The AI Search Playbook:  Is Your AEO Strategy Working? 

The way communications service providers measure success is changing. For years, marketers have relied on familiar metrics to measure the success of campaigns. Everything from Google rankings, organic traffic, click-through rates, actions, and conversions point toward what has been successful and what has not. 

The good news is these aren’t going away, but there is another way to garner better-quality conversions and that’s Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). 

The way customers interact with communications service providers has changed, so it’s only natural that the way we measure success also needs to shift. A potential customer may ask an AI platform what the fastest internet is in the area. AI gives them a recommendation, and that person then directly looks up your company and signs up for fiber internet within a matter of seconds. They may never search for this on Google. With this happening more and more, communications service providers need to increase the likelihood that AI references them when answering questions. 

As AI becomes another way people discover information, success isn’t just about being found, but it’s also about becoming the trusted source behind the answer. Is your strategy working? Check it with these ten questions:

1. Is Google Your Only Focus? 

While it’s difficult to measure AI visibility perfectly, communications service providers can test common customer questions across major AI platforms to understand how their organization is represented. At Pioneer, in the two years before Google rolled out AI summaries in May 2024, about 60% of traffic to our own website came from Google. In the two years since AI summaries rolled out, only 40% of traffic comes from Google. I’d challenge communications service providers to look at their own web traffic stats to see if they have similar trends before and after May 2024. 

Recently, our team was talking with a Calix customer in Alabama whose team was generally happy with where it came up in the traditional search results amongst competitors. But when they started asking different AI models questions about the best internet providers in their area, they noticed the answers were dominated by the national providers they compete with. It was time to make some changes. 

Once you give AI a few prompts, evaluate your results and see if your communications service provider is mentioned, and if so, is it positive or negative? If not at all, how can you show up next time? With a few consistent pieces of content optimized for AEO, you can go from nowhere to somewhere. 

2. Are You Tracking AI Referral Traffic? 

While still emerging, many analytic platforms are beginning to identify visitors arriving from AI tools. Keep an eye on these trends and shifts from ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and others as reporting gets better and evolves. Even if the numbers are small today, they’ll help establish a baseline for measuring future growth. 

3. Would AI Recognize Your Brand as a Trusted Source? 

AI is becoming another place where potential customers may first encounter your brand. Having a solid, strategic plan that engages multiple marketing channels like Search Engine Optimization, AEO, digital and social is vital to long-term success. You can get an idea if you’re gaining traction in AI by measuring your branded Google searches, direct website traffic, social media mentions and word-of-mouth referrals. 

4. Can AI Easily Navigate Your Website? 

Website traffic is important, but you also want it to be meaningful. Traffic alone is not the goal. Quality matters. Instead of targeting 10,000 website visits in a single month, focus on availability searches, online applications, eligibility forms, install requests, sales call requests and chat conversations. All of these actions indicate website visitors arrived ready to make a decision about your products and services. 

5. Are Your Answers Easy to Understand? 

One of the most overlooked yet simplest ways to measure AEO success is if your website answers common questions well. If you have a web page dedicated to FAQs with short, easy-to-understand answers, your customer service representatives may, over time, experience fewer calls related to common questions such as, “Is fiber available in my area?” or “What’s included with my internet plan?” If call volume about these declines over time, your content is working. Ask it the same questions every quarter and compare how often your communications service provider is mentioned versus your competition. 

6. Do You Know Which Content Performs Best? 

Not every web page serves the same purpose, and your content should be easy to find, follow and understand. Monitor your internet plan, coverage maps, FAQs, installation guides, construction updates and support articles pages. What pages are keeping visitors engaged? Which ones lead to conversions? Do any earn backlinks? Are any shared on social media? These insights will help you plan better, strategic content. 

7. Are You Reviewing Your Content Regularly? 

content on a quarterly basis across channels, especially internet plans, forms, pricing, construction maps, FAQs, leadership, promotions and service areas. You don’t want to miss out on a potential customer because of outdated content that AI can easily pass over for something more up to date and reliable. It’s all about being current and credible. 

Another useful benchmark is to periodically test your own website with AI. Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another platform to redesign one of your existing pages and compare the result against your current site. During the “Buffering Podcast,” the hosts demonstrated how a single detailed prompt transformed a cluttered broadband website into a customer-focused experience in less than 20 minutes. Even if you never publish AI’s first draft, the exercise can expose blind spots and reveal new ideas for improving your customer journey. 

8. Are You Showing What Makes You Local? 

Rural communications service providers have something national big brands don’t have: local expertise. But saying local and showing local are two different things. Adding community news, scholarships, expansions, economic development and customer success pieces can help reinforce this expertise and give credibility that will stand out to AI quickly. 

9. Are You Earning Trust Naturally? 

Trust is not a feeling, and it’s not a given. It’s built over time and earned. You can build trust among potential customers and AI alike by including blogs on your website that are attributed and dated, along with proper contact information, testimonials and partnerships. Including any memberships to broadband associations and industry certifications is also vital to catch AI’s attention and mention you as a reputable source. 

Just as important, make sure your contact information, service areas, hours and product details are consistent everywhere your organization appears online. When AI finds conflicting information across channels, it can reduce confidence in your content. 

10. Is Your Website Positioned for the Age of AI? 

Above all, your website is key. It’s the foundation for everything. Communications service providers must ensure their websites are accessible and ADA-compliant, mobile friendly, pages load quickly, there are no broken links, uptime is 99.9% or above, bounce rate is low, and internal navigation is seamless. A good reminder: If humans struggle to use your website, AI platforms may also have more difficulty interpreting and referencing your content. 

While AEO may be new to some, it’s only going to evolve and become even more important. According to a McKinsey AI Discovery Survey, 50% of consumers already use AI-powered search, and a whopping $750 billion of consumer spending will come from AI-powered search by 2028. 

As a communications service provider, shifting your focus from measuring only Google rankings, web traffic and keyword positions alone to those things plus customer understanding, qualified leads, brand visibility, local credibility, and trust will give you a competitive advantage. 

Want to dive a little deeper? Listen to Episode 379 on “StoryConnect,” a Pioneer podcast.