AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It's the discipline of making your brand visible in AI-generated answers — the responses produced by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Where SEO optimises for search engine rankings, AEO optimises for AI recommendations.
Why the Term "Answer Engine" Matters
The shift from "search engine" to "answer engine" reflects how users are changing their behaviour. They're not searching for links anymore — they're asking questions and expecting direct answers.
Google processes over 8 billion queries per day. A growing percentage of those now return an AI-generated answer instead of a list of results. The brand that appears in that answer wins the impression without needing a click.
That changes everything about how visibility works. A click-through rate of 0% on an AI answer still delivers brand exposure. But if you're not in the answer, you don't exist in that moment.
AEO vs GEO — Are They the Same Thing?
They're closely related. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is the broader term for optimising across all AI platforms. AEO was originally associated with voice search and featured snippets — getting your content into Google's "answer boxes."
Today most practitioners use the terms interchangeably, though some reserve AEO for structured Q&A formats and GEO for the full AI search channel. For practical purposes, the goal is the same: appear in the answer, not just the index.
How AEO Works
AI systems pull recommendations from two main sources:
- Your own website — FAQs, structured data (schema markup), well-structured content that answers questions directly
- Third-party sources — review platforms, directories, industry publications, Reddit, social proof
Most brands focus only on their own website. That's a mistake.
AI models weight third-party corroboration heavily. A brand mentioned positively in 15 independent sources is more likely to be recommended than one with a polished website and no external presence. Your site is your foundation. The web's conversation about you is what AI uses to decide whether you're credible.
The 4 Core AEO Tactics
- FAQ content — Write direct Q&A content answering the exact questions your customers ask. Use question-format headings (H2/H3). Each question is a potential AI citation.
- Schema markup — Add FAQPage, Organization, and HowTo schema. This helps AI extract structured facts directly from your HTML, without guessing.
- Third-party presence — Get listed on review platforms relevant to your sector (G2, Trustpilot, Clutch, TripAdvisor, etc). Each listing is a citation signal.
- Entity building — Consistent brand description across all sources (same name, description, location, product focus). AI models build entity graphs. Contradictory information weakens your position.
How to Measure AEO Performance
You can't track AEO in Google Search Console or standard analytics. The only way to measure it is to run test queries across each AI platform and count brand appearances.
Key metrics to track:
- Share of Memory — the percentage of relevant queries where your brand appears
- Recommendation Rate — where you're specifically recommended, not just mentioned
- Platform Breakdown — visibility varies dramatically by platform. A brand appearing in 70% of ChatGPT responses may appear in 10% of Google AI Overviews
This is why standard analytics won't tell you the full story. You need to query each platform directly and track the results over time.
Where to Start
If you've never checked your AI visibility before, start there. Run 10-20 queries in ChatGPT and Gemini that your customers would ask, and see whether your brand appears. That baseline tells you everything about the opportunity in front of you.
You might find you appear in 60% of relevant queries on one platform and 0% on another. That gap is the work. From there, the priority order is usually: fix your FAQ content, add schema, then build external presence.
Not sure where your brand stands? Check your brand's AI visibility for free.