What is AEO? A practical guide to answer engine optimisation

For twenty years, getting found online meant ranking in a list of ten blue links. That list still matters, but a growing share of buyers now skip it. They ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews a direct question, such as “Who are the best web agencies in Dubai?”, and they get a short, confident answer that names a handful of brands.

If your brand is in that answer, you are in the running. If it isn’t, many buyers will never know you exist. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the work of making sure you are part of the answer.

What is answer engine optimisation?

AEO is the practice of optimising your brand, website and wider online presence so that AI-powered answer engines can understand who you are, trust that you are credible and cite you when they answer relevant questions.

You will also hear the term GEO (generative engine optimisation). The two overlap heavily. GEO usually refers specifically to generative AI answers, while AEO is often used more broadly, including featured snippets and voice assistants. In practice, the work is very similar.

How do AI assistants decide which brands to mention?

No AI company publishes a full recipe, and each system works differently. But the signals they rely on are fairly consistent with how they are built:

• What the web says about you. Language models learn from large amounts of public text. Brands that are described clearly and consistently across many credible sources are easier for them to recall and describe.
• What they can retrieve right now. Assistants with web search, such as Perplexity, ChatGPT search and Google AI Overviews, pull in live pages and summarise them. Well-structured, crawlable pages that answer the question directly are easier to use.
• Trust signals. Reviews, reputable mentions, directory listings and consistent business information help an AI system judge whether you are a safe recommendation.
• Clarity. If your website is vague about what you do, where you do it and for whom, an AI system has little to quote.

The four pillars of AEO

1. Entity clarity

Make it unambiguous who you are. Use the same brand name, description, services and locations everywhere: your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, directories and social profiles. Add Organization and Service structured data (schema) to your website so machines can read these facts directly.

2. Answer-ready content

Create pages that answer the questions your buyers actually ask, in plain language. Lead with a direct answer, then add detail. Use clear headings, short paragraphs, lists and FAQs. Pages like “What does X cost?”, “X vs Y” and “How to choose an X” are especially useful.

3. Brand mentions and reputation

Earn mentions on sites AI systems are likely to trust: industry publications, credible directories, partner websites, podcasts and review platforms. Encourage happy clients to leave detailed reviews that describe what you did for them.

4. Technical access

Make sure AI crawlers can reach and read your content. Check your robots.txt, keep pages fast and server-rendered where possible, use clean HTML and structured data, and consider publishing an llms.txt file that summarises your key pages.

How to measure AEO

Traditional rank tracking does not capture AI answers, so measure directly:

1. Write down 10–20 questions your buyers ask, such as “best [service] in [city]” or “[your category] for [industry]”.
2. Ask them regularly in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, and record whether your brand appears, how it is described and which competitors are named.
3. Track referral traffic from AI tools in your analytics, and ask new leads how they found you.

Do you still need SEO?

Yes. Many AI answers draw on search results and well-ranked pages, so strong SEO supports AEO. The two share the same foundation: a fast, well-structured website with genuinely helpful content. Read more in our guide to AEO vs SEO.

AEO in practice: a worked example

Imagine a boutique accounting firm in Dubai. When a founder asks an AI assistant “Which accounting firms in Dubai are good for startups?”, the assistant names three firms. Our example firm is not one of them, even though it serves dozens of startups.

A quick review shows why:

• The website’s homepage says “Excellence in financial services” but never mentions startups, Dubai free zones or VAT registration, the things founders actually ask about.
• The firm’s Google Business Profile lists a different phone number and an old address.
• There are no pages answering common questions such as “How much does bookkeeping cost for a startup in Dubai?”
• Competitors are listed in several directories and industry round-ups that the assistant cites. The firm is not.

The fixes are practical: a clear “Accounting for startups in Dubai” service page, an FAQ with direct answers, Organization and Service schema, consistent business details everywhere, and a push to appear on the directories and publications the assistant already trusts. None of this is a trick. It simply makes the firm easier to understand and easier to recommend.

Common AEO mistakes to avoid

• Chasing hacks. There is no secret prompt or hidden tag that forces an AI to recommend you. Clarity, consistency and credibility do the work.
• Publishing thin AI-written content at scale. Generic pages add little that answer engines can cite and can dilute your brand.
• Ignoring your own website. AI systems still rely heavily on the open web. If your own site is vague, nothing else compensates.
• Measuring once. AI answers change. Track the same questions monthly to see real trends.
• Forgetting the basics of SEO. Crawlable, fast, well-structured pages remain the foundation for both search and AI visibility.

AEO checklist

1. Write a one-sentence description of what you do, for whom and where, and use it consistently.
2. Add Organization schema (name, logo, URL, contact, social profiles) and Service schema for each offering.
3. Create or improve one page per key service, and one per key location if you serve several markets.
4. Add an FAQ to each service page that answers real buyer questions in the first sentence.
5. Align your business details on Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and major directories.
6. Identify the sources AI assistants cite for your category and pursue listings, reviews or coverage there.
7. Check that AI crawlers can access your site, and consider publishing an llms.txt file.
8. Track 10–20 buyer questions monthly across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google.

Where to start

Start by finding out where you stand today. Ask the AI assistants about your category and see who they recommend. If you’d like a structured view, our free AI visibility audit tests real buyer questions across the major assistants and shows you the fixes that will make the biggest difference. To have us do the work for you, see our AEO services.