SEO & AEO
What is AEO? Answer engine optimization, plainly explained
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the practice of making a business easy for AI assistants — ChatGPT, Google's AI answers, and similar tools — to find, understand, and mention accurately when someone asks a question like "who's a good electrician nearby." It's an emerging field, not a mature, standardized one.
AEO vs. SEO
| SEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in a list of search results | Get cited or mentioned in an AI-generated answer |
| What it optimizes for | Keywords, backlinks, page structure | Clear, structured, verifiable facts about the business |
| Maturity | Decades of established practice | New, still forming, no fixed playbook |
| Measurability | Rank tracking, click-through data | Hard to measure directly — this is honest, not a knock on it |
What actually helps, concretely
Strip away the hype and four practices are what genuinely support AEO today:
- Structured data — schema.org / JSON-LD markup that explicitly tells machines what a business is, what it offers, and where
- Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) across every place the business appears online
- An llms.txt file — a plain-text summary aimed at AI crawlers, similar in spirit to robots.txt
- Genuine, real customer reviews — AI systems draw on the same trust signals humans do
What to be skeptical of
No one can guarantee a business will be mentioned in a specific AI answer — the underlying models change constantly and nobody outside the AI companies controls them. Be wary of any pitch promising guaranteed AI visibility or a specific placement. The honest version of AEO work is building the structural foundation well and staying patient, the same way local SEO does.
FAQ
Related questions
Will I actually rank on Google after this?
We build the on-page foundation that ranking depends on — fast load, mobile-friendly, proper local structure and data, clear service and location signals. Ranking then compounds over weeks as Google trusts the site, pairing it with a Google Business Profile speeds it up. We're honest about this: it's a foundation, not an overnight #1.