What is answer engine optimization?

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of getting your business named and cited inside the direct answers AI engines give — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google's AI Overviews — instead of just ranked in a list of links. The answer usually contains one or two names. AEO is how you become one of them.

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FAQ

How is AEO different from SEO?SEO earns you a position on a results page the buyer still has to scan. AEO earns you the mention inside the answer itself — which the buyer reads as a recommendation. The signals overlap (entities, citations, structure), but AEO lives or dies on whether engines can quote and trust you.

What are the core AEO signals?Three: entity clarity (schema, llms.txt, consistent naming so engines know exactly who you are), citation density (being referenced on the sources engines trust for your category), and quotable content (direct, dated, well-structured answers on your own pages).

How do I measure AEO progress?Track whether each engine names you for your real buying-intent prompts and watch the trend. A free Cited scan baselines you across 8+ engines and shows the highest-impact fix first.

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