Here is a masterful example of a AEO tactic out in the wild: Someone at a growing B2B company opens ChatGPT. They already use Gusto for payroll. Now they need a PEO. Reasonable question: “Should I use Gusto for a PEO if I already use them for payroll?”
ChatGPT’s answer? Gusto isn’t a PEO. It doesn’t offer co-employment. If you need a real PEO, you need to look elsewhere.
And right there, cited in the response, is a Rippling FAQ: “Is Gusto a PEO?”
The buyer didn’t search for Rippling. Didn’t visit their site. Didn’t click an ad. But Rippling showed up in the conversation at the exact moment the buyer learned their current vendor couldn’t help them.
This isn’t content marketing. It’s an ambush.
Chris Long, co-founder at Nectiv, documented this happening in real time. He was evaluating PEO options and testing AI search behavior across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI Mode. When he asked about Gusto and PEOs, Rippling’s FAQ content got pulled directly into the AI-generated response, complete with their branding.
The play is sharp. Rippling identified a gap in a competitor’s product (Gusto doesn’t offer PEO services), then created FAQ content specifically designed to surface when buyers discover that gap. Not on their own blog. Not in a comparison landing page buried in their site. In a simple FAQ that answers a question Gusto’s customers are already asking.
And because AI models treat FAQ content as factual, authoritative reference material, it gets cited. Not as an ad. Not as a sponsored result. As the answer.
The new version of bidding on competitor keywords
For years, the aggressive play in B2B was bidding on a competitor’s branded keywords. “Gusto alternative” or “Gusto vs” campaigns. Everyone knew the game, and buyers had learned to discount those results. You’d see the ad, know it was an ad, and scroll past it.
This is different. When Rippling’s FAQ gets pulled into an AI response, there’s no ad label. There’s no “Sponsored” tag. There’s no list of ten results where the buyer can weigh options. There’s just a direct answer, and Rippling is woven into it.
The trust transfer is significant. The buyer asked a neutral question to a tool they trust. The tool delivered an answer that happens to include a competitor’s positioning. That’s not advertising. That’s something closer to a referral.
Why this works and most AEO advice doesn’t
Most of the conversation around AI engine optimization is still stuck on vanity metrics. “Get your brand mentioned by ChatGPT.” “Optimize for AI citations.” The advice is vague because the thinking is vague.
What Rippling did is specific. They mapped a competitor’s product limitation, identified the question buyers would ask when they hit that limitation, and created content designed to be the answer. The FAQ isn’t about Rippling’s features. It’s about Gusto’s gap. That’s the key distinction.
The content works because it matches the shape of the query. A buyer asking “Is Gusto a PEO?” wants a direct factual answer. An FAQ that says “No, Gusto isn’t a PEO. Here’s why.” is structurally perfect for AI citation. It’s clear, authoritative, and answers the question without the buyer needing to read further context.
The gap Gusto left open
The other half of this story is what Gusto didn’t do. They could have owned this narrative. A page on their own site explaining “When you’ve outgrown Gusto” or “Gusto vs. PEO: which is right for your stage” would have kept the conversation on their terms. They could have acknowledged the limitation, positioned it as a feature of their focus, and pointed buyers toward a partner if PEO was truly what they needed.
Instead, they left a vacuum. And Rippling filled it.
This is going to keep happening. Every product has gaps. Every vendor has features they don’t offer. The question is whether you control the narrative around those gaps, or whether a competitor writes the FAQ that explains them.
What this actually looks like as a playbook
The move isn’t complicated, but it requires competitive intelligence most marketing teams don’t prioritize:
Map your competitors’ product gaps. Not weaknesses in their marketing. Actual things their product doesn’t do that buyers in their ecosystem will eventually need.
Identify the questions buyers ask when they discover those gaps. These are usually simple, factual queries. “Does [Competitor] offer X?” “Is [Competitor] a Y?” “Can [Competitor] do Z?”
Create content that answers those questions directly. FAQ format works because AI models treat it as reference material. The content should be factual, not salesy. The brand injection happens naturally when you’re the one providing the answer.
The uncomfortable truth for most B2B companies is that this kind of content feels aggressive. Writing a page titled “Is [Competitor] a PEO?” on your own site feels like a shot fired. But the alternative is letting someone else write it, or letting AI models piece together the answer from whatever sources they can find.
Rippling chose to be the source. That’s the whole strategy.