SEO versus AI search is a packaging argument. SEO is the discipline of being findable in a search product, mainly Google, with links you can count. AI search is a model writing a reply that might use your page. You do not get two sites out of this. You get one site read two ways.
Acronyms: SEO vs AEO vs GEO. Landscape: how AI search is changing sites.
Keep doing SEO. Add pages a summary can quote. Do not drop Search Console because a chat tool exists. Do not drop the chat-shaped pages because you rank for your brand name.
| SEO (search results) | AI search (generated answer) | |
|---|---|---|
| What the user sees | A list of links, plus whatever Google is testing | A paragraph, maybe citations |
| What you can measure | Search Console queries and pages | Anecdotes. Screenshots lie |
| What you control | Pages, titles, speed, links | The source, not the wording that day |
| Failure mode | You are not in the list | You are omitted or misquoted |
How to spend the week
Google path: optimize for Google Search and the new-site checklist. AI path: visible in AI search and optimize the business site.
If someone sells you two retainers with two slide decks for the same homepage, you are buying labels.
Website development covers the pages. Send the URL.
