More people are asking AI assistants instead of scrolling search results. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is about making sure those assistants understand and cite your business.
What is AEO?
AEO is the practice of structuring your content so answer engines — like AI chat assistants and AI overviews — can extract, trust and cite it in their responses.
Write in clear, extractable answers
Lead with the answer
State the answer first, then explain. AI models favour content that responds directly to a question.
Use plain, specific language
Avoid vague marketing fluff. Concrete facts and definitions are easier for models to quote confidently.
Structure content for machines
Use descriptive headings, short paragraphs, lists and tables. Add FAQ sections and structured data so the meaning of your content is unambiguous.
Build genuine authority
AI answers favour sources that are consistent, well-linked and trusted. Publish accurate content regularly and earn mentions from reputable sites.
Keep your facts consistent
Make sure your key facts — services, location, contact details — are stated clearly and consistently across your site.
AEO vs traditional SEO
AEO does not replace SEO — it extends it. Traditional SEO earns clicks from a ranked list of links. AEO earns a mention inside a synthesised answer, often before the user ever sees a list. The good news: the fundamentals overlap heavily.
What they share
Clear structure, fast pages, accurate facts, and genuine authority help you in both worlds. If your technical SEO is solid and your content is trustworthy, you are already most of the way to being AEO-ready.
What’s different
AEO rewards content that answers a specific question cleanly and can be quoted in a sentence or two. That means more direct answers, more definitions, more comparisons and more structured data than a traditional keyword-stuffed page.
How to measure AEO
Measurement is still maturing, but you can start today: periodically ask the major AI assistants the questions your customers ask, and note whether your business is mentioned or cited. Track branded search volume — AI answers often drive people to search your name afterwards. And watch referral traffic from AI tools in your analytics as those sources grow.
Frequently asked questions
Is AEO different from SEO?
It extends SEO. The fundamentals overlap; AEO adds clear, quotable answers and structured data.
How do I know if AI answers cite me?
Ask the assistants your customers’ questions and see if you are mentioned; watch branded search too.
Do I need new content for AEO?
Often you just restructure existing content into clearer answers and add FAQs and schema.
Conclusion
AEO and SEO reinforce each other: both reward clear, trustworthy, well-structured content. This theme is built with the semantic markup and structured data that AEO relies on, and our SEO team can optimise your content for both.
