Yes, these optimization algorithms are used in AI. But that doesn't make them AI. Loops are used in AI; strings are used in AI; but a loop isn't an "AI algorithm" and a string isn't an "AI data structure", and writing a program that uses strings and loops wouldn't be "using AI to [do whatever]".
Simulated annealing is a less trivial thing than loops and strings. But it still isn't specifically an AI technique. Simple hill-climbing optimization, even less so. I'm pretty sure that a hefty majority of the uses of these things is unambiguously not AI unless AI is defined super-broadly (e.g., as "doing something tricky with a computer").
(No, I wasn't alluding to the distinction between "weak" and "strong" AI. I'm perfectly happy to call things AI that don't come close to actually implementing human-like intelligence!)