Lead Acquisition Design for the “Era of Being Chosen by Generative AI”
We analyze the “impact of generative AI on your digital marketing” and implement countermeasures.
By combining generative AI measures to be chosen by AI with multi-channel utilization, we help you increase leads.
Is your SEO-driven customer acquisition declining due to generative AI?
Since 2024, Google’s search results have started displaying “AI Overviews,” allowing users to see direct “answers” to their questions right on the results page. In addition, the number of people who have used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT has doubled between 2024 and 2025 (NRC). By 2026, traditional search engine usage is projected to decline by 25% (Gartner).
As more users are satisfied with answers provided by generative AI, the behavior of “searching on a search engine and then visiting websites to view information” has been decreasing. For companies, this means that the traditional method of “using SEO to increase traffic from search engines to their website” is becoming less effective.
The fact that more people are satisfied with generative AI’s answers also means that the content of those answers has a greater influence on users. If the information generated is inaccurate, there is a risk that customers will misunderstand your brand’s product category or positioning. Furthermore, if competing products are recommended instead, it creates the danger that your own products will be less likely to be chosen.
Challenges
- Decrease in traffic to your website from organic search due to the impact of generative AI
- Risk of brand misperception caused by inaccuracies in generative AI’s answers
- Risk of your products being less likely to be chosen when generative AI recommends competing products
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO) = “Making your brand more likely to be chosen by generative AI.”
What has been gaining attention is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO or LLMO, Large Language Model Optimization), which aims to make your brand more likely to be selected by generative AI.
Generative AI answers users’ questions by learning from data collected across the internet.
From a company’s perspective, if AI picks up your information during its learning process and includes it in its answers, your brand gains more opportunities to be seen by users—giving you an advantage. AEO is the set of measures to adjust the content and structure of your website so that generative AI is more likely to select your information.
To maximize marketing outcomes in the “generative AI era,” it is also important to review not only SEO initiatives but also the entire range of activities you have been conducting, such as public relations.
The Difference Between SEO and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)
SEO is a strategy to increase traffic to your website, while AEO is a strategy to ensure that generative AI includes and cites your information in its answers.
SEO
AEO
Overview
SEO is a set of measures designed to make it easier for users to reach the “information they are looking for.”
It optimizes website content and structure so that the most relevant information is picked up by search engines.
From a company’s perspective, the goal of SEO is to make it easier for search engines to surface your information, increase traffic to your website, and ultimately generate more leads.
Users are increasingly turning to generative AI, such as ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews, to find information.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO) aims to ensure that your company’s information is accurately cited by AI.
This involves measures such as improving content structure and credibility, technical optimization, and strengthening exposure across external channels.
Purpose
SEO aims to increase traffic to your company’s website by making it easier for users to find the information they seek.
AEO aims to influence purchasing decisions by ensuring your company’s information is correctly cited in generative AI answers that users read.
Measures
SEO focuses on keyword frequency and backlinks on your company’s website.
AEO optimizes your website’s content structure, credibility, and technical aspects, while also strengthening exposure through third-party sites.
Points to Note When Setting Objectives for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)
In short, the objective of AEO is “to ensure your company’s information is chosen by generative AI.” However, it is important to carefully identify your company’s specific challenges and take one step further in defining the objective. Two possible directions for setting objectives are as follows:
- Enhancing Marketing Effectiveness: If the core issue lies in the effectiveness of your marketing activities, it is important to revisit the original goals of those activities and consider “how to leverage AEO to achieve them.” For example, if your goal is “to increase the number of leads through digital marketing,” then you should explore how AEO can best support that outcome.
- Content-Specific AEO: If the fundamental issue is “how existing content is being surfaced and cited by generative AI,” then the objective should focus on ensuring that specific pieces of content are reflected in AI answers. If no major changes to the overall marketing strategy are needed, this content-level approach to AEO is often the more efficient path.
Who Should Consider Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)
AEO is particularly relevant for companies that meet the following conditions:
- They have traditionally focused their digital marketing on driving traffic to their website through SEO, but are now struggling to see further growth in SEO effectiveness.
- They want to increase their visibility in generative AI answers and improve brand recall.
KPI for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)
It is essential to measure the effectiveness of AEO quantitatively and continuously repeat implementation and improvement. Measurement is mainly conducted from the following four perspectives:
- Whether the AI recognizes your company as a “trusted source of information”
- The level of brand and product exposure within LLM-generated answers
- Whether new traffic is being generated through AI, not just via search engines
- Whether it is contributing to the creation of new business opportunities
CustomerOne’s Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO) Implementation
Overview of Our AEO Services
We support your AEO initiatives by dividing the process into two phases:
Two Phases
| 1. Spot Diagnostic Service | Based on an understanding of your customers’ current use of generative AI, we quantitatively analyze how your brand, products, and competitors are represented in AI-generated answers. We then identify the root causes of issues and develop a strategy. |
| 2. Planning & Implementation Service | Building on the analysis and strategy from the Spot Diagnostic Service, we design digital marketing initiatives and implement improvements such as website enhancements. |
AEO Spot Diagnostic Service
Current Situation Analysis & Strategy Development
The AEO Spot Diagnostic Service analyzes your current situation and challenges, then proposes a strategy.
Current Situation Analysis
| Understand your business context, including target customers, product features, and marketing structure |
| Analyze the current state of marketing, such as website traffic and lead numbers |
| Investigate how customers (general users) are using generative AI |
| Analyze how generative AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) present your products, and why |
| Assess the impact of AI-generated answers on lead generation and brand selection |
Strategy Development
| Content strategy: improving missing or excessive information |
| AI optimization measures: optimizing website content structure, credibility, and technical aspects |
| Exposure strategy: strengthening presence on third-party sites |
KPI
To assess the current status of brand recognition by AI, product exposure within AI-generated answers, AI-driven traffic, and contribution to business opportunities, we measure the following KPI items:
KPI
| Brand Recognition: | AI answer exposure & citation rate |
| Product Exposure: | Misinformation rate (error rate in product name, price, or differentiation points) |
| AI-Driven Traffic: | Website visits (via AI and via search) |
| Contribution to Business Opportunities: | Number of leads (via AI and via search) |
Deliverables
To help drive your company’s next actions, we provide the following three deliverables:
- Executive Summary
- Summarizes the current situation, identified challenges, root cause analysis (company & competitors), and proposed strategies/initiatives on a single page. Ideal for concise explanations to management.
- Issue & Root Cause Analysis Report
- Clarifies the current challenges and their underlying causes.
- Strategy Proposal Report
- To visualize how to address root causes and link them to outcomes, we organize causes and initiatives in a matrix format.
- We then create a strategy proposal that summarizes the core initiatives and their priorities.
Benefits of CustomerOne’s Answer Engine Optimization (AEO, LLMO)
With CustomerOne’s AEO service, we not only provide optimization for generative AI but also propose improvements to your overall digital marketing strategy, based on quantitative evaluation of your current situation.
- Through quantitative analysis such as adoption rates in AI answers, customer interviews, and competitor analysis, you gain an objective understanding of “how your company is represented in tools like ChatGPT” and the challenges involved.
- Beyond AEO measures, we design multi-channel information strategies (including social media), enabling you to acquire more leads than those lost due to reduced web traffic caused by generative AI.
- By reducing misinformation about your products in AI-generated answers, you can expect improved branding effectiveness and higher-quality inquiries.
CustomerOne’s Strengths
Our AEO service quantitatively evaluates your current situation and defines clear countermeasures.
- Deep customer understanding
- Focus not on “AEO as the goal” but on achieving lead generation
- Strategies designed not only to improve existing measures but also to build long-term, multi-channel approaches
Comparison of AEO Services
Comparison between general AEO services and CustomerOne’s service
General AEO Services
CustomerOne’s Service
Purpose
Primarily aim to improve declining SEO effectiveness by applying AEO to existing content.
Revisits marketing strategy itself, going back to the organizational and strategic level to redefine and strengthen the overall approach.
Scope
Some services focus on strategy and planning, while others emphasize implementation such as technical adjustments to websites or rewriting existing content.
CustomerOne emphasizes strategy and planning. Of course, we can also provide support for implementation.
Evaluation Items
Typically position AEO as a measure to complement or reinforce SEO, focusing on natural search audits and content evaluations of the company’s own website.
Goes beyond natural search and website evaluation to include a broad range of lead-generation initiatives, competitor activity, and coverage of your company’s information on third-party media. We conduct a comprehensive analysis of current status, issue identification, and root cause analysis.
Service Style & Duration
Usually offered either as long-term consulting engagements or fixed-term project-based services.
CustomerOne’s AEO Spot Diagnostic Service is a flexible program without the constraints of requiring ongoing consulting. It is ideal for companies that wish to take action in-house based on diagnostic results. At the same time, we can also provide continued support or implementation assistance if needed.
CustomerOne Service Flow
1
Current Situation Assessment
We conduct interviews and data analysis to understand your business context—target customers, product characteristics, marketing structure, and performance. We also interview customers to investigate how they use generative AI, including how they phrase their questions.
- Key Analysis Items
- Product value & strengths
- Competitor products
- Target personas & challenges
- Current marketing structure & activities
- Generative AI usage survey
2
Issue Identification
We examine actual responses from generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) and analyze how they influence lead generation and brand selection.
- Key Analysis Items
- Alignment between generative AI responses and your content
- AI answer exposure & citation rate
- Misinformation rate (errors in product name, price, differentiation points)
3
Root Cause Analysis (Company & Competitors)
We analyze the reasons behind your and competitors’ generative AI responses from perspectives such as content structure, credibility, and technical factors.
- Key Analysis Items
- Degree of alignment with questions
- Entity relationships
- Credibility & authority
- Technical factors
- Mentions in external media
4
Strategy & Initiative Proposal
Based on the root cause analysis, we propose strategies and initiatives for improvement.
- Key Consideration Areas
- Addressing missing, excessive, or irrelevant content
- Improving existing content
- Technical measures
- Third-party channel strategies
AEO Spot Diagnostic Service Pricing
- From ¥500,000
- includes 3 customer interviews
Consultation is free. Please feel free to contact us.