Some AI products do more than generate text. They show sources. Perplexity links to pages. ChatGPT Search cites URLs. Google AI Overviews pull from the open web.
AEO means answer engine optimization: the work of earning those citations with pages and data answer engines trust.
How AEO differs from GEO
GEO is about being described well when the model writes from memory.
AEO is about being the page that gets linked when the product shows footnotes.
You often need both. Many teams feel pain on AEO first because they can see a competitor’s blog post linked while their own site is ignored.
Practical AEO checklist
- One strong page per important question. “Best X for Y,” pricing, integrations, vs competitor. Each page should stand alone.
- Schema that matches the page. Organization, Product, FAQ, or Article markup where it is accurate. Broken schema hurts trust.
- Fresh, specific detail. Dates, version numbers, and methodology beat vague marketing lines.
- Third-party mentions. Reviews, forums, and partner pages that point back to you with consistent naming.
Do not chase tricks
Hidden text, fake reviews, and AI-generated spam pages tend to fail twice: once with Google, once with moderators and model quality filters. AEO rewards pages a smart human would bookmark.
Measure what you can
Pick ten prompts your buyers use. Run them monthly in Perplexity and ChatGPT Search. Note which URLs appear and whether yours moved in or out. That log is more useful than a generic traffic chart.
We run this as part of our AEO services and visibility audit. Get in touch if you want help setting up the prompt list for your niche.