AEO Services USA: Get Cited in AI Mode and ChatGPT

Reddit just lost a million Google visits a week. What happens to your New York business?

At the end of October, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said the company was losing more than one million Google search referrals per week in October, and blamed Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. His words were blunt: "AI Mode does not drive traffic. Not for us, and not to anybody as far as I know." Reuters reported that analysts link the drop directly to the growth of those AI features.

Reddit is a huge, well-known site with an army of loyal users. If AI answers are pulling that much traffic away from Reddit, a plumbing company in Queens, a dental practice in Chicago or a law firm in Houston should check whether the same thing is happening to them, just more quietly.

That is why AEO services in the USA have moved from a nice-to-have to a core part of search marketing: if your customers get their answer from an AI summary, you need to be the business that summary names and links to.

I'm Sylvester Joseph, founder of SylJo Tech and a PhD researcher in AI and Human-Computer Interaction. My research is about how people actually interact with AI systems, and my agency work is about getting businesses found in them. This guide combines both.

What changed in October, and what it means for US businesses

Three developments landed within the same fortnight.

1. Google rewired how AI answers show sources. On 15 October, Google announced changes to AI Mode and AI Overviews: "continued and substantial increases" to inline links, links shown higher in responses, a test of a dedicated section highlighting official sites for specific tasks, and wider news carousels. Google also said use of its Preferred Sources feature has grown more than 7x since the start of the year.

2. The traffic data kept getting worse for ordinary results. Ahrefs' updated study of 300,000 keywords found that the average position-one click-through rate for keywords showing an AI Overview fell from 0.073 in December 2023 to 0.016 in December 2025, which it calculates as a 58% reduction in clicks compared with what the trend would have predicted. A smaller study covered by Search Engine Roundtable this week put click-through from AI Overviews and AI Mode at about 0.9%.

3. Being the named answer pays far better than being a footnote. Figures compiled in Similarweb's October AI search update put the direct click-through rate for the number-one brand ChatGPT recommends at 10.3% to 14.6%, against about 2.3% for footnote citations, with Perplexity citations at 18% to 22%.

Put those together and the picture is clear. Google is adding more links inside AI answers, but those links go to a small number of sources. Ranking on page one is no longer the finish line; being cited inside the answer is.

For local businesses there is one more signal. Search Engine Roundtable reports that Google appears to be rolling out AI-powered messaging in Google Business Profile to more businesses. Your profile is becoming a conversation, not only a listing.

What AEO actually means (in plain English)

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the work of making your business the source that AI systems such as Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini choose to quote, recommend and link to. You will also see it called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). The labels matter less than the work.

Good SEO is still the foundation. AI systems pull from pages that are crawlable, fast and trusted. But AEO adds three layers on top:

Answerability: pages that answer specific questions directly, in the first 40 to 60 words, the way a customer would ask them.
Entity clarity: consistent, structured facts about who you are, where you operate and what you do, across your website, Google Business Profile and other listings.
Citability: original information worth quoting, such as your own prices, process, data or expert explanation, that a generic competitor page does not have.

From an HCI point of view, the shift is simple: people stopped scanning ten blue links and started reading one answer. Your job is to be inside that answer.

A seven-step AEO plan you can start this week

Step 1: Measure where you are (Monday)

Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode the ten questions your customers ask before they buy. "Best emergency plumber in Brooklyn open now." "How much does a crown cost in Chicago?" Note who gets named and linked. You can also run our free AI Visibility (AEO) Audit for a score and a five-category breakdown.

Step 2: Fix your Google Business Profile (Tuesday)

Complete every field, choose accurate categories, add services with descriptions, and respond to reviews. With AI messaging spreading to more profiles, make sure someone, or a well-configured assistant, answers.

Step 3: Write answer-first pages (Wednesday)

For each of your top questions, create or rewrite a page section that answers it in the first two sentences, then explains. Use real headings that match the question.

Step 4: Add structured data (Thursday)

Add LocalBusiness, Service and FAQPage schema so machines can read your facts without guessing. Make sure your name, address and phone are identical everywhere.

Step 5: Publish something only you can say (Friday)

Your own pricing ranges, a checklist from your technicians, a before-and-after from a real job. AI systems have plenty of generic content; they cite what is specific and verifiable.

Step 6: Earn mentions beyond your site

Local news, industry associations, community forums and review platforms. AI answers draw on what others say about you, not only what you say about yourself.

Step 7: Track AI referrals separately

Tagging and attribution from AI tools is messy; Search Engine Roundtable notes Google added and then stopped UTM parameters on Gemini's cited links within a month. Set up analytics to group referrals from AI assistants, watch branded search and call volume, and re-run your Step 1 questions monthly.

Quick reference: SEO vs AEO

Area	Classic SEO focus	AEO focus
Goal	Rank on page one	Be named and linked inside AI answers
Content	Long pages targeting keywords	Direct answers to real questions, then depth
Proof	Backlinks	Mentions, reviews, original facts, consistent entity data
Technical	Speed, crawlability	Same, plus schema and clean, quotable structure
Measurement	Rankings and clicks	Citations, AI referrals, branded search, calls

An illustrative example: a family HVAC company in Houston

This is a made-up scenario to show how the plan works. It is not a SylJo Tech client.

Picture a 12-truck HVAC company in Houston. It ranks well for "AC repair Houston" but its owner notices that calls from organic search have flattened, even though rankings have not moved. When he asks Google AI Mode "Who can fix my AC today in Katy?", the answer names two competitors and a directory site.

In the first week, the team runs the ten-question test and finds the company appears in only one answer. The Google Business Profile lists "HVAC contractor" but no individual services, and the website's service pages open with a paragraph about the company's history instead of answering anything.

Over the next month they rewrite the top eight service pages to answer first ("Yes, we offer same-day AC repair across Katy and west Houston; here is how it works"), add Service and FAQPage schema, publish a plain-language guide to typical repair costs using their own job data, and ask happy customers to mention the specific service and neighborhood in reviews.

The point of the example is the order of work: measure, fix the profile, answer first, structure, add original information, earn mentions, measure again. Results depend on the market and competition, and anyone who promises a specific number of AI citations by a specific date is guessing.

Cost, timeline and how to choose an AEO agency

Cost

AEO pricing in the US varies widely with the number of locations, pages and markets involved, so be cautious of flat promises. At SylJo Tech the first step is free: the AI Visibility (AEO) Audit gives you a live score and specific fixes. For ongoing work, the cost depends on scope, and we quote it after a free consultation.

Timeline

Profile and schema fixes can be done in days. Rewriting key pages typically takes a few weeks. Earning mentions and seeing AI answers shift takes longer, because AI systems refresh their sources on their own schedules. Plan in quarters, not weeks.

How to choose

Ask how they measure AI visibility. If the answer is only "rankings", they are selling SEO with a new label.
Ask to see the questions they will track. They should be your customers' questions, not vanity keywords.
Check that they write answer-first content and can show you an example.
Make sure they handle schema and Google Business Profile, not just blog posts.
Avoid guaranteed citations. No one controls what Google or OpenAI quote.

The right partner will tell you what they can control, what they can influence and what nobody can promise.

How SylJo Tech helps US businesses get cited by AI

SylJo Tech is an AI and digital agency founded in Lahore in 2023. I have worked in this field since 2020, and I am a PhD researcher in AI and HCI and a lecturer at Superior University and ITU Lahore. Our team of PhD researchers and developers has delivered 60+ projects, and we hold the PMINA Award for E-Ladeen. We work with US clients fully remotely, in English.

Our digital marketing service covers SEO, AEO and GEO together: answer-first content, structured data, Google Business Profile work and ongoing AI visibility tracking, alongside Meta and Google Ads when you need paid reach. We built our own AEO audit tool because we needed a consistent way to measure visibility before and after the work.

If you want the bigger picture first, read what the AI search boom means for US businesses, or see how this applies to healthcare in our guide to AI marketing for dental clinics.

Want to know if AI search recommends you or your competitors? Book a free consultation or take the free Digital Business Assessment.

FAQ

What are AEO services?

AEO services make your business the source that AI answers such as Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity quote and link to. The work covers answer-first content, structured data, entity consistency and AI visibility tracking.

Is SEO still worth it if AI Mode reduces clicks?

Yes. AI systems draw on pages that are crawlable and trusted, so SEO is the foundation. AEO adds the work needed to be cited inside the answer rather than listed below it.

How much do AEO services cost in the USA, and how long do they take?

Cost depends on locations, pages and competition. SylJo Tech starts with a free AEO audit and quotes ongoing work after a free consultation. Fixes take days; visible change in AI answers usually takes months.

Can an agency guarantee my business appears in ChatGPT or AI Overviews?

No. Google and OpenAI decide what they cite. A good agency improves the signals they use and measures the results honestly.

How do I check if AI search mentions my business?

Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask, and note who is named. You can also run SylJo Tech's free AI Visibility (AEO) Audit.

AEO Services USA: What Reddit's Lost Google Traffic Tells You.