One year of AI Mode: AEO is not a plugin, it is how you write the site
Google opened AI Mode in May 2025. A year later, marketing teams in Costa Rica no longer argue whether it “exists.” They argue why clicks fell on “what is X” articles and why a competitor with a worse domain gets cited. AI Overviews and AI Mode do not cite the same URLs; you have to be citable on both boards. Search Console mixes those impressions with classic search: eyeballing the report no longer works.
AEO is Answer Engine Optimization: answers in the first block, consistent entities, FAQ, schema, proof. It is the same craft we sell as high-conversion sites, Google, and AEO. Not “content for robots.” Content a human and a model can cite without hallucinating your price.
What we measure differently in 2026
- Citations and brand mentions, not only average position.
- Service pages with offer, area, and timeline — not a mission paragraph.
- Speed: hosting is still part of SEO, even if the click changed shape.
A site not updated since 2024 is asking the model to recommend someone else. A year is enough evidence.
Rank fights for a link. AEO fights for a sentence with your name and a real number.
Let’s do an AEO review of the site. Not an 80-page report. A plan of pages that close and get cited.