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

Search Engine Land surveyed 343 U.S. marketing decision-makers and found that despite industry debate over terms like GEO and AEO, the vast majority of marketing teams haven't shifted their vocabulary—81% still describe AI search work as SEO internally, and only 27% have formally adopted alternative terminology. When evaluating vendors, 36% of marketers cited excessive buzzwords without clear explanation as their top red flag, while 42% said new acronyms only gain traction if heavily contextualized. Teams are already committing budget to AI search (averaging 24% of search or content spend), but the top challenge remains the speed of platform and capability changes rather than measurement itself.