact that when Excel first came out, accountants thought that they were going to lose their jobs, but Excel just made modelling more possible and more people now work in finance than work before. But to your point, it's like if I say that I sound so old that if you blew on me, the dust would dissipate into the atmosphere. And so I think that part of this is generational, right? If you came online in the post.com boom era, this does feel new, this does feel scary. And I wrote the article because I wanted to level set. I'm not saying it's not scary, but I am very optimistic that all of this technology will be get more opportunity.

(17:13):
It might contract at first where people sort of get overzealous at the idea of what they can cut and what they can stop doing. But to the point that we made before, if you just take what AI generates and put it out into the world, you are going to damage your brand. You are going to come across as inauthentic. And so marketers, I do believe have really great job security right now. It doesn't feel like it, but I do believe that we are providing that human layer of the internet, and that's crucial right now.

Kiran Kapur, Host (17:44):
And most importantly, we understand how to communicate because that thinking about not just what the bot wants, but what a human needs is so important, and it's often the bit that gets lost. Rachel Sterling, Chief Marketing Officer at Identity Digital. Thank you so much for your time. It was lovely to have you back. Come back in a couple of years, and we'll see what's changed.

Rachel Sterling from Identity Digital (18:02):
Okay. Our every two year date is on.