As AI-powered search becomes a larger part of the buying journey, marketers are asking a new question:
How do we ensure our brand shows up in AI-generated answers?
HubSpot’s new Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) capabilities are giving marketing teams a new way to measure and improve that visibility.
We recently spoke with Cece Lee, VP of Marketing at SchoolMint, about how her team is approaching AEO, what they’ve learned so far, and where they see AI search heading next.
Why is AI visibility becoming a priority for marketers?
According to Lee, the way people discover companies is evolving rapidly. While prospective customers still use traditional search engines, they’re increasingly asking AI assistants for recommendations, comparisons, and explanations before ever visiting a website.
“As marketers, we have to think about whether our expertise is showing up in those conversations—not just whether we’re ranking on a search results page,” she says. “AI visibility has become another dimension of discoverability.”
Rather than replacing SEO, Lee believes AEO expands it. Success isn’t just about appearing in search results—it’s about becoming a trusted source that AI platforms recognize and reference when answering customer questions.
What interested you most about HubSpot’s new AEO capabilities?
For Lee, one of the biggest advantages is finally having visibility into something that previously felt difficult to measure.
“Before, we were unsure how visible we were from an AI perspective,” she explains. “HubSpot gives us a starting point to understand where we stand today, recommendations for improving, and how to optimize our visibility on specific prompts.”
By bringing AI visibility alongside website performance, CRM data, and content analytics, HubSpot gives marketing teams a more complete picture of how prospects are discovering their brand.
Has AEO changed how you think about content?
Interestingly, Lee doesn’t believe optimizing for answer engines requires marketers to reinvent their content strategy.
“We haven’t shifted to writing for AI,” she says. “We’ve doubled down on writing for our audience. The content that performs well with answer engines tends to be the same content that’s genuinely useful to prospective customers.”
That means continuing to focus on the fundamentals:
- Answer customer questions directly.
- Demonstrate genuine expertise.
- Publish original insights.
- Keep important content fresh.
- Make information easy to understand.
As Lee sees it, AI isn’t rewarding shortcuts. It’s rewarding marketers who consistently create clear, authoritative, and genuinely helpful content.
What content changes have had the biggest impact?
One practical shift has been paying closer attention to how information is structured.
“Instead of making readers hunt for the answer, we’re trying to lead with it,” Lee says. “We’re using headings that reflect the questions people actually ask and organizing content so the most important information is easy to find. We’ve also begun adding FAQ sections at the end of online blogs. That’s better for readers, and it also makes the content easier for AI systems to interpret.”
Many of these adjustments also improve the overall user experience:
- Question-based headings
- Clear summaries at the top of pages
- Conversational language
- Supporting FAQ sections
- Logical page organization
Ultimately, the goal is to make content easier for everyone—whether the audience is a prospective customer or an AI assistant.
How should marketers think about AI Share of Voice?
Lee sees AI Share of Voice as an important new signal rather than a replacement for existing marketing metrics.
“If competitors consistently appear in AI-generated answers and we don’t, that’s valuable information,” she says. “It helps us identify gaps in our content strategy and opportunities to strengthen our authority around specific topics.”
Like traditional search visibility, AI visibility offers marketers another way to evaluate how effectively they’re earning attention within their market.
What’s your advice for marketers just getting started with AEO?
Lee encourages marketers not to overthink the transition.
“It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the suggested prompts. Rather, start with the questions your customers ask every day,” she says. “Build the best answers you can. Make your expertise easy to find and easy to understand. AI isn’t rewarding tricks—it’s rewarding clarity, authority, and helpfulness. If you focus on those fundamentals, you’re already moving in the right direction.”
For organizations just beginning their AEO journey, that’s a reassuring message: the companies most likely to succeed won’t necessarily be the ones chasing every new AI trend—they’ll be the ones consistently creating content their customers genuinely value.
Final Thoughts
AI search is creating a new layer of discoverability, but the underlying principles remain remarkably familiar.
The brands that consistently publish clear, authoritative, customer-focused content are the brands most likely to be surfaced—whether the audience is a Google searcher, an AI assistant, or a prospective customer evaluating vendors.
As HubSpot continues expanding its Answer Engine Optimization capabilities, marketers now have an opportunity to measure and improve something that, until recently, was largely invisible.
That’s good news for organizations willing to invest in becoming the best answer—not just another search result.
