AI Search Revolution

Recently, two leading experts in the SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) space—Kasim Aslam and Aleyda Solis—published research that’s turning heads.

Their findings? The lines between Google’s hard-earned web index and AI-powered answers are much blurrier than you’d think.

When you ask ChatGPT a question, there’s a 40–70% chance its answer will closely match what you’d find at the top of Google’s search results.

Tools like Perplexity are even more reliant on Google’s groundwork. 

Meanwhile, Google’s own Gemini AI overlaps with its classic search results only about 25% of the time.

It all comes down to how these systems gather information:

• Google Gemini: Crawls the web directly, finding fresh content on its own.
• ChatGPT & Others: Frequently depend on Google’s search snippets and summaries, rather than crawling the open web themselves.

Aleyda Solis ran a simple but brilliant test: She published a new webpage, submitted it nowhere, and waited.

• Gemini surfaced the page immediately via direct crawl.

ChatGPT? It only found the page after Google indexed it—and then reproduced Google’s snippet nearly word-for-word.

This isn’t just a technical shift—it’s a total transformation in how people search, and how businesses need to show up online.

• Old SEO: Compete for one of ten blue links on page one.
• New AEO: Become the single, definitive answer an AI delivers to users. There’s no runner-up.

Already, nearly 60% of searches end without a click, because users get what they need from AI summaries or featured snippets.

This isn’t a future trend—it’s happening right now.

The new AI-powered landscape doesn’t reward the biggest brands by default. Instead, we’re seeing wins for:

• Local businesses
• E-commerce shops
• Healthcare providers
• Educational resources
• Travel guides
• Individual experts with authority and clarity

Why? Because AI cares about merit, structure, and value—not just old-school backlink games.

To succeed in this new era, business owners and marketers must rethink their entire approach:

• Embrace schema markup: Make your content machine-readable from the ground up.
• Build brand mentions: Entities and reputation signals are the new backlinks for AI.

Prioritise clarity and structure: Clear, authoritative answers beat keyword stuffing every time.

Here’s the twist: Google has spent decades building the web’s best search infrastructure.

Now, AI tools like ChatGPT are standing on Google’s shoulders, using its results as raw material for their own answers.

Google, meanwhile, is fighting back—combining its search engine dominance and direct crawling AI like Gemini.

That’s a formidable (and ironic) position.

If you’re still optimising for page-one rankings, you’re playing yesterday’s game. The real opportunity? Become the answer—not just another link.

• Structure your content for clarity and authority.
• Use schema markup the right way.
• Build your brand’s presence and mentions.
• Focus on being the solution to your audience’s questions.

The search revolution isn’t coming. It’s already here.

Will you be the answer, or just another forgotten link?

Ready to ignite your brand’s presence in the new world of AI-powered search?

Contact Ignyt today.