How Cross-Functional Teams Unlock SEO and AEO Success

Contents hide

1 Why Discoverability Fails Without Collaboration

2 Bringing SEO and AEO Together in the Workflow

3 Who Plays a Role in SEO and AEO Success

High-performing SEO programs no longer focus only on ranking in Google.

Today, the real win is visibility across search engines and AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

This requires a shift.

Content, SEO, product, development, and analytics teams can no longer operate separately.

To succeed, they must work together on both Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) from the very beginning.

Without that alignment, you will struggle to succeed, even with the best content and technical strategies.

Why Discoverability Fails Without Collaboration

SEO and AEO are now intertwined.

Google still drives organic traffic, but AI-driven tools are shaping how people discover and trust information.

And even Google is rolling out an AI Mode. What does this mean?

AEO is not only here to stay. It’s table-stakes.

Both require:

Accurate, structured, and credible content
Clear alignment with search intent
Technical precision to make content easy for algorithms to parse and use

When teams fail to collaborate, the result is the same in both environments:

Pages are invisible in AI summaries and traditional search
Key content is missing structured data
Messaging drifts away from how people actually phrase questions
Updates break ranking potential or AI retrievability

Bringing SEO and AEO Together in the Workflow

A successful unified strategy starts with mapping exactly where teams must intersect.

Example collaboration points:

Before content creation: Marketing shares SEO and AEO research with writers and product teams, including target questions, structured data needs, and user intent
During drafting: Writers integrate this guidance naturally while keeping the brand voice
Before publishing: Technical checks confirm the content is both crawlable and AI-friendly, with schema markup and clear answer formatting
Post-launch: Analytics and SEO teams report on search rankings, AI citations, and answer engine visibility to all stakeholders

The earlier you can loop in each team, the more consistent and powerful your end result will be.

Who Plays a Role in SEO and AEO Success

Content Marketing

Creates assets that serve both search rankings and AI answers
Structures information for easy summarization without losing readability

SEO and AEO Specialists

Combines traditional keyword and SERP analysis with AI query testing and topic clustering
Ensures the content can be parsed, indexed, and cited by search engines and LLMs

Product Marketing

Adapts positioning to match how audiences phrase their questions
Supplies authoritative details that improve perceived trust in both environments

Web Development

Implements structured data and schema
Keeps the site technically sound for both web crawlers and AI ingestion

Analytics

Tracks rankings, traffic, AI citations, and featured snippet wins
Shares insights with all functions to guide the next round of improvements

A Proven Collaboration Framework

Joint Discovery and Planning
At the start of each quarter, gather all teams to align on target topics, high-value queries, and technical priorities for both SEO and AEO.
Shared Editorial Calendar
Maintain one calendar that shows planned topics alongside keywords, target questions, and structured data requirements.
Pre-Publish Optimization Check
Ensure that every piece of content gets reviewed for traditional SEO elements and AEO-readiness, including schema, structure, and concise answer formatting.
Cross-Team Reporting
Report visibility in Google, AI Overviews, featured snippets, and AI assistants to every stakeholder group. Celebrate shared wins.

The Benefits of a Unified Approach

When teams treat SEO and AEO as one discovery strategy:

Content will appear in more search and AI-driven answer opportunities
Messaging will align with real user questions and phrasing
Technical fixes will happen before they impact rankings or AI retrievability
The business can build topical authority faster and sustain it longer

You will no longer be optimizing for one algorithm.

You’ll optimize for how people find answers…everywhere they hunt for those answers.

Final Thoughts

The missing link in most discoverability strategies is not lack of expertise in SEO or AEO.

It is the lack of collaboration across the teams that influence both.

Break down the silos.

Align SEO and AEO goals from the start.

Share both successes and failures openly.

When every function contributes to discoverability, your content won’t just rank — it will be the answer.

Need a proven process for unified SEO and AEO execution?
Contact Return On Now to build a collaboration framework that increases visibility across search engines and AI-driven platforms.

Bio
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Tommy Landry

President at Return On Now

With over 20 years of experience across digital marketing and business strategy, I help companies of all sizes grow through focused, practical execution. My expertise includes SEO, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), content marketing, and digital advertising. As a marketing and AI strategist, I apply the HAIF (Human + AI Framework) Model to combine advanced AI capabilities with the human touch. This approach enables businesses to streamline operations, scale effectively, and improve marketing performance. I focus on delivering strategies that drive clear, measurable results.