<!-- LLM_VERSION_INFO
FORMAT: text/markdown
CONTENT_TYPE: article
ORIGINAL_URL: https://scrunchai.com/guides/ai-search-guide
ALTERNATE_VERSION: guides/ai-search-guide/index.html (text/html)
EXTRACTION_DATE: 2026-04-18T23:34:57.825Z

This is the markdown version with text-only content (images converted to alt-text).
For rich formatting with images, request the HTML version at: guides/ai-search-guide/index.html
-->

# AI search ⛺ guide 🎒✈️

# The no-fluff guide to AI search

(aka AEO, GEO, or whatever acronym wins)

[By Kevin White](https://scrunch.com/blog/author/kevin-white)  
Last updated 04.08.2026

> “Just read through a bunch of ‘ultimate’ guides to AEO. It’s clear there’s no real expertise. It feels like most were either a) AI slop or b) follow SEO skyscraper method without actually adding any tangible value. Amirite? Does any one have a guide that actually is helpful?”  
> [⊹ Reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Agentic_SEO/comments/1nz8o4c/all_the_aeo_guides_suck/)

## Introduction  
There are a lot of “ultimate guides to AEO” on the internet. Ditto for "ultimate guides to GEO.”  
(The market’s yet to land on a preferred acronym for AI search optimization).  
Most of them are fluffy. Less about guiding you and more about (ironically) ranking on page 1 in Google search.  
In other words: [the exact type of content](https://youtu.be/VEC7k6Eps1A) that’s pushing people to AI search in the first place.

This isn’t that.  
We’re not here to game search engine results pages. We’re here to provide you with practical, actionable guidance to help you navigate the market shift to an AI-first customer journey.  
If you’re reading this, odds are you don't need to be convinced that AI search has become the next big channel for marketing and growth (and if you do need to be convinced, please see [here](https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/21/chatgpt-users-send-2-5-billion-prompts-a-day/) and [here](https://tomtunguz.com/search-patterns-2025/) and [here](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/)).  
More likely you’re looking for answers about what to do next—for yourself, for your boss (and your boss’s boss), or for your clients.  
So let’s get to it.

## Table of contents

[**Chapter 1**\  
**AEO/GEO core concepts  🗺️**(or what we mean by ‘AI-first customer journey’)](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts)  
[**Chapter 2**\  
**Monitoring  🔭**(or how you’re actually showing up across AI platforms)](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/monitoring)  
[**Chapter 3**\  
**Insights  👀**(or what your AI search footprint is telling you)](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/insights)

Coming Soon

### Chapter 4

#### Guide not published yet

Come back later

Up Next...

[**AEO/GEO core concepts 🗺️**](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts)

### Chapter 1

(or what we mean by ‘AI-first customer journey’)

- [AI search trends](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts#ai-search-trends)
- [What are the key differences between SEO vs. AEO/GEO?](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts#key-differences-between-SEO-vs-AEO-GEO)
- [The AI search maturity curve](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts#ai-search-maturity-curve)

[Let's get reading](https://scrunch.com/guides/ai-search-guide/aeo-geo-core-concepts)