Basics

WHAT IS AEO - Answer Engine Optimisation, explained

The short version: Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the work of getting your brand recommended inside AI answers. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI or Copilot what to buy or who to use, AEO is what puts you in the reply. Think of it as SEO for the age of AI search: same goal (be the brand people find), new place (the answer itself, not a list of blue links).

Why it suddenly matters. The way people search is changing fast. Instead of typing a query into Google and scrolling ten links, more and more buyers ask an AI assistant a question and act on the single answer it gives back. The machine does the shortlisting. If you are not in the shortlist, you were never in the running - and unlike Google, there is no page two to claw your way back from.

What AEO actually involves. Three things, roughly:

  1. Your own content. Give the AI clear, specific, honest answers on your own site: what you sell, who it is for, why you, at what price. Models repeat clarity and skip waffle.

  2. The sources AI reads. The models lean on third-party places - Reddit, YouTube, reviews, buying guides, editorial. AEO means showing up in those, because that is where the AI does its homework.

  3. The buy-layer. For product brands, AI increasingly recommends a specific product to purchase. AEO includes making sure the one it picks is yours, not a rival's.

How it is different from SEO. SEO earns you a link the buyer clicks and chooses between. AEO earns you the named recommendation they act on. Same underlying discipline - do the work to earn your place in what the machine reads - but a different finish line. The best part: you can watch your visibility across the models move week to week, so it is measurable, not a leap of faith.

Is it worth doing yet? If your customers research before they buy - and for most considered purchases they now do, inside AI - then yes, and early. The brands showing up in AI answers today mostly are not the biggest. They are the ones who noticed first. That window is open now, and it will not stay open.

Where to start. Find out where you actually stand. A free AI Health Score shows you how visible your brand is when your customers ask AI about your category, with your competitors named: generative-agency.com/ai-health-score