The 5% of AEO: How to Rank in AI-Powered Search

Hosted by Ethan Smith

Fri, May 29, 2026

3:30 PM UTC (1 hour)

Virtual (Zoom)

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What you'll learn

Debunking The Myths: SEO & AEO

Learn why claims that SEO is dead are premature, and why treating AEO and SEO as opposites is a mistake

Trends in Growth of AI

Discover why AI traffic converts higher and why attribution data tells a different story than analytics

Why the Long Tail Dominates AI Search

See how 23-word LLM queries open up content opportunities that traditional SEO could never justify

How to Measure Visibility and Position

Walk away with a clear framework for tracking where your brand appears in AI-driven results

The 5% of AEO

Identify the specific actions that drive the most impactful results and what to stop wasting time and money on

Why this topic matters

Ethan Smith shares new research on how search is evolving in the age of AI. Drawing on original studies and fresh data, he challenges common myths around SEO and AEO while unpacking the rapid shift toward AI-driven discovery. The talk closes with practical insights on how companies can adapt their growth strategies for AI search.

You'll learn from

Ethan Smith

CEO of Graphite Growth

Ethan Smith is CEO of Graphite.io, a research-driven growth agency that works with companies like Webflow, Adobe, and Upwork. He is an adjunct professor at IE Business School and teaches SEO and AEO at Reforge. His research has been published in ACM, Axios, Financial Times, and The Atlantic. Prior to founding Graphite, Ethan was a growth advisor to Masterclass, Robinhood, and Honey. Ethan was a research assistant focused on human-computer interaction and psychology at UC Santa Barbara and University College London.

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