One of the favorite questions we hear from our clients is “Do you do SEO and AEO?”

The answer seems simple at first: “Yes, we sure do.” And you should, too. Search engine and answer engine optimization is a way of life for organizations that want to ensure their website content is reaching the right audiences who will take action—now or in the future.

But SEO/AEO doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Often, when a client asks if we “do SEO/AEO,” they’re really asking, “Can you get my pages to rank higher or get cited more frequently than my competitors’ content?”

The answer is yes…but.

There isn’t a button we can push to make your SEO/AEO dreams come true. Real solutions are long-term, and they hinge on the competitiveness of the search terms in question and your domain authority. Your content needs to answer your audience’s questions with relevant and timely information.

It’s a long game that you must play all the time—something clients may not fully absorb as they’re managing excited stakeholders who are clamoring to be found for obscure search queries or outdated keywords.

But it’s true, and when done right, SEO works. Your audience is more likely to trust the results that come from your hard SEO/AEO work than from paid advertisements. SEO/AEO done well results in more relevant engagement across platforms and more conversions over time.

Let’s talk through five pillars of SEO/AEO with some of Stamats’ industry experts. We’ll give you three actionable steps you can take today to improve your content visibility, get found in the ways your audience needs, and satisfy your stakeholders.

Answer Your Audience’s Questions

A decade ago, content optimization was a very different business. Marketers who’ve been around likely remember the days of keyword-focused SEO—the dark ages when top search rankings could be achieved by cramming in as many keywords as the text could bear. This was a formula for a frustrated audience.

Today, search engines recognize and reward content that is written for people. The algorithm deprioritizes keyword-stuffed and AI-generated content. Since May 2024, Google has awarded top ranking to sites with content that answers users’ specific questions, and now those answers are cited across various channels such as YouTube, Reddit, Instagram, and Snapchat, along with the typical blue links and news aggregators.

Getting noticed still takes work, and becoming visible doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a long-term strategy and a solid understanding of your audience: what they are asking, where they’re asking, and what they want to accomplish next.

1. Create Hub-and-Spoke Content

Today, having quality content on the web is more closely related to having quality content in Time Magazine. High-quality content is original, answers readers’ questions with relevant context, and does so with authority, from either the author or the content itself. The search engine considers the audience’s question, the answer on the page, and the surrounding context when deciding which pages to rank first.

Good SEO/AEO is the sum of a whole lot of parts. Your website doesn’t necessarily rank in search results; your pages do. And they all work together. When your pages are all SEO- and AEO-focused, they can all rise in search ranking.

There are lots of reasons your pages might not be working together, with content spread out over a dozen or more places. Maybe internal politics rule the day, maybe stakeholders can’t get their priorities straight, or maybe you just haven’t done the strategy work. For SEO/AEO success, you’ll need to overcome these competing priorities to create a cohesive message, otherwise, it’s like diluting soup with water. Just because there’s more doesn’t mean it tastes good.

For some clients, the solution to content chaos is often a hub-and-spoke approach. With this method, a central “hub” story explores a broad question that’s important to your audience. Then, “spoke” pieces of content answer specific questions related to the hub topic, extending your brand authority through depth, breadth, and interlinking.

Ideally, these pieces are published at the same time to establish topical authority. Hub-and-spoke content maps your content to the audience’s thought process: Big questions, which are then refined to more niche questions. And you have all the answers.

The hub-and-spoke model helps your pages work together. Cumulatively, it can have a significant impact on how your content interfaces with the user experience which can result in enhanced SEO/AEO visibility when done right.

2. Interlink Strategically

Backlinks have always been important, but the real special sauce for optimization is interlinking. This is creating hyperlinks between pages and pieces of content on your site to help humans and search engines alike understand what content goes together. Internal links tell us how one piece of content supports another and can introduce and even answer questions before we know we have them.

Internal links are also a vote of confidence that says, “Now that you’ve read this, here’s something else to consider.” So, it’s critical to make internal links relevant. Just because a piece of content is popular (or you want it to be) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily applicable to your audience. For the best benefit of readers and SEO/AEO, ensure internal links are robust and relevant.

3. Optimize Content Regularly to Answer Users’ Questions

Search is changing all the time, as traditional search and LLM platforms bring innovations to market and user behaviors change in ways expected and surprising. For instance, search queries starting with “How do I…” increased 25% from 2024 to 2025. 

The trick is…you have to keep doing it. Google and audiences are still changing, and you risk being left behind if you don’t keep up. Ensuring your content answers relevant questions is a daily task. Audiences want the correct answer right away, and they don’t want to read your whole webpage to get it. If you’re providing relevant and accessible answers to those questions, congratulations. You’re doing SEO/AEO!

If you’re giving that answer, you’re doing SEO. If you’re not…To quote our Chief Digital Strategy Officer, Stu Eddins, “Take action or don’t take action. Either way, you’re doing SEO.” That’s because the decision not to continually improve content is directly impacting your rankings in search.

4. Create Variable Content

Often when a stakeholder says, “I’m not ranking,” the first thing we’ll do after assessing their content is to consider how to produce variable blog content that might rise to the top and be a tide that floats all boats. Blog articles tend to rise very quickly in search/answer results, thanks in part to their ability to feature fresh content users need now. Their content can be more specific than internal “evergreen” pages dedicated to products and services and can help your site establish all-important authority.

A blog story sometimes ranks right away for a specific topic, but a webpage covering the same ground might take weeks to months to show similar results. There could be several reasons why:

• The webpage doesn’t contain interlinks
• The blog is related to specific search terms and ongoing conversations
• New, newsworthy content often has additional relevance right now, so search engines sometimes prioritize blogs over evergreen content

Remember that blog content is variable. The same URL can be updated (provided you didn’t use a URL with a date) multiple times to give several angles on the story.

To keep content fresh and get a similar lift for more conventional pages, ensure you’re making regular updates to faculty, program, and condition/service pages to boost their SEO/AEO performance.

Related: Watch the webinar “Get Found in AI Search”

5. Apply Schema Markup

Martha van Berkel, CEO of Schema App, describes schema markup as “a vocabulary that translates the human web experience into a language that machines understand.” Also called structured data, schema markup uses a standard vocabulary called schema.org to describe content the relationships between content pieces to search engines and AI chatbots. Listen to our DISTOL podcast episode with Martha.

Providing “the machines” with this clear, standardized guidance gives Google and AI answer engines the confidence to recommend your brand’s content in its rich results and user query responses. There are several schema markup tools on the market, all of which can impact website visibility in different ways. Curious about your options? Contact us for a free consultation.

3 SEO/AEO Actions You Can Take Right Now

Consider this series of actionable steps you can take right now to improve SEO on your website.

1. Optimize Calls-to-Action and Interlinking

Links have long been an important factor in SEO/AEO, and getting links from popular sites can help your site establish authority. Buying backlinks is time-consuming and not relevant to modern optimization. Getting mentioned in earned media and other external sources is key. Get tips for winning earned media placements.

And one area that often gets overlooked: Interlinking your existing website content. Internal links help everyone who visits your site understand which content is related. They demonstrate that your content is supported by other information on your site, providing all-important context.

Ensure the internal links on your pages are relevant to the content and that page, and your rankings will benefit. Similarly, make your pages actionable for readers by including a relevant call-to-action that clearly directs them to the next steps. Giving the answer is good, but demonstrating next steps is great.

2. Talk With Your Audience in Their Language

Ensure content is usable for the people who find it, by writing at a reasonable (sixth grade) reading level. Often, this means simplifying content more than may be comfortable, especially if your site serves doctors, lawyers, or educators. Eddins noted that institutions sometimes focus on conveying their expertise more than communicating with the broadest audience.

“Don’t talk over the heads of people,” he explained. “Understand the people who are reading your content are more likely to be standing in line at Starbucks waiting for coffee than having an introspective moment sitting at their desk.”

Creating content that audiences can use and search engines love usually means making sure it can be digested by the largest number of people. Don’t dumb it down. Instead, hold the audience’s attention and help them understand you have the answers to their questions.

3. Have a Purpose and a Plan

Keywords are no longer the end-all, be-all of SEO. Yes, it’s important that your page contains the search terms people use, and it can be helpful to organize your content according to these terms. But stuff the keyword-stuffing. It doesn’t work.

Instead, think of keywords in terms of search questions. This is the information your audience needs. When your content answers these questions, your pages rise in the rankings. When a competitor answers those questions, their pages do instead.

Do we do SEO/AEO? You bet we do. Do you?

Search engine optimization is an ongoing effort to match your website’s content to what your audience is searching for. When you answer relevant questions, tell compelling stories, and provide helpful context, Google and other search engines will notice.

Are you ready to rev up your SEO/AEO? Stamats experts are here to help. Reach out today.