Glossary

What Is AEO? Answer Engine Optimization

Definition

What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is optimizing content to be the source that answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, voice assistants — use when they compose an answer. Where classic SEO competes for a ranked position, AEO competes for the citation inside the answer itself.

What answer engines reward

Clear, direct answers near the top of a page; well-structured headings; factual, verifiable statements; schema markup machines can parse; and site-level authority. Content written as an answer gets cited as the answer.

AEO vs. SEO

They are complementary, not competing: the same helpful, structured, authoritative content wins both. The difference is the finish line — a blue-link click for SEO, a citation and brand mention for AEO.

Related terms

Keep exploring

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Optimizing for AI-generated answers.

Google AI Overviews

Google’s AI answers above the results.

AI citations

When an AI answer names your site as its source.

llms.txt

A signpost file that guides AI systems through your site.

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