The AI Search Playbook:  How AI’s Changing the Way People Find Answers 

Have you heard of Generative Engine Optimization, better known as GEO? Now, before you cringe at another industry acronym, this one we’re going to make simple, and it could be a game changer for how you gain customers’ trust and loyalty. You may also have heard the term Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). While they sound similar, they target different ways AI serves up information. To simplify it: GEO refers to optimizing content so AI-powered search and generative platforms can discover, understand and use it in their responses. AEO focuses on creating content that clearly and directly answers users’ questions. Throughout this series, we’ll focus on AEO, but the beauty of these practices is that they will naturally support your GEO visibility, too.  

For decades, search engine optimization (SEO) ruled how businesses get noticed and how one can stand atop the Google search results. Well, things have changed, and there won’t be any going back. 

Where Do AI Search Answers Come From? 

While SEO isn’t dead, how people search has changed. Today, many people are asking questions directly in ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude and other AI assistants—or they’re receiving AI-generated answers at the top of Google search results. This begs the question, what are these AI platforms saying about you as a Communications Service Provider? If you don’t know, it’s OK, and there is no need to panic. You can influence how AI platforms better understand and reference your broadband services by publishing clear, authoritative, well-structured content that AI can easily interpret. 

Picture a customer or prospect opening up a favorite AI tool and asking, “What’s the best internet service provider in my area?” Instead of presenting only a list of links, AI assistants—and increasingly Google itself—often generate direct answers. 

“It’s looking for those verifiable sources, and then the AI model is surfacing them up when it generates the answer to your question,” Calix’s Success Engagement Manager Zack Kilgore said on the May 26 episode of “Buffering,” a Calix podcast. “This results in a zero-click reality. So, again you have AI engines that are designed to answer your question directly on the page results eliminates the necessity for you to click into a website.” 

How Can Communications Service Providers Position Themselves for Success? 

With a few simple tweaks in how you position your content, you can get noticed by AI platforms. While SEO’s goal is to rank businesses based on “fiber internet near me” or “fast internet in my area,” AEO helps your content become the kind of source AI can use when answering questions like: “Is fiber internet available at my address?” or “Why is fiber better for gaming?” 

According to Google Trends data, brainstorming queries in AI Mode have grown 30% faster than queries overall since launch, and searches starting with “where to,” “where should I,” and “ideas for” are growing. 

AI doesn’t simply pick a random website. It evaluates information from multiple trusted sources and is more likely to reference content that is clear, current, authoritative and easy to interpret. And this can be content from many sources, such as your website, social channels, reviews or other online platforms. 

Optimizing your blogs and web pages for AI is one of the best ways to increase the likelihood that platforms understand and reference your broadband company. Let’s say you’re on your page for residential internet. Instead of using only a generic page title like “Residential Internet,” consider using a more descriptive page title or headline such as “Fiber Internet Plans for [Your County]” that clearly identifies the service area and intent. 

What Does This Mean for Search Engines? 

While things are changing, it’s important to understand that search isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving. As more people turn to AI tools for answers, AEO is becoming just as important as traditional SEO. AI is changing how people discover information, but it hasn’t changed what people value most—trustworthy, helpful answers. Broadband providers already have a wealth of original, local knowledge that AI can’t find anywhere else. The opportunity isn’t to create entirely new content; it’s to present the content you already have in a way that’s clear, structured and easy for both people and AI to understand. 

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

Behavior signals help marketers identify subscriber actions that may indicate frustration, troubleshooting behavior, unmet needs, retention risk, or upgrade opportunities. By leveraging RG Reboots and Speed Test Activity as segmentation filters, marketers can create proactive retention, education, adoption, and growth campaigns based on real subscriber behavior.