More buying journeys now start with a question to an AI assistant instead of a search box. Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your brand, website and content so those assistants understand who you are, trust what you say, and recommend you.

How AEO differs from SEO

Classic SEO earns a position in a list of links. AEO earns a mention inside a single synthesized answer. The fundamentals overlap — crawlable pages, clear structure, real expertise — but AEO puts extra weight on:

  • Entity clarity: consistent facts about your brand across the web.
  • Answerable content: pages that directly and concisely answer real questions.
  • Structured data: schema markup that tells machines exactly what each page is.
  • Citations: being referenced by sources the models already trust.

Where to start

Audit how assistants describe you today. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini the questions your buyers ask, note who gets recommended, and work backwards from the gaps.