Oscar Pais, CEO of Relo AI, explains why moving companies needs to master AEO (answer engine optimisation) - now.

For years, we’ve all played the same game. Get the website looking sharp, write a few blog posts, and work on our Google ranking. The goal was simple: when a potential customer typed “removals company in Leeds” or “best movers to Europe,” we wanted to be on that first page. This was Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), and it brought us the leads that keep our lorries on the road.  

But there’s a seismic shift happening, and if you’re not paying attention, you risk becoming invisible. I’m talking about Answer Engine Optimisation, or AEO. This is the new practice of getting your business recommended by AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Calude - and others.  

The impact on our industry has been significant. Organic traffic that traditionally came through Google SEO has dropped by 20 to 40% across sectors, including businesses that have dominated search rankings for years. The reason is straightforward: customer search behaviour has fundamentally changed.  Today, they're increasingly asking AI systems directly: "Which moving company should I choose for my  relocation to Dubai?" They receive immediate, comprehensive answers without clicking through multiple sites.

This creates what we AI “nerds” call a "binary outcome" problem for moving companies. Either your business appears in the AI's response, or you're invisible. There's no "page 2" fallback like traditional search results.   If ChatGPT recommends three local firms for an office relocation, those three companies get the visibility and the potential lead. Every other mover – regardless of their previous SEO success – receives zero mentions. 

The number of clicks to your website might go down, but the quality of those clicks will go up. When someone gets a direct answer from an AI and then clicks through to your site, it’s because they are highly interested and looking for specific details or a quote.  

How to optimise for AEO
The AEO discipline is still developing, but I've identified key strategies that work specifically for removal businesses ...

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