Why AEO in 2026 Is Just the Evolution of SEO with Rebecca Busk (CEO, Kvalifik) — The Dave Gerhardt Show (from Exit Five)

#373 | Dave sits down with Rebecca Busk, CEO and Partner at Kvalifik, to talk about what it actually takes to show up in AI search. Rebecca breaks down the three types of prompts you need to rank for - foundational, core, and must-win - and why most AEO content fails because it's too generic to ever get cited. They get into the technical side of AEO like crawlability and schema markup, why Reddit and community platforms carry more weight than LinkedIn in AI citations, and a ten-point checklist for content quality you can run against your own site today.

Check out Webflow's free AEO assessment here.

Timestamps

(00:00) - - Thank you to Webflow
(01:59) - - Why AI search is quietly rewriting how B2B buyers find vendors
(02:42) - - From agency employee to owner: buying an agency
(05:19) - - How to build marketing expertise without a marketing degree
(09:56) - - What AEO actually means, and a real example of how it narrows buying decisions
(13:38) - - Why you shouldn't write AEO content with AI
(17:04) - - Rethinking content strategy: what buyers actually ask before they buy
(22:05) - - Crawlability, schema markup, and a technical checklist for showing up in AI search
(31:12) - - Ten things to check for content quality right now
(38:18) - - What builds real authority in AI search, and whether PR still matters