Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Also called: AEO
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is optimizing to be the source an AI answer engine draws from and names when it responds to a question, rather than optimizing for a ranked list of links. In practice AEO and GEO describe the same output-side goal.
AEO and GEO are often used interchangeably. Both target the generated answer instead of the ten blue links, and both are measured by whether the engine names the brand and cites its domain. Where people draw a line, "AEO" tends to emphasize direct-answer surfaces (featured snippets, AI Overviews, chatbots) and "GEO" the generative engines specifically.
An AEO audit worth its name does not statically score a website or its schema. It runs the questions a buyer actually asks through the engines and reads what came back — the exact answer, the cited sources, and whether the brand was named or only cited.
Start with the free audit
Send us one brand. We’ll run it through the engines and send back the answers, citations, and sources — so the first report your client sees is already backed by evidence.
Free audit: ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, run by hand. Paid work covers all six engines.