Conductor, the only end-to-end enterprise AEO platform and a recognized leader in enterprise AEO intelligence, today announced it is making answer engine optimization (AEO) the focus of its next chapter, one year after launching Conductor AI. The announcement comes alongside a leadership transition.
Announced in New York, Wei Zheng, Conductor's Chief Product Officer for the last five years, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, succeeding co-founder Seth Besmertnik, who will serve on the Board of Directors going forward.
Since launching Conductor AI, the company’s flagship AEO technology, demand and results have grown exponentially. In its first year, Conductor AI has been adopted by hundreds of enterprises, including leading brands such as Charter, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, and Atlassian.
That momentum reflects a broader shift in search itself. Conductor sees AEO as an evolution of SEO, not a separate discipline. The data and signals that have long powered SEO also provide a critical foundation for understanding and improving performance in AI search. Many of the core strategies that drive success in the new world of AEO — in-depth, authoritative content and strong technical discoverability — are the same fundamentals that traditional search rewards.
Conductor extended its intelligence from Conductor AI into the AI ecosystem this year with AgentStack, a set of integrations and plugins that connect Conductor intelligence to leading AI models and enterprise workflows through MCP and APIs. Top agencies and martech platforms, including Optimizely, Acquia, Havas, and Capgemini, are now building on Conductor's technology.
"The response to Conductor AI over the past year has made one thing clear: AEO is no longer just a visibility strategy or another marketing channel," said Wei Zheng, incoming CEO of Conductor. "As AI becomes more fundamental to how people discover, evaluate, and choose brands, enterprises need a partner building for that future with the intelligence, data, and infrastructure to help them compete."
As Conductor enters this next phase, the company also announced that Wei Zheng will step into the role of Chief Executive Officer. As Chief Product Officer for the last five years, Wei led the development of Conductor AI and the company's broader AI & data strategy, including the data and intelligence foundation behind its enterprise platform.
"Four years ago, Wei laid out a strategy for Conductor to go all-in on building a horizontal data platform to unite all the signals that now make up AI visibility. This multiyear investment created meaningful differentiation that no point solution can compete with," said Seth Besmertnik, outgoing CEO and Co-founder of Conductor. "Wei had both the vision plus ability to drive execution that brought us to the amazing place we're in today."
This company-wide AEO focus will shape how Conductor evolves its platform, serves its customers, and invests for growth. This shift will become tangible at C3, Conductor's flagship AEO event in New York City on October 28, where the company will unveil first-of-its-kind product innovations built for the future of AEO.
"The next phase of AEO will require much more than measuring whether a brand appears in an AI answer," said Zheng. "Enterprises need to understand why they are — or aren't — being recommended, move quickly from insight to action, and continuously test, learn, and adapt rapidly at scale."
Brands don't have to choose between AEO and SEO; the same work that earns visibility in AI also strengthens performance in traditional search.
About Conductor
Conductor is the only end-to-end, enterprise AEO platform built on the industry's most complete data engine. The unified platform provides unparalleled AEO intelligence, scaled AI content generation, and real-time website monitoring. From tracking visibility in LLMs to technical health and content optimization, Conductor's platform empowers teams to increase authority and visibility in AI and accelerate digital growth. Customers include global brands such as Citi, e.l.f Cosmetics, FedEx, & Mastercard.
