SEO and AI SEO Venn Diagram: Understanding the Overlaps and New Opportunities

The Venn Diagram Between SEO and AI SEO

If you visualised SEO and AI SEO as a Venn diagram, their overlap would show shared foundations: content quality, authority, and technical structure, but their outer circles reveal distinct goals and methods.

How the Landscape Has Shifted: From Search to Answers

Ten years ago, being “on page one of Google” was the pinnacle of visibility. But today, users are skipping the search results altogether and asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini for instant recommendations.
According to Similarweb, Perplexity’s monthly traffic surged past 100 million visits, while OpenAI’s ChatGPT continues to dominate conversational search. This shift means that visibility is no longer just about ranking: it’s about being referenced.

When users ask “What’s the best AI SEO agency?”, they don’t scroll. They trust the answer they get instantly. If your brand isn’t part of that AI-generated summary, you’re invisible, even if you still rank on Google.

That’s where AI SEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), comes in. It’s about adapting SEO fundamentals to how large language models (LLMs) find, understand, and cite information.

The Overlaps: Where SEO Still Matters

Despite the shift, SEO remains essential. In fact, the foundations of SEO feed AI SEO.

Both disciplines rely on:

• High-quality, trustworthy content

• Clear website architecture for machine readability

• Strong E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

• Schema markup and structured data that help machines interpret meaning

• Backlinks and brand mentions that validate credibility

According to Google’s Search Central documentation, AI Overviews are powered by the same signals that traditional SEO optimises for, but enhanced with context and entity understanding. In other words, your SEO work still matters, but AI SEO extends it into new territory.

Where AI SEO Diverges

Here’s where AI SEO creates an entirely new discipline.

1. From Keywords to Entities

In SEO, we target keywords. In AI SEO, we target entities: the distinct concepts and brand relationships LLMs understand.
For instance, when ChatGPT recognises “IndexLab” as an entity linked to AI SEO optimisation, it’s more likely to cite us when a user asks, “Who helps businesses recover traffic lost to AI?”

According to Semrush’s 2025 research on entity SEO, entity-based content now correlates more strongly with AI-driven visibility than keyword density.

2. From Clicks to Citations

AI SEO success isn’t measured by impressions or clicks, it’s measured by mentions inside AI-generated answers.
This is what we call AI Visibility Optimisation: the process of monitoring, measuring, and improving how often AI models reference your brand.

Our own AI Visibility Audits at IndexLab help brands identify whether ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity are already mentioning them; and where opportunities exist to get cited more often.

3. From Manual to Machine-Assisted Optimisation

Traditional SEO can be manual: keyword spreadsheets, link outreach, content calendars.
AI SEO uses machine learning models to analyse visibility across multiple AI engines, spot citation gaps, and even simulate AI answers.

According to Ahrefs (2025), agencies leading in AI SEO combine human creativity with machine precision to predict where AI systems pull their sources from.

Case Study: How Flash Facial Recovered Its Visibility Through AI SEO

When Flash Facial, a skincare brand, noticed a sharp drop in website traffic despite steady Google rankings, they turned to us at IndexLab.

Our AI Visibility Audit revealed that although their products ranked well in search, they weren’t being mentioned in AI-generated skincare recommendations.
After implementing our AI SEO optimisation strategy, which included structured data enhancement, entity linking, and citation-building, Flash Facial saw their brand featured in AI chat responses about “best facial treatments” across multiple LLMs.

This real-world example highlights a key truth: visibility is shifting from SERPs to answers, and proactive brands can win early by optimising for it.

The AI SEO Pillars: What You Must Focus On

To succeed in AI-driven search, we’ve identified four key pillars of AI SEO every business should focus on:

1. AI Visibility Audit: Measure your brand’s visibility and citations across major AI models.

2. Content Entity Mapping: Ensure your brand, services, and products are understood as entities by AI.

3. Citation Building: Secure factual mentions in authoritative, structured sources AI trusts.

4. Answer Engine Optimisation: Optimise your content to appear in AI-generated summaries and conversational results.

Each of these pillars builds upon traditional SEO, but extends it into the AI discovery ecosystem.

Common Misconceptions About SEO vs AI SEO

It’s easy to think AI SEO replaces SEO. It doesn’t.
It evolves it. The best results come from integrating both.

Here are common misconceptions we often clarify with clients:

• “AI SEO is just content automation.”
  Not true. While AI can assist in data analysis, effective AI SEO requires human strategy and brand positioning.

• “AI will automatically cite my brand if I rank high.”
  Not necessarily. AI models don’t only pull from top-ranked pages; they pull from trusted, structured data sources.

• “Traditional SEO is dead.”
  Far from it. Traditional SEO provides the credibility signals AI needs to trust your brand.

As Search Engine Journal points out, AI SEO is not a replacement but a realignment. It transforms how SEO outcomes are measured.

Recovering Traffic Lost to AI: The New Playbook

If your organic traffic has dropped in the last year, you’re not alone.
According to BrightEdge’s 2024 AI Search Impact Report, 84% of marketers report losing organic clicks due to AI overviews and answer summaries.

But the good news: AI visibility can be regained.

We help brands recover traffic lost to AI by:

• Auditing AI answer visibility

• Identifying unlinked mentions

• Enhancing entity clarity

• Building factual authority sources

• Optimising structured data

Our process doesn’t just help you “rank”; it ensures your brand is trusted, referenced, and recommended by the next generation of search.

Why AI SEO Is a Competitive Advantage Now

We’re still in the early innings of Generative Engine Optimisation.
Brands that adapt now will secure a first-mover advantage: becoming the “default answers” LLMs cite across millions of conversations.

According to Gartner’s 2025 Digital Visibility Forecast, by 2026, over 70% of brand discovery will happen through AI-driven recommendations, not traditional search engines.

That means being invisible in AI models today could mean being irrelevant tomorrow.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the main difference between SEO and AI SEO?

Traditional SEO focuses on ranking web pages on Google to attract human clicks, while AI SEO (or Generative Engine Optimisation) focuses on helping your brand get cited and referenced by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. SEO targets search results; AI SEO targets AI answers.

2. Can I use both SEO and AI SEO together?

Yes, in fact, they work best together. SEO builds your foundation of trust, authority, and rankings, while AI SEO optimisation extends that visibility into AI-generated answers. The overlap between the two ensures your brand is seen by both humans and machines.

3. How can I recover traffic lost to AI search results?

You can recover lost traffic by running an AI Visibility Audit, optimising your content for entities and citations, and ensuring your brand is recognised as a credible source by AI models. At IndexLab, we help brands recover traffic lost to AI through structured data, citation building, and AI SEO strategies.

Conclusion: The Future Belongs to the Visible

In the SEO vs AI SEO venn diagram, SEO builds your foundation, AI SEO extends your reach.
Traditional SEO ensures people find you; AI SEO ensures AI finds you.

At IndexLab, we’re helping forward-thinking brands like Flash Facial future-proof their visibility, recover traffic lost to AI, and position themselves as the cited authority in their category.

If your traffic is dropping and you suspect AI is the reason, it’s time to adapt.

👉 Book your AI Visibility Audit with IndexLab today and make sure your brand isn’t invisible in the age of AI search.