---
id: "quote-aao-vs-seo"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ AI Agent Optimization (AAO) vs. Search-Engine Optimization (SEO)"]
tags: ["marketing-evolution", "aao"]
related: ["concept-ai-agent-optimization-aao", "prereq-seo-and-sem"]
speaker: "Jur Gaarlandt, Wesley Korver, Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov"
speakers: ["Jur Gaarlandt", "Wesley Korver", "Nathan Furr", "Andrew Shipilov"]
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-cl-92-ai-agents-changing-shopping"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/02/ai-agents-are-changing-how-people-shop-heres-what-that-means-for-brands"
sourceTitle: "AI Agents Are Changing How People Shop. Here’s What That Means for Brands."
---
# AAO as the New SEO

> "Just as SEO helps retailers stand out in an e-commerce world, so too will AAO likely become an important future discipline."

— Jur Gaarlandt, Wesley Korver, Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov

The explicit analogy anchoring [[concept-ai-agent-optimization-aao]] to its predecessor (see [[prereq-seo-and-sem]]). Note the hedge — "**likely** become an important future discipline" — which signals the authors' own framing of AAO as an emerging prediction, not an established fact.

**Enrichment note:** Independent industry sources now explicitly discuss AAO/AAIO as "the next evolution of SEO," though most position it as a **layer on top of SEO** (SEO + AEO/GEO + AAO/AAIO combined) rather than a replacement.