Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
The practice of optimizing content so AI answer engines cite and reference it.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring and publishing content so that AI-powered answer engines — ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews — can find, understand, and cite it when users ask questions.
Unlike SEO, which optimizes for ranking in a list of blue links, AEO optimizes for being the answer itself. When a user asks an AI "what's the best X?", AEO determines whether your brand appears inside the generated response.
See also