Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO, is how you get your salon recommended by name when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews for the best stylist in your area. It matters because your potential clients are no longer scrolling through a list of ten blue links. They're asking AI for one answer, and if that answer isn't you, they'll never know you exist. This post covers what AEO actually is, how it's different from the SEO you already know, and what you need to do right now so AI starts sending clients your way instead of to the salon down the street.
I started paying attention to this shift about two years ago when I noticed something weird in the data for salons I work with. Website traffic was holding steady or even climbing, but the phone wasn't ringing more. Clicks were happening, but fewer of them were turning into booked appointments. Then I started asking around. Turns out, a lot of potential clients were getting their answer before they ever hit the website. Google's AI summary at the top of the page was telling them everything they needed to know, and it was recommending specific salons by name. The salons that showed up in those answers were booked. The ones that didn't were wondering where everybody went.
That's when I realized this wasn't a trend. It was a complete shift in how people find and choose a salon.
What Is AEO and Why Should You Care If You Already Do SEO?
Think of it this way. SEO is about getting your website to show up in a list of search results and hoping someone clicks your link. AEO is about becoming the salon that AI actually names when someone asks "where should I get balayage done near me?"
The difference matters because AI doesn't give people ten options. It gives them one or two. And the way it picks those one or two has almost nothing to do with the old keyword-stuffing playbook. AI is looking at your entire online presence, your website content, your reviews, local articles that mention you, your social media, and it's trying to figure out one thing: is this salon actually the real deal for what this person is asking about?
Here's the simplest way I explain it to my coaching clients. SEO asks "how do I rank number one for salons near me?" AEO asks "how do I become the answer when someone asks their phone where to get the best keratin treatment in my city?"
And no, this doesn't mean your SEO work was a waste. SEO is still the foundation. Your Google Business Profile, your reviews, your website structure, all of that still matters. AEO is what you build on top of that foundation to win in a world where AI is doing the recommending.
How Are Your Clients Actually Finding Salons Right Now?
The way people search is changing faster than most salon owners realize. Instead of typing "best salon Austin TX" into Google and browsing results, people are having full conversations with AI. They're saying things like "I need a salon that specializes in vivid color and is open late on Thursdays" or "where can I get a good blowout near downtown before my event Saturday?"
These AI tools pull information from everywhere. Your website, your reviews, local blog posts, directories, social media. Then they synthesize all of it and deliver a recommendation. Not a list. A recommendation. And the two biggest factors that determine whether your salon gets recommended are the quality of your website content and the specificity of your client reviews.
That's why a review that says "great experience, love my hair!" does almost nothing for you in the AI world. But a review that says "I came in for a full balayage with Sarah and she absolutely nailed the blend from my dark roots to a honey blonde, plus the salon was super clean and easy to find on Main Street" is gold. AI can read that review and connect your salon to a very specific service, stylist, and location. That's the kind of signal that gets you recommended.
This isn't something coming five years from now. It's happening today. Your clients are already using these tools. The question is whether your salon shows up when they do.
Why the Salons That Move First Will Win for Years
Here's what makes AEO different from every other marketing trend that's come and gone. With something like Instagram or TikTok, if you show up late, you can still catch up. You post more, you run some ads, you grind. AEO doesn't work like that.
Once AI decides that a particular salon is the authority for a specific service in a specific area, it becomes very hard to dislodge them. The AI models are forming their opinions right now based on what they're finding online today. If your competitor gets established as "the blonde specialist in Scottsdale" in the minds of these AI systems, you're going to be fighting uphill for a long time to take that position back.
That's why this feels urgent to me. I don't say that to be dramatic. I say it because I've watched this exact pattern play out with Google My Business years ago. The salon owners who optimized their profiles early dominated local search for years. The ones who waited spent way more time and money trying to catch up. This is the same thing, just bigger.
Why Getting Mentioned Matters More Than Getting Linked
For years, the SEO game was all about backlinks. Get other websites to link to yours, and Google would see you as more credible. That still helps, but in the AEO world, something else matters even more: contextual mentions.
A mention is when your salon's name comes up naturally on another website, in a review, in a local blog post, or in a "best of" list, connected to a specific service. AI reads those mentions and uses them to build its understanding of what you're known for and whether you're trustworthy.
Let me give you a real example. Say a local lifestyle blogger writes a post called "My Search for the Best Blonde Specialist in Miami" and talks about her experience at your salon. That one mention, where your salon name is connected to "blonde specialist" and "Miami" in a real piece of content, is worth more to AI than a dozen random directory listings. Because the mention has context. It has a story. It has a specific service tied to a specific experience at a specific place.
Your goal isn't just to get linked to anymore. It's to get talked about in the right places by the right people. That's what builds the kind of authority AI trusts. And when you combine that with strong website content and structure, you become very hard to compete with.
What Should You Actually Do Right Now?
I'm not going to bury this in theory. Here's where to start:
- Create dedicated pages for every major service you provide. Not one page that lists everything. Individual pages that go deep on each service. When AI is trying to figure out who's the authority on keratin treatments in your city, it needs to find a page on your site that's entirely about keratin treatments. What it is, who it's for, how you do it, what to expect, pricing guidance, before-and-afters. That's the kind of content AI can actually work with.
- Start asking your clients to write reviews that mention specific services, stylists, and details about their experience. You don't need to script it for them. Just ask them to share what they came in for and what they loved about the result. The more specific the reviews, the more useful they are for AI.
- Add FAQ sections to your key service pages and blog posts. AI loves pulling from well-structured question-and-answer content. Think about what your ideal client would actually ask and answer it clearly and directly on your site.
- Get your Google Business Profile dialed in if you haven't already. Complete every section, add photos regularly, respond to every review, and keep your services list updated. This is still the single most important local asset you have, and AI pulls from it heavily.
Frequently Asked Questions About AEO for Salons
Is SEO dead? Should I stop doing it?
No. SEO is not dead and you should not stop. Think of SEO as the foundation of a house. You need it. AEO is the next floor you build on top of it. A strong Google Business Profile, consistent directory listings, a technically sound website, all of that still matters. AEO just takes it further by making sure AI specifically recommends your salon instead of just listing it.
Can I do AEO myself or do I need to hire someone?
You can absolutely start yourself. Creating detailed service pages, encouraging specific client reviews, and adding FAQ sections to your site are things any salon owner can do this week. The more technical side, like implementing schema markup and building out a full content strategy that establishes you as the local authority, that's where having someone who specializes in this makes a real difference. Most generic marketing agencies haven't caught up to AEO yet.
How is this different from just writing a blog?
A blog is a great start, but AEO is more intentional about structure. It's not enough to just write about a topic. You need to structure that content so AI can easily pull a clear answer from it. That means using question-and-answer formats, organizing with clear headings, and making sure every piece of content demonstrates genuine expertise that AI can verify against your reviews, mentions, and overall online presence.
How long does it take to see results from AEO?
Honest answer: it's not overnight. AI models update and recrawl on their own timelines, and building real authority takes consistent effort over months. But the salon owners I work with who start implementing these changes typically begin seeing their salon mentioned in AI recommendations within three to six months. And once you're established as the authority, you tend to stay there. That's the whole point.
Ready to Be the Salon AI Actually Recommends?
The beauty industry has a habit of reacting to marketing shifts after they've already happened. Most owners are still trying to crack the Instagram algorithm while the entire search landscape is being rewritten by AI. You don't have to be most owners.
While your competitors are chasing last year's tactics, you can be building the kind of online presence that makes AI recommend you by name for years to come. This is the biggest visibility shift since Google Maps changed local search, and the window to establish yourself is right now.
If you want help building this out for your salon, that's exactly what I do. Let's make your salon the answer.