Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): The playbook for being cited by AI
AEO helps your brand become the referenced source in AI assistants and answer engines. Learn definitions, best practices, and how to execute.
What is AEO and how is it different?
AEO is about earning citations in AI-generated answers. It’s complementary to SEO and central to GEO. Focus on entities, structure, and authority.
- AEO vs SEO: SEO targets rankings; AEO targets AI answers and citations.
- AEO vs GEO: GEO is the broader practice; AEO operationalizes visibility inside AI systems.
- Priorities: entity clarity, schema, freshness, and trustworthy sources.
The AEO stack: what to implement
Institutionalize the building blocks that AI systems rely on.
Entities & knowledge graph
Define people, products, locations, and relationships with a first-party graph.
- entity seo platform
- knowledge graph governance
Structured answers
Publish TL;DRs, FAQs, comparisons, and references in reusable blocks.
- faqpage, howto, product, softwareapplication
Citation monitoring
Measure where you’re cited and fix gaps proactively across engines.
- chatgpt/perplexity/copilot/gemini/claude
Essential AEO FAQs
Direct answers, written for both people and answer engines.
What is AEO?
AEO is the practice of earning accurate citations inside AI-generated answers.
How to get included in AI Overviews?
Publish structured, referenced content with clear entities and current facts.
How to get indexed by LLMs?
Allow AI crawlers, publish llms.txt, and provide canonical sources and datasets.
Which schema types matter most?
FAQPage, HowTo, Product, SoftwareApplication, and Dataset are high impact.
How to measure AEO success?
Citations, mentions, answer share, and assisted conversions across funnels.
How to prevent hallucinations?
Disambiguate entities, provide sources, and keep content fresh via automation.
Rollout plan: 30–60–90 days
A practical path to material visibility gains.
Days 1–30
Connect data sources, run audits, map entities, and publish high-impact Answer Blocks.
Days 31–60
Automate schema; roll out llms.txt and freshness feeds; fix disambiguation issues.
Days 61–90
Expand to new intents and locales; instrument AEO analytics in BI tools.