How Does Scale Make AEO Defensible?
By covering an entire question space with consistent, source-backed answers, you build authority, win more AI citations, and raise the cost and time required for competitors to catch up.
Why Scale Becomes Defensible
Moat Mechanics vs. Competitor Burden
| Your Advantage | What Creates It | Competitor Must Do | Why It’s Hard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topical coverage | 100+ interlinked Q pages | Map and write the same breadth | Large research and QA lift |
| Citation momentum | Extractable answers + schema | Match quality + wait for recrawl | Time-to-citation lag |
| Lower marginal cost | Reusable briefs, components, UTMs | Build ops from scratch | Process debt and tooling cost |
| Continuous freshness | Review cadence + change logs | Refresh at same or higher tempo | Ongoing SME bandwidth |
Defensibility Metrics & Targets
| Metric | Formula | Target/Range | Stage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage Ratio | Answered questions ÷ Known questions | ≥ 0.70 before scale; ≥ 0.90 mature | Build | Per cluster |
| Citation Share-of-Voice | Your citations ÷ Total citations per query | > 25% in priority cluster | Win | Track by engine |
| Time-to-Citation | Days from publish → first citation | Decreasing over time | Operate | Proxy for compounding authority |
| Marginal Cost / Page | New spend ÷ pages added (rolling) | Downward trend | Operate | Signals ops efficiency |
| Refresh Win Rate | Citations gained after refresh ÷ pages refreshed | > 20–30% | Maintain | Proves durability |
6-Step Plan to Reach Defensible Scale
Mine SERPs, PAA, sales calls, chat, and docs; normalize phrasing and group by intent.
Define pillar, slugs, internal links, schema plan, and CTA routing per intent.
H1 as question; 40–90 word answer; 5 bullets; optional table; FAQ/HowTo schema.
Publish 15–25 pages/week; run policy checks; validate schema; interlink as you go.
Track coverage, presence, citation SOV, and time-to-citation; prioritize adjacent gaps.
Quarterly reviews, change logs, and targeted refreshes where citations or rankings slip.
For patterns and governance, start with the AEO overview and the in-depth Complete Guide to AEO.
