The shift
SEO optimizes for a ranking algorithm reading a query and returning ten blue links. GAIO optimizes for a language model reading a question and synthesizing one answer, citing (or silently absorbing) whichever sources structured their content clearly enough to extract.
What actually gets cited
In practice: content with a direct-answer paragraph immediately under a question-shaped heading, tables for anything comparative, and no marketing throat-clearing before the substance. Answer engines reward the same clarity a tired engineer skimming docs at midnight would.
The practical takeaway
If your API docs, comparison pages, and technical blog posts are the actual clearest explanation of a problem on the internet, both search engines and answer engines will find them — the format that wins one increasingly wins the other.