Key Takeaways
- Small visual changes can make a measurable difference in advertising response.
- Test one element at a time to identify what drives better results.
- The photo showing a man looking down with his eyes shut outperformed the alternative.
- Test B generated a 14.32% higher response than Test A.
- Make testing a regular part of your marketing strategy to improve leads and profits.
AI can boost your leads or sales dramatically.
As we enter the Christmas marketing season and prepare for the first quarter of 2027, are you ready for the new leads and customers that could come through answer engine optimization—(AEO)?
Right now, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Perplexity, and other AI tools are answering your prospects’ questions about products and services.
They’re helping people compare options. Narrow their choices. Decide whom to contact—and where to buy.
If your company is missing from those recommendations, you’re invisible in that buying conversation.
If the AI answer comparison gets your company wrong, you will lose the opportunity before anyone visits your website.
Here are 7 steps to consider—and an action plan to help you get found, communicate your advantages, and turn more prospects into customers thanks to AI answers.
1. Find out what AI says about you and whom it recommends.
Type your company’s name into several answer engines. Then type in your competitors’ names.
Do you appear? Is the information accurate? Does it explain why someone should choose you?
Then run the more revealing test.
Ask the questions a prospect would ask without mentioning your company.
Which businesses get recommended? What reasons does AI give?
Which websites does it cite?
If your competitors appear and you don’t, you have a gap to fix now.
Consider the size of the opportunity:
- 34% of U.S. consumers are very or extremely willing to use AI for Christmas gift recommendations.
- AI-referred traffic to U.S. websites is forecast to grow 130% this Christmas season.
- AI-referred visitors converted 31% better than non-AI traffic during the 2025 Christmas season. Adobe found they spent 45% more time on-site and viewed 13% more pages per visit.
- 44% trusted AI product recommendations more than recommendations from other sources.
Why can these visitors be valuable?
A prospect may have already explained a need, specified a budget, compared alternatives, and asked follow-up questions before clicking.
That can bring you someone further along in the buying process.
2. Review the whole landing page/website foundation.
AEO requires a comprehensive plan.
Your review should cover your content, comparison information, expertise, testimonials, business details, appropriate schema, and technical accessibility.
Schema is structured information that helps machines interpret a page. It must accurately reflect what visitors can see.
But adding schema alone does not make you the recommended choice.
It’s just one of the “rules.” (Note: Google AI doesn’t need it.)
Your action: Identify what is missing, inaccurate, inaccessible, or unsupported. Prioritize the pages closest to a buying decision.
3. Match your content to the questions your prospects actually ask.
Your website and landing pages should speak the language of the buyer.
Someone shopping for a gift might ask:
“What is a good espresso machine under $500 that is easy to clean?”
A business buyer might ask:
“Which inventory software works with Shopify and supports three warehouses?”
A prospect evaluating a service might ask:
“How much does outsourced bookkeeping cost for a company with 25 employees?”
Another might ask:
“How does Company A compare with Company B on price, support, and implementation time?”
Does your content answer those questions?
Or does it rely on vague promises about superior quality and excellent service?
Your action: Gather questions your prospects would ask. Answer them directly on the relevant pages, using clear explanations and specific details.
4. Give prospects a reason to choose you in the comparison.
Being mentioned is only part of the job.
You also need a persuasive answer to: “Why should I choose you?”
Make your unique selling proposition unmistakable.
Explain whom you serve best. What problem you solve. What makes your approach different. What the customer receives for the price.
Use fair, factual comparisons where they help a buyer decide. A comparison sheet is one thing I always create for clients.
Your action: Make your most important differences easy to find and support them with evidence.
5. Build authority with proof your prospects can check.
“Industry-leading” is a claim.
A documented result, a detailed customer experience, or a verifiable credential gives the prospect something to evaluate.
Review your:
● Customer testimonials and authentic reviews.
● Case studies with clear results and context.
● Author and company credentials.
● Product specifications and demonstrations.
● Independent coverage and relevant professional recognition.
Explain the benefit behind the evidence.
A credential matters because it helps establish expertise. A case study matters because it shows how you solved a problem.
Your action: Replace unsupported generalities with specific, verifiable proof. Keep that proof current and consistent across your website and business profiles.
6. Prepare your landing page to turn interest into action.
Getting recommended is valuable. Converting the visit is where the business result happens.
Suppose a prospect asks for a product under $200 that can arrive before Christmas.
Your page needs to make the price, availability, shipping terms, and ordering process clear.
If someone wants a service provider, make the service fit, process, proof, and next step equally clear.
This is where direct response copy matters.
Your headline must connect with the question that brought the prospect there. Your copy must explain the benefits, answer objections, establish credibility, and present a clear call to action. Are you following the direct response copy rules?
Your action: Review the complete journey—from the buyer’s question to the page, offer, and response.
7. Establish what works before committing to a monthly program.
Most marketers don’t have the expertise, time or team for AEO. But they need it now. We recommend hiring an AEO expert – but start with an audit and redo. Then test the results before you sign up for a monthly program.
You’ll track the new business outcomes you can identify:
● Qualified inquiries and sales opportunities.
● Orders and conversion rates.
● Revenue and acquisition costs.
● Lead quality and eventual closed sales.
Some AI-influenced customers will return through another channel.
Referral reports alone won’t capture the whole picture. But you’ll have good data to make a decision.
This is accountable, scientific marketing.
Define success. Make the improvements. Measure the response.
Expand what earns its place in your budget.
Action:
If you lack the time or expertise, get professional help now.
Whether you use my ad agency, Creative Direct Marketing Group, or someone else, act quickly.
Don’t try to do it alone if your team lacks the time or expertise to do it correctly.
Christmas buying decisions are underway. First-quarter plans are taking shape.
Here is how we are approaching this for clients.
First: A one-time fee to review and establish the foundation.
We assess how you, your company, and your competitors appear in AI answers.
We analyze your website and landing pages for content, technical issues, schema, authority, and the information prospects need to make a decision.
We identify the gaps, address the setup within the agreed scope, and provide the necessary content for the questions your prospects and customers are asking.
The purpose is to put the infrastructure in place—and establish a basis for measuring whether it works.
Second: Monthly monitoring and improvement after the foundation demonstrates results.
Once the infrastructure is in place and we have evidence the work is producing the agreed results, we can move into monthly monitoring, enhancement, and expansion for a reasonable monthly fee.
Pricing varies with the scope.
But my recommendation is simple: Don’t commit to an ongoing monthly program before you establish what is being done, how success will be measured, and whether the initial work is producing results.
Find out whether AI is helping prospects discover you—or sending them elsewhere.
Call Michael at 615-933-4647 or email [email protected].
Ask about CDMG’s one-time AEO review and setup.
We’ll explain how we can help you identify missing opportunities, communicate your competitive advantages, and build a measurable program for attracting leads and customers.
Your next prospect may already be asking AI whom to choose.
Make sure your company is ready to be considered.
About Craig Huey
Craig Huey is one of America’s leading direct response marketing and advertising experts. He is the founder and president of Creative Direct Marketing Group (CDMG), a direct response advertising and marketing agency specializing in direct mail, digital, and multichannel campaigns. CDMG has worked with hundreds of companies, helping them generate leads, sales, and measurable results through targeted, data-driven marketing. Craig is also the publisher of the Direct Marketing Update, a newsletter read by marketing professionals, business owners, and executives who want to stay ahead of the latest trends in direct response marketing.
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