Answer Engine Optimization: Should You Worry?

ArjunWelcome to the Lead Experts Podcast. Episode 1: Answer Engine Optimization: Should You Worry? I'm Arjun, and I lead SEO and answer engine optimization at Lead Experts. We're covering what answer engine optimization actually is, whether AI search is killing SEO, why your website traffic can drop while your enquiries hold steady, and how to get your business cited in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews. My guest today is Harriet, who's the practice manager at a solicitors' firm in Leeds, in the UK, and has been in the business fifteen years. Harriet, welcome.

HarrietThanks, Arjun. I'll be honest, I've come with a slightly panicked question.

ArjunGood. Those are the best ones.

HarrietSo about a month ago our senior partner walks into my office holding a printout. Website traffic, down thirty-eight per cent on last year. And he says, "Harriet, is the website finished? Is AI just answering everything now?" And the same week, a new client sits down and says, "ChatGPT told me to ask you about fixed fees for probate." So the robots are clearly talking about us. I just don't know if that's good or bad.

ArjunThat's a very common month. Let's take the big question first.

HarrietGo on then. Is SEO dead?

ArjunNo. SEO isn't dead because of AI. What's changed is where some of the answers appear. Google now answers a lot of simple questions at the top of the page, but the searches where someone is ready to hire, buy or book still send people to websites. For most businesses, that's where the enquiries have always come from.

HarrietThat sounds a bit like what an SEO person would say.

ArjunFair. So let me give you our numbers instead of my opinion. Across the accounts we manage at Lead Experts, somewhere between sixty and eighty per cent of website traffic and leads, and often more, still come from Google. What AI Overviews have taken is mostly the informational traffic. The "what does this mean" and "how does this work" searches.

HarrietNot the "I need a solicitor" searches.

ArjunExactly. And this is the myth I'd most like to kill. The myth is that AI search is replacing Google, so SEO is a waste of money now. The reality is that Google still sends the overwhelming majority of search referrals to websites, and the part AI took was never the part that paid the bills.

HarrietOkay. Before we go further, can you give me the plain English version? What is answer engine optimization?

ArjunAnswer engine optimization, or AEO, is the work of making your business the source that AI tools quote when they answer a question. That means ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. Instead of only ranking a page, you're making your information clear, consistent and trustworthy enough for an AI to lift it into its answer.

HarrietSo it's SEO for robots.

ArjunIt's SEO with a second reader. The first reader is still a human. The second one is a machine that summarises you. And the good news is that they mostly want the same things.

HarrietRight. Then explain my printout. Why has our website traffic dropped when enquiries haven't?

ArjunWhen traffic falls but enquiries stay steady, you've usually lost visitors who were never going to contact you. They wanted a quick answer, and Google now gives it to them on the results page. The visitors who want to hire someone still click through, because an AI summary can't take instructions on a house sale.

HarrietI'd love to believe that, but my partner wants it on paper.

ArjunThen let's do it on paper, with round numbers. Say your site used to get one thousand visits a month. Four hundred of those were people reading your guide on how long probate takes. Six hundred were searching things like "probate solicitors Leeds" or "fixed fee conveyancing."

HarrietPlausible. Our probate guide is very popular.

ArjunNow, how many of those four hundred readers ever called you? Guides like that might convert one or two in every thousand readers. So maybe one enquiry a month, on a good month. The six hundred commercial visitors might convert at five per cent. That's thirty enquiries.

HarrietGo on.

ArjunAI Overviews now answer the probate question on Google itself, so you lose, say, three hundred and fifty of those guide readers. Your traffic drops by thirty-five per cent. Your partner panics. But your enquiries go from about thirty-one to about thirty. And if an average instruction is worth, let's say, two thousand pounds, you've lost perhaps one enquiry's worth of revenue. Not the practice.

HarrietSo the thirty-eight per cent is mostly people who wanted a free answer.

ArjunMost likely. The number to put in front of him is enquiries, month by month, next to traffic. That's the chart that tells the real story.

HarrietOkay, but which kind of searches are AI Overviews actually taking? Is there any proper evidence, or is this all agency gut feel?

ArjunThere is evidence. AI Overviews mainly take clicks from informational searches: definitions, how-to questions, quick facts. Pew Research looked at the real browsing of US adults in 2025. When an AI summary appeared, people clicked a normal result in about eight per cent of visits, against fifteen per cent when there wasn't one.

HarrietThat's nearly half.

ArjunIt is, for those searches. And only about one per cent of visits clicked a link inside the summary itself. So for pure questions, the click really is disappearing. But those were mostly questions, not purchases. When someone searches "divorce solicitor near me," they get a map, reviews and websites, and they still choose a firm.

HarrietRight. So then what about ChatGPT? How much traffic do ChatGPT and Perplexity actually send to websites?

ArjunMuch less than people assume. AI assistants are growing fast, but industry measurements this year still put all of them together at around one per cent of referral traffic to websites, with Google sending the vast majority. They matter for being mentioned and recommended. They're not yet a big source of clicks.

HarrietSo when my new client said "ChatGPT told me to ask about fixed fees"—

ArjunThat's the real value. ChatGPT didn't send a click. It shaped the conversation before she ever walked in. That's influence, not traffic, and it's hard to measure. I'll come back to that.

HarrietGood, because I have a question on that. Is AEO different work from SEO, or is it the same thing with a new name?

ArjunAEO versus SEO is mostly the same foundation with a different finish. Both need a fast, crawlable site, pages that match what people search, and a business that others trust and mention. AEO adds a sharper focus on direct answers, consistent facts about your business everywhere online, and being cited by other sources.

HarrietSo if someone tries to sell me a separate AI SEO package...

ArjunAsk what they'll do that good SEO doesn't already do. If the answer is mostly new vocabulary, you've got your answer.

HarrietNoted. That's going straight to the partners' meeting.

ArjunAnd the honest bit: some of it is genuinely new. The way you write a page has changed. You put the answer first, then the detail.

HarrietShow me what you mean.

ArjunYour conveyancing page probably opens with "We are a friendly, experienced team."

HarrietOh, I've written that exact sentence.

ArjunMost firms have. An AI tool can't quote that, because it doesn't answer anything. Compare it with: "Our fixed fee for a standard freehold purchase in Leeds starts at a set price, and here's what it includes." That's a sentence an answer engine can lift. And in your case the SRA already requires solicitors to publish price information for conveyancing and probate, so you have the material. It's often just buried in a PDF.

HarrietIt is literally a PDF.

ArjunThen that's a quick win.

HarrietSo how do AI assistants decide which websites to cite? Why would ChatGPT pick us over the firm down the road?

ArjunHere's the honest answer first. Nobody outside those companies knows the exact logic, and anyone claiming they can guarantee a ChatGPT mention is overselling it. But the pattern we see is consistent. There are three things, in order.

HarrietGo.

ArjunOne. Rank well in normal search. Pages that already rank on Google are cited in AI answers far more often than pages that don't, because many of these tools search the web before they answer. Two. Be easy to quote. Clear questions as headings, direct answers straight underneath, real prices, real processes, real dates. Three. Be talked about elsewhere. Reviews, directory listings like the Law Society's Find a Solicitor, local news, client testimonials. When the same facts about you show up in many trusted places, an AI is more confident repeating them.

HarrietSo the firm down the road with four hundred Google reviews...

ArjunIs probably getting mentioned more than you, yes. Reviews help you with humans, with Google's local results and with AI answers at once. It's one of the best investments a local firm can make.

HarrietNow, someone emailed us about an "llms.txt" file and special schema for AI. Do I need an llms.txt file?

ArjunNo, not right now. An llms.txt file is a proposed way to point AI tools at your key pages, but none of the major search engines have said they use it for answers. It won't hurt, but it won't fix anything either. Spend the time on the page itself.

HarrietAnd the schema?

ArjunStructured data is useful for telling Google what your business is: your name, address, opening hours, what you do. Keep that tidy. But a hidden FAQ block of code won't get you cited if the page itself doesn't answer the question clearly. Write the answer on the page, where people and machines can both read it.

HarrietThat's the second time today someone's told me the page matters more than the plumbing.

ArjunBecause it's usually true.

HarrietFine. So if we start on this now, how long does answer engine optimization take to show results?

ArjunAnswer engine optimization usually takes about as long as SEO, because it sits on the same foundation. Rewriting a page so it answers questions clearly can show up in Google's AI Overviews within weeks, once the page is recrawled. Being mentioned more often by ChatGPT and other assistants takes months, because it depends on reviews and mentions building up.

HarrietMonths. My partner will want it by Friday.

ArjunThen give him a date instead of a feeling. Judge the page changes after six to eight weeks. Judge the reviews and mentions after six months. Anything sooner is noise.

HarrietAnd what if we only have a small budget? We're not a national firm.

ArjunThen answer engine optimization on a small budget comes down to your top five questions. List the five things clients ask on every first call, answer each one properly on your site, and keep your Google Business Profile accurate. That's most of the value, and it costs time more than money.

HarrietOur five questions are basically "how much," "how long," "what do I need," "can I do it online," and "is it fixed."

ArjunThen you've just written your content plan.

HarrietRight, measurement. How do I track traffic from ChatGPT and AI Overviews? My partner will ask.

ArjunYou can track some of it, not all of it. In GA4, visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini usually appear as referral traffic from their websites, so you can see those sessions and whether they enquire. Google's AI Overview clicks are counted inside your normal Search Console numbers, and you can't separate them out yet.

HarrietSo there's a blind spot.

ArjunA big one. The influence part, like your client quoting ChatGPT, doesn't show up anywhere. So add one question to your enquiry form or your intake call: "Where did you first hear about us?" Include "an AI tool like ChatGPT" as an option. It's old-fashioned, but it's the most honest AI attribution you'll get.

HarrietWe already ask that on the phone. We just don't write it down.

ArjunWrite it down. After three months it becomes data.

HarrietOkay. The big one, then. Should small businesses be worried about AI search? Should I be frightened?

ArjunWorried enough to adapt, not frightened. Small businesses should expect less informational traffic, but the people ready to buy or hire are still searching and clicking. The businesses that lose out are the ones that don't answer questions clearly, don't collect reviews, and judge their marketing on traffic alone.

HarrietThat's a relief, honestly.

ArjunAnd there's an upside. AI tools don't care how big your firm is. They care whether your answer is clear and whether others vouch for you. A fifteen-person firm in Leeds can be the clearest source on fixed fee probate in Yorkshire. That's a fairer fight than bidding against national firms for ads.

HarrietOkay, I like that. So what's the one sentence I take back to the senior partner?

ArjunTell him this: AI took the questions people used to Google out of curiosity. It hasn't taken the questions people ask with their wallet open.

HarrietHe'll steal that for the next partners' meeting.

ArjunHe's welcome to it.

HarrietAnd practically, what should I do this week? Something that doesn't need a budget meeting.

ArjunThree things, all under an hour each. First, pull a chart of enquiries next to website traffic for the last twelve months, so you're judging the right number. Second, take your most important service page, conveyancing for you, and rewrite the first two sentences so they directly answer what it costs and what's included. Third, ask five happy clients from this month to leave a Google review.

HarrietAnd ask everyone where they heard about us.

ArjunAnd write it down.

HarrietAnd write it down. Arjun, thank you. I came in panicking and I'm leaving with a to-do list, which is much better.

ArjunThat's the goal. Thanks, Harriet. And that was Episode 1 of the Lead Experts Podcast. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.