SEO is changing. Maybe that's good
What you should know about SEO right now in 2025 (and what to do about it).
What used to be highly technical (still is): finding high-intent keywords, writing blog posts, earning backlinks, tweaking title tags – is shifting.
And honestly.... that's probably a good thing.
The truth is the entire "SEO game" became a way for rubbish to fill the internet.
- Marketers pushing "SEO-optimized" content not for value, but to rank.
- Businesses ranking for things they didn't deserve.
- AI tools churning more similar garbage.
- 10 ways to do X... 7 top computers for Y
Shit, even I used to do this.
It's also the very reason I stopped. I realized I wasn't putting something useful out there. I was trying to rank articles for my own benefit – to earn through affiliate marketing.
That made the internet a less useful.
But now, people are changing the way they search. Instead of search, they ask.
- Ask ChatGPT
- Ask Google AI (Gemini)
That shift, from searching to asking, created a new marketing discipline.
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
AEO is the practice of optimizing your brand to get cited by answer engines when people ask questions.
Answer engines (like ChatGPT) don't just look at meta descriptions & keywords but also how your brand is perceived across the internet. An then determine whether to recommend it.
They cross-reference everything: Reddit threads, YouTube comments, Instagram reels, Quora answers, interviews, podcasts... even mentions of your brand in creator videos.
Basically learning from the entire internet.
Most AEO practitioners notice this: Answer engines prioritize entities – the stories, attributes and associations your brand is known for.
Let's say you own a Malaysian snack brand. If enough people talk about your brand in the context of:
- Healthy Malaysian snacks
- Low-sugar alternatives
- Convenient office snacks
And those associations show up consistently on:
- Your website
- YouTube
- Blog listicles
- Brand interviews
- Local news features
Eventually, answer engines start picking up a pattern:
This brand seems to be the go-to entity for healthy Malaysian snacks.
So when someone asks:
"What are some healthy snacks from Malaysia?"
"What's a good low-sugar snack from a local brand?"
Your brand becomes the recommendation.
You didn't rank a page. You became the answer.
Does that call for a fairer experience online? Maybe. But people are already optimizing for answer engines by adding short answers to their content. So at this time, who knows?
Figure out Answer Engine Optimization on 27th Nov 2025
Underdog Con is powering Answer Engine 2025, an event by Zicy.com and Growth.Pro.
You'll get the strategies and case studies from AEO practitioners who do the very thing everyday at work. From branding, optimizing for AEO, to making viral posts – the speakers cover every aspect needed to make your brand be the one AI recommends.