Question
What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
AEO — Answer Engine Optimization — is the practice of shaping content so answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, voice assistants) return your content as the answer. In practice it overlaps almost entirely with GEO: the goal is to be quoted, not just ranked.
AEO vs GEO
The terms are used interchangeably by most practitioners. GEO emphasizes generative engines that synthesize answers; AEO emphasizes any engine that returns a direct answer. The tactics are the same: quotable answers, extractable data, machine readability, crawl access, and fast indexing.
Core AEO tactics
- Lead with the answer: one correct sentence under a clear question heading.
- Structure for extraction: tables, ranked lists, and steps.
- Add matching JSON-LD (FAQPage) so machines parse you cheaply.
- Stay crawlable and index fast via IndexNow.
Related pages: what is GEO, GEO vs SEO, how to get cited by ChatGPT.