The Future of Search Is Here. Is Your Education Business Ready for AEO?

In the ever-evolving world of search, we’ve officially crossed a threshold. Where once SEO ruled the game, a new player has emerged: AEO, or answer engine optimization.

That means tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini are now answering your audience’s questions directly, skipping traditional search engines and serving up specific product and service recommendations from the data they’ve ingested across the web.

If you’re in the education space, selling curriculum, edtech tools, tutoring platforms, professional development, or learning services, your next best lead might not come from Google; it could come from ChatGPT.

So here’s the big question: When a principal asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best reading intervention program for K–5?,” will it recommend your company or a competitor?

Let’s break down how you can get AI to put you at the top of its list.

What Is AEO, and Why Should Education Businesses Care?

AEO (answer engine optimization) is the process of shaping your brand presence to show up in AI-generated answers. It’s like SEO, but for the way people are increasingly searching today, using tools like ChatGPT instead of scrolling through a list of links on Google or Bing.

Why it matters for education:

• Educators are short on time. They want answers, not options.
• AI assistants are replacing search bars. More school leaders, teachers, and parents are asking ChatGPT what to buy, how to solve problems, or which tools to use.
• AI assistants don’t just rank links, they cite structured, helpful answers. If your brand isn’t feeding AI  that, you’re invisible.

The AEO Blueprint (Specifically for Education Brands)

Let’s walk through a clear, actionable playbook to start optimizing your brand for AEO, with examples tailored to education.

1. Know What People Are Asking

Start by identifying the real questions educators are typing into ChatGPT or Perplexity.

Use:

→ Search and paid ad data from Google, LinkedIn, email metrics, etc.

→ Tools like ChatGPT itself can turn keywords into questions.

Examples for education brands:

• “What’s the best LMS for K–12 schools?”

• “How do I teach SEL to middle schoolers?”

• “Best online math tutoring programs for 5th grade”

Pro tip: Create a big spreadsheet of these. These are your AEO goldmine.

2. Create Landing Pages That Answer (Not Just Sell)

AI tools love structured, helpful content. Build landing pages that clearly and completely answer those questions. Include follow-ups, FAQs, and schema markup (FAQPage, HowTo, Product, etc.)

Example: Instead of “Our Reading App” → create a page titled:

“How to Help Struggling 2nd Graders with Reading: A Guide for Educators”

Then explain the problem, give strategies, and position your product as the solution.

3. Get Mentioned Beyond Your Site

AI doesn’t just read your site, it pulls from citations across the web.

For education, this might include:

• EdSurge, EdWeek, or SmartBrief articles or niche education blogs
• Reddit threads (e.g., r/Teachers, r/education)
• YouTube tutorials or teacher review videos
• Quora answers from real educators or researchers
• LinkedIn posts from district leaders

Pro Tip: Have someone on your team actively answer questions on Reddit or Quora with value-first, product-second responses. Be human, be helpful. (Don’t be spammy or you’ll get kicked out!)

4. Create Video Content for the Long Tail

Don’t worry about going viral. Worry about being found.

Make short videos for unsexy, specific queries:

• “Best tools for managing IEP data”
• “How to onboard new teachers with PD tools”
• “Lesson plan creators for 3rd grade ELA”

Upload to YouTube or Vimeo with clear titles and timestamps. AI tools are scraping these sources more than ever.

5. Test and Track Like a Scientist

AEO is not set-it-and-forget-it. It’s an experiment.

Try this:

• Choose 200 questions your audience might ask AI.
• Pick 100 to optimize for (landing pages, Reddit comments, videos).
• Leave the other 100 untouched.
• Track which ones start to surface your brand when asked on ChatGPT or Perplexity.

Tools:

• ChatGPT Pro / Perplexity Pro → to test queries weekly
• Basic keyword or answer trackers and rankers (you don’t need pricey ones)
• Notion or Airtable → to organize questions, citations, and tracking

Where Should Education Companies Invest Now?

If you’re a small-to-mid-sized education brand, here’s where to focus your time and money:

Strategic Priority: Focus on the Questions You Can Own

You don’t need to rank for “best edtech tool.” You need to own:

• “How can I support students with dyslexia in 3rd grade?”
• “What’s a fun way to teach financial literacy in high school?”
• “Is there a tool that helps track IEP goals more easily?”

These are the questions that real teachers, admins, and decision makers are asking. And they’re asking them in AI tools, not just Google.

Create content that answers, not content that sells. That’s how you win in AEO.

What About SEO? Is It Dead?

No. Google still matters. But AEO is rising fast, and it’s not a replacement; it’s an extension. SEO and AEO feed off the same inputs: content, context, citations. But they behave differently.

• Think of SEO as your storefront on Main Street.
• Think of AEO as your product on the shelf inside every AI assistant.

AI Isn’t Replacing Humans, It’s Replacing Links

Educators are asking AI for recommendations, strategies, and tools, not just definitions.

If your brand wants to show up, you need to show up with helpful, structured, real content, everywhere educators look (and now, ask). This is a huge opportunity, especially for small education businesses with deep expertise and clear impact. The big players can’t answer every niche question. You can. The future of marketing in education isn’t just about being loud. It’s about being useful, visible, and cited; by the tools educators trust.

Let’s make sure when someone asks, “What’s the best tool for helping teachers save time?” The answer is you.

This blog is inspired by and cited from: Lenny’s Podcast: “The Ultimate Guide to AEO: How to get ChatGPT to recommend your product” (ft. Ethan Smith, Graphite)