Index’25 Workshop – AEO for the CMO: An Actionable Maturity Model

At the heart of Index’25, Pepper’s AI Search conference, a pivotal workshop took place guiding CMOs on how to transition marketing strategies from traditional SEO to AI-powered brand positioning and conversion. Led by Guy Yalif, Chief Evangelist at Webflow, this
session introduced a practical framework, the AEO Maturity Model, designed to help marketing leaders reclaim brand narrative control and adapt to rapidly evolving discovery ecosystems.

Understanding the Challenge

With AI large language models (LLMs) increasingly shaping how prospects first engage with brands, marketers face a new reality: LLMs often rewrite the carefully crafted brand messaging, sometimes omitting key differentiators or worse delivering incorrect information
due to outdated or poorly referenced content. This shift threatens traditional control over brand narrative and traffic, requiring new strategic approaches.

Four Categories of AEO Excellence

Guy outlined four foundational categories critical for AEO maturity:

1. Content
   Shift from keyword-stuffed, page-focused content to answering real buyer questions throughout their journey. Leverage sales call recordings and support emails to identify
   genuine prospect inquiries and create comprehensive, personalized answers. AI values in-depth, relevant content in long conversational search queries averaging 23 words,
   necessitating richer material than typical Google queries.
2. Technical
   Elevate beyond traditional on-page SEO to advanced site infrastructure that clearly signals structure and meaning to LLMs. Schema markup is vital to define page type (e.g., product, event, bio) and content relationships. However, 88% of sites are missing this markup, missing opportunities for AI citation. Fast, reliable sites with zero downtime support scale
   content efforts effectively.
3. Authority
   Traditional backlink strategies remain important but must be supplemented with widespread positive plain-text mentions of the brand. This includes executive thought leadership,
   podcasts, strategic content partnerships, and engagement on platforms like Reddit and Quora valued as authentic content sources by LLMs. Building visually engaging, emotionally
   evocative brand experiences enhances perceived authority.
4. Measurement
   Move past keyword rankings to track AI visibility through share of voice, sentiment analysis, and accuracy of cited content. Measurement evolves from “how often do we appear?” to
   “how positively do AI models reflect us?” Advanced tools help quantify AI-driven impressions and conversions, providing actionable insights for continued optimization.

Maturity Levels & Roadmap

The AEO Maturity Model defines five levels of progression in each category, from basic keyword presence and SEO hygiene to sophisticated question-answering, fully structured,
authoritative, and adaptive strategies.

For example, content progresses from keyword counting to extensive question answering and personalization. Technical evolves from crawlability to auto-generating schema and LLM APIs. Authority shifts from backlinks to brand mentions and emotional experiences.
Measurement moves from rankings to real-time sentiment and AI impact analytics.

Closing Thoughts

The AEO Maturity Model offers CMOs a clear, actionable framework to navigate the transition from SEO to AI-driven brand discovery. Embracing this model enables marketing leaders to regain control over brand narratives, boost qualified traffic, and adapt proactively
in an era where AI governs buyer discovery and engagement.
The session encouraged CMOs to evaluate their teams and strategies against this maturity model and invited marketers to access personalized AEO audits through Pepper’s AI-driven
tools to identify growth opportunities.

To explore personalized solutions and Pepper’s advanced AI search marketing tools, visit Pepper or book a demo here. You can also reach us on [email protected]