The practice of optimizing content to be cited or surfaced by AI answer engines like Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search.
More about AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing content so it gets cited or surfaced by AI answer engines, rather than ranked as one of ten blue links. Target surfaces include Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, and other AI search engines.
AEO sits alongside (and overlaps with) AI SEO and the closely related concept of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). The core idea is the same: AI answer engines do not rank pages so much as extract and synthesize claims from them. Pages that are clear, well-structured, and directly answer a specific question are easier to extract from and more likely to be cited.
Practical AEO tactics include writing concise question-and-answer style content, using clear headings, including unambiguous facts and figures, building topical authority, and ensuring pages are indexable and snippet-eligible. Standards like llms.txt and WebMCP can help with some AI surfaces, though Google has explicitly stated they are not required for AI Overviews or AI Mode.
