AEO in one paragraph
Answer engine optimization, or AEO, means structuring your website so that AI assistants and AI search results can find a clear answer on it, understand who it comes from, and quote it accurately. It builds on search engine optimization and does not replace it.
How it differs from SEO
- SEO aims to rank a page in a list of links for a keyword.
- AEO aims to have your content used in the answer itself, with your business named as the source.
The two overlap heavily. A page that is clear, specific and well structured tends to do well at both.
What makes a page easy to quote
- A question as the heading and a direct answer in the first sentence or two beneath it.
- One page per topic, so it is obvious what the page is about.
- Specific facts: what you do, who for, how long it takes, what it costs.
- Structured data that labels your organization, services and questions for machines.
- A consistent business name and description everywhere it appears.
- A site that crawlers can read: a sitemap, sensible page titles and no important text locked in images.
What gets in the way
- Vague headlines that could describe any company.
- Answers buried under paragraphs of introduction.
- One long page covering every service.
- No prices, timelines or specifics anywhere.
Where to start
- Write down the ten questions customers ask before they buy.
- Give each main service its own page.
- Answer those questions on the relevant page, plainly, near the top.
- Add FAQ and organization structured data.
- Check that titles, descriptions and the sitemap are in order.
Every website we build includes SEO and AEO as part of the build. See website design with SEO and AEO.