Most Marketers Still Call AI Search Optimization 'SEO'—and Case Studies Trump Acronyms

Search Engine Land reports on Fractl research showing that despite industry debate over terms like GEO, AEO, and AI search optimization, the vast majority of marketing decision-makers (81%) continue to call the work SEO internally. The study found that marketers are already allocating 24% of their search and content budgets to AI search visibility, yet half haven't formally adopted new terminology, and 42% actively reject it. Most crucially, when evaluating vendors, 71% of decision-makers prioritize case studies, clear methodology, and demonstrated expertise—while terminology fluency ranks at just 9%, underscoring a significant gap between how the industry markets itself and what buyers actually value.