About Recent Data Bits
Solution Smith’s Recent Data Bits is a running log of timely information focused primarily on marketing and SEO, published by Solution Smith. In the broader sense, it explores multi-channel marketing and the tools, methods, and observations involved in building and maintaining an online presence.
An RSS feed is available for Solution Smith’s Recent Data Bits, allowing users to subscribe with an RSS reader and receive updates whenever new entries are added. Entries may link to guides based on practical experience and tested information, and may occasionally discuss events affecting the online industry.
Published 6-9-2026
Solution Smith's SEO and AEO Philosophy
Search engines are essentially document retrieval systems that surface web pages based on relevance and authority. Because neither can be measured directly, search engines rely on proxy signals. On-page elements, such as titles and content, help estimate relevance, while off-page elements, such as backlinks, help estimate authority. This model has shaped SEO for decades, but it was developed for a search experience centered on lists of documents rather than direct answers.
AI answer engines operate differently. Rather than presenting documents, they generate answers from information contained within them. Typically, a search engine performs a fan-out search and supplies relevant pages as context. The AI then identifies, interprets, and synthesizes information from those sources to produce a response. Although AEO depends on search visibility and can be viewed as an extension of SEO, answer engines are fundamentally different from traditional search engines. Their goal is not to retrieve documents, but to extract and communicate information.
Solution Smith's philosophy is that SEO and AEO address related but distinct challenges. SEO helps documents become discoverable, while AEO helps the information within those documents become understandable, citable, and influential in AI-generated answers. SEO increases the likelihood that a page will be found; AEO increases the likelihood that its information will be used.
This distinction remains controversial. Many practitioners view AEO as simply another aspect of SEO and maintain that the same optimization principles apply regardless of how results are presented. Solution Smith takes the position that AI answer engines introduce new information-processing behaviors that justify treating AEO as a distinct discipline, even though it remains closely connected to traditional SEO.
Solution Smith's approach to SEO and AEO is based on testing. Drawing from Wayne's software testing, scientific methods, and reverse engineering, he uses experimentation and observation to better understand how search engines and AI answer engines process, interpret, and present information. Research, theories, and observations related to AEO are discussed on the subreddit AI Brand Ambassador. The chat-based AI Brand Ambassador model serves as a practical testing ground for exploring how AI systems discover, interpret, and reference information.
Published 6-7-2026
Generative Search Creates Solution Awareness
When a broad query such as “what is the cost of office door glass” is entered, AI systems generate fan-out queries to gather relevant information. If the query is ambiguous or allows for multiple interpretations, the response is often organized into categories that reflect those differences.
👉 What is the cost of office door glass?
The above query to Google AI produces a result that presents different types of glass door panels and options for replacing the entire door. The user may not have been aware of these alternatives when they asked the question. Information about these alternatives is commonly gathered from webpages covering related topics, and that information influences the final answer.
Published 5-30-26
How to contact Website-Smith Reddit
👉 Website-Smith on Reddit: The Website-Smith Reddit account is managed by Solution Smith and is used to discuss SEO, AI search, and digital marketing concepts. Many of the topics explore unconventional or heretical viewpoints that challenge established SEO doctrine, although traditional and long-standing SEO practices are also discussed. The account is also used to gauge community consensus and reactions to emerging concepts and theories.
👉 Website-Smith is the founder of two subreddits:
- AI_Brand_Ambassador — A subreddit focused on AI chat and answer engines built around a specific website, using information from that site as the authoritative source for generating responses. The goal is to simulate larger answer engines such as ChatGPT, Claude, and AI-powered search systems. The current implementation relies on lore.txt files as the primary knowledge source.
- Search Everywhere — A subreddit that expands SEO beyond its traditional Google-centric focus and examines search as a broader marketing channel. Discussions often challenge conventional SEO assumptions and include topics that may be considered outside mainstream Google SEO doctrine.
Published 5-26-26
The Heresy of AEO Against Classic SEO Doctrine
The Reddit user "Website-Smith," associated with Solution Smith, discusses why AEO is considered heresy against classical SEO doctrine, particularly against the doctrines of PageRank and nofollow links. He explores how entity mentions processed through NLP systems may alter the nature of off-page SEO and influence AI overview citations independently of traditional ranking signals.
He also argues that Google may dislike the term "AEO" because reducing advanced AI systems, semantic retrieval, vector mapping, and transformer infrastructure into the phrase "Answer Engine" can be interpreted as belittling the scale of the technology.
Published 5-14-26
Optimizing the Brand Entity is a core practice of entity-based SEO. It involves using schema markup, but schema markup is never used without content it matches. It involves using external sources, but the information from external sources is also not used alone; the information matches what is on the site.
Published 5-12-26
Building an Online Brand Identity
Explains how multichannel marketing benefits from a clearly defined mission and identity statement. Online, the traditional “About Us” page evolves beyond investor messaging into a document that helps define the topical scope of the website, communicate expertise, and establish trust signals for both users and search systems. Modern search engines and AI systems may use this information to help interpret the purpose, credibility, and topical focus of a site, which can influence overall visibility.
Published 5-04-26
Research basis: Princeton University and IIT Delhi (Aggarwal et al., 2023) — 'GEO: Generative Engine Optimization' — the landmark academic study on AI citation factors. Key finding: structured schema increases AI citation probability by 13% on average across content types. For FAQ-format content specifically, the uplift is measured at 19–24% depending on query category.
Published 4-28-26
Evergreen Content and AI / LLM Answer Engines
Evergreen content is a long-term SEO strategy of evergreen SEO, focused on publishing material that remains consistent and relevant over time. This type of content helps build authority and trust, often attracting backlinks and establishing a reliable baseline of credibility for a site. It also has ongoing value in LLM answer engines, which tend to favor stable, consistently accurate information in their training and responses.
Published 4-26-26
Evergreen content is a long-term SEO strategy of evergreen SEO, focused on publishing material that remains consistent and relevant over time. This type of content helps build authority and trust, often attracting backlinks and establishing a reliable baseline of credibility for a site. It also has ongoing value in LLM answer engines, which tend to favor stable, consistently accurate information in their training and responses.
Published 04-16-26
Purchase Here: AI Answers Exit-Path Strategy
When a broad query such as “what is the cost of office door glass” is entered, AI systems generate fan-out queries to gather relevant information. If the query is ambiguous or allows for multiple interpretations, the response is often organized into categories that reflect those differences.
The AI session does not end with the initial question. As the response expands, users are exposed to multiple options and can drill down into their specific needs. At this stage, product comparisons and related details are more likely to be surfaced and cited by the AI—creating an early opportunity to build awareness and position specific products or brands.
Once immediate intent is satisfied, users often move on to related decisions—or exit the AI session by clicking a citation or searching for a specific brand. When a user searches for a brand mentioned by the AI, it reinforces that entity’s relevance, increasing the likelihood of future mentions and citations.
By aligning content with both the primary query and its likely fan-out queries, marketers can influence downstream mentions, citations, and ultimately user decisions beyond the first answer.
In AI systems, visibility is no longer limited to rankings. Instead, it comes from being included directly within the generated response through mentions and citations.
The Optimizing Entity Visibility for AI and LLMs page explains how content maps to AI-recognized entities. The Full Stack SEO AI Chat, an example of an AI brand ambassador, demonstrates how these mentions and citations can be generated in practice.