If you are a beginner
Start with HubSpot’s AEO Fundamentals, then practise on a page you control. Identify the question it answers, make the answer easy to find, and explain how you would measure a useful visit. If crawling, indexing and search intent are unfamiliar, learn those foundations alongside AI search. A new vocabulary is easier to apply when the underlying SEO mechanics make sense.
If you already work in SEO
Use Learning AI Search as a roadmap rather than a checklist to complete in order. Start with your weakest area: technical access, content structure, source authority or measurement. For a more conventional sequence, use Semrush and translate vendor-specific steps into your own reporting stack.
GEO, AEO and AI-assisted SEO
The shortlisted free options address visibility in AI answers. That is different from learning how to ask a writing assistant for titles or keyword ideas. Apollo’s GEO lessons can complement the AEO introduction; pick one real page and use it as a practice project instead of collecting overlapping certificates.
Access and certificates
Semrush and HubSpot explicitly offer certificates; HubSpot requires a free Academy account. Certificate status is Unknown for Learning AI Search and Apollo Digital. A roadmap is not an assessed qualification. Check whether an employer wants a certificate, or whether a small implementation portfolio would be more useful.
When should you pay?
Pay when a specific limitation blocks implementation: you need feedback, a deeper specialist curriculum, deadlines or a practitioner community. Before subscribing, write down the question free material could not resolve and the deliverable you expect paid training to help produce.
FAQ: Does free mean a free trial?
Here it means the provider describes the learning resource as free. Coursera’s “enrol for free” wording is not treated as proof of free full access or certification, so it is excluded from this confirmed-free shortlist.
Official sources and evidence
Public information checked 19 September 2026. Provider claims have not been independently tested.
Semrush AI Visibility Essentials
Free enrolment and certificate are stated. Lessons cover prompt research, AI visibility, citation sources, brand mentions, content structure and technical optimisation. GEO/AEO mapped from equivalent LLM-search outcomes.
- Access / price
- Free; optional tools may cost extra
- Certificate
- Yes
- Entity SEO
- Unknown
- Limitation
- Demonstrations use Semrush; course access does not imply free software access.
HubSpot AEO Fundamentals
Free certification course. Public lessons explicitly cover AI citations and measurement using referral traffic, mentions, share of voice and citation rates.
- Access / price
- Free account required
- Certificate
- Yes
- Entity SEO
- Unknown
- Limitation
- An introductory route; advanced operators may already know much of the material.
Learning AI Search
The public roadmap explicitly covers GEO/AEO/LLMO, brand authority and citations, technical optimisation, and AI search KPIs. Version 4 is dated 20 March 2026.
- Access / price
- Free
- Certificate
- Unknown
- Entity SEO
- Unknown
- Limitation
- A curated resource pathway, rather than a coached or assessed course.
Apollo Digital Free GEO Course
Provider labels the course free. Public lesson descriptions cover GEO strategy, entities, authority, cited sources and AI crawler access.
- Access / price
- Free
- Certificate
- Unknown
- Entity SEO
- Yes
- Limitation
- Agency-authored material; certification and live feedback are not verified.
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