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The AEO Search Landscape, September 2026: An Original Dataset

Updated September 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

8,933 classified phrases, 104 SERP positions captured with domain authority, and 136 keyword-rows with full metrics — published in full, with the method and the limitations.

On this page · 15 sections
  1. What this is
  2. Headline finding: it depends entirely on the query type
  3. A correction to something we said earlier
  4. Named examples: low-authority domains holding real positions
  5. The free tool page is the most open category we measured
  6. Cost per click across the family
  7. The shape of the keyword universe
  8. Method, stated so it can be checked
  9. What this dataset cannot tell you
  10. What we would want to see measured next
  11. Everything else we have written on search, AI and getting found
  12. Table 1: page-one domain authority by keyword
  13. Table 2: highest-volume page-one positions held by sub-30 DA domains
  14. Table 3: the phrase universe by classification
  15. Table 4: the correction, stated in full

The headline findingWhether answer engine optimization is winnable for a low-authority site depends almost entirely on query type, and the spread is about forty points of domain authority inside one topic family. Definition queries are effectively closed: the lowest page-one domain authority we captured on ‘what is answer engine optimization’ was 56. Commercial service queries are open: a DA-17 domain holds a page-one position on ‘answer engine optimization services’. Free tool queries are the most open category we measured — a DA-18 domain holds position one on a term worth $45.41 a click.

Collected 16-17 September 2026 via Ubersuggest, US English only. Eight SERPs is a small sample and the mined domains were selected because they were winning. Good for existence proofs; unsuitable for category averages. Free to cite with attribution and these caveats.

The dataset, in numbersThe dataset, in numbers
Collected 16-17 September 2026. Single tool, single window, US English only. Every figure on this page is computed from these files rather than recalled.

What this is

An original measurement of the answer engine optimization search landscape, taken on 16 and 17 September 2026: 8,933 phrases collected and classified, 104 SERP positions captured with domain authority, 136 keyword-rows with full ranking metrics, and 102 competitor pages catalogued.

We are publishing it because we could not find it anywhere else. Plenty of articles assert that AEO is winnable for small sites, or that it is not. We wanted the actual distribution of domain authority on these SERPs, and when we went looking nobody had published one.

Everything below is computed from the files, not recalled from the research. Where the data contradicts something we said earlier, we have said so rather than quietly corrected it.

SERP capture — Dataset. 104 positions, 8 keywords, 86 domains.
Keyword metrics — Dataset. 136 rows: volume, CPC, difficulty, position, traffic.
Phrase universe — Dataset. 8,933 classified; 5,348 AEO-core.
Prompt intents — Dataset. 1,069 generated without a keyword tool.
Competitor pages — Dataset. 102 catalogued across 7 domains.
Low-backlink rows — Dataset. 34 page-one positions on thin link profiles.

Headline finding: it depends entirely on the query type

The common framing — ‘is AEO winnable for a small site’ — turns out to be the wrong question. Across the eight SERPs we captured in full, the answer differs by roughly forty points of domain authority depending on which kind of query you pick.

Definition queries are effectively closed. On ‘what is answer engine optimization’, the lowest domain authority holding a page-one position was 56, with Forbes, HubSpot, PwC and Coursera above it. Commercial service queries are open: on ‘answer engine optimization services’, a domain with an authority score of 17 holds a page-one position.

That is a forty-point spread inside the same topic family, and it is the single most useful thing in this dataset.

Page-one domain authority, by keywordPage-one domain authority, by keyword
Computed from 43 captured page-one positions. The definition query is the most authority-locked; the commercial service terms are the least.
Lowest domain authority holding a page-one positionLowest domain authority holding a page-one position
The spread is the finding: a DA-17 domain holds page one on a commercial services term while the lowest page-one DA on the definition term is 56.

Definition queries: closed

Publisher-owned. The lowest page-one domain authority we captured on the definition term was 56, and the results above it were major publications.

Commercial service queries: open

A DA-17 domain holds a page-one position on ‘answer engine optimization services’, a term carrying a $24.65 cost per click.

Tool queries: the most open

A DA-18 domain holds position one on ‘ai search visibility tool’ at a $45.41 cost per click, and position one on ‘ai overviews tracker’.

Provider discovery: closed by a different mechanism

‘Best X agency’ results come from listicles and directories rather than from agency pages, so authority matters less than whether you appear on somebody else’s list.

A correction to something we said earlier

In our own internal notes and early summaries we described the median page-one domain authority for this family as ‘around 30’. Computed properly from the captured data, it is 40 across all eight keywords and 34 to 37 for the AEO service and agency terms specifically.

The error was a selection effect, and an instructive one. We deliberately mined low-authority domains that were winning, because those were the interesting cases. The median authority of that selected group is 27.5. Reading that number as though it described the SERP is exactly the mistake the dataset exists to prevent.

The conclusion changes in a useful way: not ‘these SERPs are open to anyone’, but ‘these SERPs are open in specific query types, and closed in others’.

Corrected — Median page-one DA. Stated ~30 earlier; computed 40 across 8 keywords.
Corrected — AEO service family. 34-37, not 30.
Why it happened — Selected sample. We mined low-DA winners, then read their median as a SERP median.
Why it matters — Different conclusion. 'Open to anyone' becomes 'open in specific query types'.
Still true — Low-DA positions exist. DA 17, 18, 19 hold page-one positions.
Still true — 12% of page one. Comes from sub-30 DA domains.
Which query types are open to a low-authority siteWhich query types are open to a low-authority site
Definition queries are publisher-owned: Forbes, HubSpot, PwC and Coursera hold that SERP and the lowest page-one DA we captured on it was 56.

Named examples: low-authority domains holding real positions

The most useful part of this dataset is not an average. It is a list of specific domains, with their authority scores, holding specific positions on specific commercial terms — because an existence proof is what actually settles the argument about whether this is winnable.

The highest-volume example: a DA-25 domain at position five on ‘answer the public’, 18,100 searches a month. The highest-value: a DA-18 domain at position one on ‘ai search visibility tool’, $45.41 a click.

Highest-volume page-one positions held by sub-30 DA domainsHighest-volume page-one positions held by sub-30 DA domains
A DA-18 domain holds position one on ‘ai search visibility tool’, a term carrying a $45.41 cost per click.

aiclicks.io, DA 18

Position one on ‘ai search visibility tool’ (1,000/mo, $45.41) and on ‘ai overviews tracker’ (590/mo). Both from free tool pages rather than from content.

geoptie.com, DA 25

Position two on ‘geo tools’ (720/mo), position four on ‘aeo tools’ (720/mo, $32.10), and position one on ‘free geo audit’ and ‘keyword cannibalization checker tool’ — again, tool pages.

orangemarketing.com, DA 17

Position six on ‘answer engine optimization services’ (590/mo) and position six on ‘aeo services’ (390/mo, $38.30). The lowest-authority domain we recorded holding a page-one commercial position in this family.

percepture.com, DA 30

Position two on ‘generative engine optimization agency’ (390/mo, $114.49) and position two on ‘engine optimization service’ — a term at 74,000 searches a month.

What they have in common

Dedicated service or tool pages for the exact query, rather than blog posts about the topic. In every case the ranking URL is a purpose-built page.

The free tool page is the most open category we measured

Across the dataset, the single clearest pattern is that free utility pages outperform their domain authority by more than any other page type. Three separate low-authority domains hold position one on tool queries carrying real commercial intent.

We think the mechanism is ordinary rather than mysterious: people link to a free checker and nobody links to a service page. A tool page compounds authority in a way a marketing page structurally cannot.

Where a low-authority site can realistically competeWhere a low-authority site can realistically compete
Top-left is the opportunity: free tool queries carry real commercial intent and are the least authority-locked category we measured.

The evidence

aiclicks.io at DA 18 holds position one on two tracker queries. geoptie.com at DA 25 holds position one on ‘free geo audit’ and on ‘keyword cannibalization checker tool’. aeoengine.ai at DA 25 ranks on ‘robots txt check’ (2,400/mo) and ‘schema markup generator’ (1,000/mo) from utility pages.

Why it is not obvious

These queries look low-value at first glance. ‘ai overview checker’ at 260 searches a month sounds marginal until you notice the $32.88 cost per click.

The caveat we owe you

We have not built these tools ourselves yet, so this is an observation about other people’s results rather than a claim about our own.

Cost per click across the family

Eighty-six of the 136 keyword-rows we captured carry a cost per click above $20, and thirty-four above $50. The AI-specific peak is ‘llm visibility tool’ at $82.21 on 720 searches a month.

The wider SEO terms these domains also rank for go considerably higher — ‘best seo company for lawyers’ at $769.15 is the outlier in the dataset — but within the AEO family itself the consistent finding is that almost nothing is cheap.

Highest cost per click observed, keywords at 300+ monthly searchesHighest cost per click observed, keywords at 300+ monthly searches
Cost per click is the market pricing buyer intent. Within the AI-specific subset the peak is ‘llm visibility tool’ at $82.21 on 720 searches a month.

The shape of the keyword universe

8,933 relevant phrases from 119 seed terms, of which 5,348 are AEO-core rather than adjacent general SEO. Classified: 3,397 informational, 3,752 long-tail of four words or more, 1,041 commercial, 777 questions and 133 comparisons.

The informational skew is worth noting against the earlier finding. The largest share of the vocabulary is informational, and informational definition queries are the most authority-locked part of the SERP. Volume and winnability point in opposite directions here.

Shape of the AEO keyword universeShape of the AEO keyword universe
Collected from 119 seed terms via autocomplete expansion, then filtered for relevance. 5,348 of the 8,933 are AEO-core rather than adjacent SEO.

Method, stated so it can be checked

119 seed terms written by hand, expanded through Google autocomplete, filtered for relevance, classified by intent, then eight keywords captured in full at SERP level and eight low-authority ranking domains mined for every keyword they rank on.

The one non-obvious step is the relevance filter. ‘AEO’ is heavily overloaded — it is the NYSE ticker for American Eagle Outfitters and the abbreviation for Authorised Economic Operator in customs — so the raw 11,279 phrases needed a blocklist before anything meant anything. 8,933 survived.

How the dataset was builtHow the dataset was built
Anyone with a Ubersuggest seat can repeat this. The seed list and filters are published below.
Seed list — Repeat it. 119 terms, published below.
Expansion — Repeat it. Google autocomplete via any keyword tool.
Filter — Repeat it. Token allowlist plus AEO-ambiguity blocklist.
SERP capture — Repeat it. Any SERP tool reporting domain authority.
Mining — Repeat it. Pull every ranking keyword for each low-DA domain.
Cost — Repeat it. One Ubersuggest seat and about a day.

What this dataset cannot tell you

It is one tool, one window, one market and eight fully-captured SERPs. The low-authority domains were selected precisely because they were winning, which makes them excellent existence proofs and useless as an average.

We are stating this plainly because the temptation with a dataset like this is to present it as a study of the category. It is not. It is a careful measurement of a small, deliberately chosen slice, and the honest value is in the named examples rather than in any statistic.

What this dataset cannot supportWhat this dataset cannot support
Eight SERPs is a small sample and the mined domains were selected precisely because they were low-authority winners. That is useful for existence proofs and wrong for averages.
One tool — Limit. Ubersuggest only; no cross-validation.
One window — Limit. 16-17 September 2026.
One market — Limit. US, English.
Small SERP sample — Limit. 8 keywords fully captured.
Selected domains — Limit. Low-DA winners chosen deliberately.
Estimated clicks — Limit. Tool estimates, not analytics.
Use it for — Existence proofs. Named low-DA domains holding real positions.
Use it for — Query-type triage. Which categories are open and which are not.
Use it for — CPC benchmarking. What the market pays for AEO intent.
Do not use for — Category averages. The sample is selected, not random.
Do not use for — Forecasting. Positions move; this is one window.
Do not use for — Non-US markets. Nothing here was measured outside the US.

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What we would want to see measured next

Cross-tool validation of the volume and difficulty figures, a larger random SERP sample rather than a selected one, and the same capture repeated in three months to see whether these positions persist.

If you run any of that, we would genuinely like to see it. Our figures are published below in full so they can be compared rather than taken on trust.

Definition queries are closed — Finding. Lowest page-one DA captured was 56.
Service terms are open — Finding. A DA-17 domain holds page one.
Tool queries are the most open — Finding. DA 18 at position one, $45.41 CPC.
CPC is high across the family — Finding. 86 of 136 rows above $20.
Generic head terms shifted — Finding. GEO and AEO pages now rank for them.
Page-one DA median is 40 — Finding. Not 30, as loosely reported earlier.

Want this run on your own category?

The method above is published in full and repeatable with one keyword-tool seat. If you would rather have it done, an AI visibility audit includes the same SERP and authority capture for your terms, plus a dated prompt baseline you keep.

/ai-visibility-audit

Everything else we have written on search, AI and getting found

AI, AEO and what is changing

Websites and design

Choosing and working with an agency

Social, content and brand

By industry and by situation

Not sure which of these applies to you?Tell us the situation and we will say plainly what we would do first, and what we would not.

Talk it through

Table 1: page-one domain authority by keyword

Median and range of page-one domain authority across the tracked keyword set, measured on a stated date.

Captured 16-17 September 2026, US English, positions 1-10
KeywordPositions capturedMedian page-one DALowest page-one DALowest-DA domain
what is answer engine optimization260.056siteimprove.com
ai visibility tools653.535marketermilk.com
ai seo agency740.037searchbloom.com
engine optimization service637.529aqmarketing.com
generative engine optimization agency937.030percepture.com
answer engine optimization tools535.019semai.ai
how to rank in chatgpt335.033omnius.so
answer engine optimization services534.017orangemarketing.com

Table 2: highest-volume page-one positions held by sub-30 DA domains

The highest-volume terms where a low-authority domain currently holds a page-one position.

All rows computed from the captured dataset
KeywordVolume/moCPCPositionDomainDA
answer the public18,100$15.515aeoengine.ai25
seo ranking software1,900$21.0610aiclicks.io18
ai search visibility tool1,000$45.411aiclicks.io18
geo tools720$13.852geoptie.com25
aeo tools720$32.104geoptie.com25
search engine ranking report software720—3aiclicks.io18
similarweb alternative590$22.332aeoengine.ai25
answer engine optimization services590$24.656orangemarketing.com17
ai overviews tracker590$21.041aiclicks.io18
aeo tracker590$20.423aiclicks.io18
aeo services390$38.306orangemarketing.com17
generative engine optimization agency390$114.492percepture.com30

Table 3: the phrase universe by classification

The full classified phrase set, broken down by intent category with counts.

8,933 phrases from 119 seed terms, collected September 2026
ClassificationCountShare of universeNote
Total phrases collected11,279—Before relevance filtering
Relevant after filtering8,93379%AEO-ambiguity blocklist applied
AEO-core5,34860% of relevantRest is adjacent general SEO
Long-tail (4+ words)3,75242%Overlaps other classes
Informational3,39738%
Commercial1,04112%
Question-form7779%
Comparison1331.5%
LLM prompt intents1,069—Generated without a keyword tool

Table 4: the correction, stated in full

A figure we published incorrectly, what the correct figure is, and how the error was produced.

What we said, what the data says, and why they differed
Claim as originally statedComputed figureCause of the error
Median page-one DA for this family is ~3040 across 8 keywordsRead a selected sample as a SERP median
AEO service/agency terms ~3034-37Same cause, smaller gap
Median DA of mined low-authority winners27.5This figure was correct — it was mislabelled
Low-DA domains hold page-one positionsConfirmed: DA 17, 18, 19, 25, 29, 30Unchanged
Share of page one from sub-30 DA domains12% (5 of 43 captured)Newly computed
Share of page one from sub-20 DA domains7% (3 of 43 captured)Newly computed

Getting found in search

AI, AEO and what is changing

Paid media and lead generation

Websites and design

Choosing and working with an agency

Social, content and brand

By industry and by situation

Frequently asked questions

What is in this dataset?
8,933 classified search phrases, 104 SERP positions captured with domain authority across 8 keywords, 136 keyword-rows with volume, cost per click, difficulty, position and estimated traffic, 102 competitor pages, and 1,069 generated LLM prompt intents. Collected 16-17 September 2026, US English.
Is answer engine optimization winnable for a low-authority site?
It depends entirely on the query type, and that is the main finding. Definition queries are effectively closed — the lowest page-one domain authority we captured was 56. Commercial service queries are open: a DA-17 domain holds a page-one position on ‘answer engine optimization services’.
What is the median page-one domain authority for AEO keywords?
40 across all eight keywords captured, and 34 to 37 for the AEO service and agency terms specifically. An earlier internal figure of ‘around 30’ was the median of a deliberately selected group of low-authority winners, not a SERP median.
Which query type is most open to a small site?
Free tool and checker queries. Three separate sub-30 DA domains hold position one on tool queries carrying real commercial intent, including a DA-18 domain at position one on ‘ai search visibility tool’ at $45.41 per click.
What is the lowest domain authority you found holding a page-one position?
17 — orangemarketing.com at position six on ‘answer engine optimization services’, 590 searches a month at $24.65 per click.
What share of page-one results come from low-authority domains?
Of 43 page-one positions captured, 12% came from domains below DA 30 and 7% from domains below DA 20.
How expensive are AEO keywords?
86 of the 136 keyword-rows carry a cost per click above $20, and 34 above $50. The AI-specific peak observed was ‘llm visibility tool’ at $82.21 on 720 monthly searches.
What is the largest term in the AEO family?
‘engine optimization service’ at 74,000 monthly US searches and $44.66 per click. Its page one is largely made up of generative and answer engine optimization service pages rather than traditional SEO pages.
How was the data collected?
119 hand-written seed terms expanded through Google autocomplete, filtered with a relevance allowlist and an ambiguity blocklist, classified by intent, then eight keywords captured at SERP level and eight low-authority domains mined for all their ranking keywords.
Why did you need a blocklist?
Because ‘AEO’ is heavily overloaded. It is the NYSE ticker for American Eagle Outfitters and the abbreviation for Authorised Economic Operator in customs and trade. Without filtering, a large share of the raw phrases were about clothing or shipping.
What are the limitations?
One tool, one window, one market, and only eight fully-captured SERPs. The low-authority domains were selected because they were winning, which makes them good existence proofs and unsuitable for computing category averages.
Can I reproduce this?
Yes. The seed approach, filters and method are published on this page, and the whole collection took about a day with a single keyword-tool seat.
Can I cite this?
Yes, with attribution to Progression Agency and the collection date of September 2026. We would rather be cited accurately with the limitations attached than quoted as a category study, which it is not.
Why publish a correction inside the dataset?
Because the error is instructive. Reading the median of a selected group of low-authority winners as though it described the SERP is exactly the mistake this kind of research invites, and the conclusion changes materially once it is fixed.
Do these positions persist?
Unknown. This is a single window. Repeating the capture in three months is the first thing we would want measured, and we have not done it yet.
Which domains were mined?
aiclicks.io (DA 18), orangemarketing.com (17), geoptie.com (25), aeoengine.ai (25), minuttia.com (30), percepture.com (30), marceldigital.com (34) and searchbloom.com (37).
Why are definition queries so closed?
The page-one results on ‘what is answer engine optimization’ are major publications — Forbes, HubSpot, PwC, Coursera. The lowest page-one domain authority captured on that term was 56, against 17 on the commercial services term.
What about ‘best agency’ queries?
Closed by a different mechanism. Those results are listicles and directories rather than agency pages, so the determining factor is whether you appear on someone else’s list rather than your own domain authority.
Is AI referral traffic large enough to matter?
Around one per cent of website traffic in the largest published study with a stated denominator. We did not measure this ourselves and cite it rather than claiming it.
What would you measure next?
Cross-tool validation of volume and difficulty, a larger random SERP sample instead of a selected one, and a repeat capture in three months to test persistence.
Do you sell anything based on this?
We run AI visibility audits that include the same SERP and authority capture for a client’s own terms. The method on this page is published in full so it can be done without us.
How many prompt intents did you generate and how?
1,069, generated by systematic intent expansion across platforms, industries, roles, buyer problems and solutions rather than from a keyword tool, because prompt phrasing does not appear in keyword data.

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