Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): How to Boost Your AI Search Visibility | Ep. 21

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The search landscape is undergoing a massive shift. While most businesses still focus on traditional Google rankings, your next customer is likely asking ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude who to trust. This new era of AI search demands a proactive approach to AI-driven reputation marketing to ensure your business is the one being recommended.

In this episode of Return on Reputation, I’m joined by Tim Harvey, founder of FlyDragon. We dive into the world of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and how businesses can strengthen their "digital entity" to secure AI recommendations. If you aren't visible to AI, you're invisible to the future of discovery.

Tim spent seven years helping top-producing real estate agents win online through websites, Google, PPC, Google Business Profile, Facebook Ads, and reviews. Then he noticed something that changed the whole playbook.

AI tools were no longer just sending people back to Google.

They were recommending actual names.

We talk about what happens when ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews become part of how people choose a real estate agent, advisor, contractor, agency, or software company.

Tim explains why AI should be treated as a marketing channel now, not later, and why FlyDragon’s research found that 91% of real estate agents are invisible to AI Search.

We also get into your “digital entity,” the public footprint AI uses to understand who you are, what you do, who you help, and whether you’re credible.

Your website matters. But so do reviews, listicles, directories, press releases, podcasts, Reddit threads, YouTube, LinkedIn, and third-party mentions.

Because AI looks for corroboration. It wants to see if the story you tell about yourself shows up anywhere else.

And if it doesn’t, there’s a good chance it recommends someone else.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why AI Search is becoming a real marketing channel
• How ChatGPT is changing customer research
• What it means to be invisible to AI Search
• Why 91% of real estate agents are not showing up in AI answers
• How AI decides which businesses to trust
• Why reviews, listicles, press releases, and Reddit matter
• How to audit your AI presence like a customer would
• Why reputation is becoming machine-readable

Keywords: Tim Harvey, FlyDragon, Return on Reputation, AI Search, AI visibility, Answer Engine Optimization, AEO, GEO, AI SEO, ChatGPT recommendations, Google AI Overviews, real estate marketing, digital reputation, reputation marketing, SEO, local SEO, AI marketing, founder visibility, listicles, reviews, press releases, digital entity, AI referrals

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introductions

00:31 From Curator to FlyDragon

02:25 AI Visibility Explained

04:58 Why People Trust AI

10:05 The 91 Percent Invisible Stat

12:34 AI Search Traffic and Overviews

16:21 Digital Entity and Data Sources

18:44 Auditing Your AI Presence

23:27 How AI Chooses Who to Trust

25:35 Listicles and Omnipresence

26:52 Diversify Reviews Everywhere

27:57 Top AI Visibility Factors

28:47 Reverse Engineer Citations

30:08 Pages vs Blogs Strategy

31:58 Audit Profiles Like SEO

33:38 Zero Click Leads Explained

35:33 Websites For AI Eyeballs

38:52 Press Releases Pay To Play

41:12 Flexible Playbook Reddit Seeding

43:34 Ethics And Gaming The System

45:06 Rapid Fire And Wrap Up