SEO & AEO
Answer Engine Optimization: Get Cited by ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity
Search is splitting in two: Google and Bing on one side, AI answer engines on the other. Here's how to make your brand legible — and citable — to both.
The second search revolution
For two decades, search meant one thing: type a query, get ten blue links. That model is being replaced by answer engines — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude — that synthesize a direct answer from multiple sources. If your brand isn't legible to these systems, you're invisible in a growing share of queries.
What AI crawlers actually look for
AI systems read your site through crawlers like GPTBot, Gemini and PerplexityBot. They look for clean HTML, clear structure, and — critically — signals that describe what your content is about. Machine-readable files like llms.txt and structured data (JSON-LD) give them a map instead of making them guess.
The practical AEO stack
Start with llms.txt to declare your key pages and purpose. Add an AI catalog (ai-catalog.json) with structured summaries of your offerings. Keep your existing SEO schemas — Person, Organization, WebSite, Article, FAQ — because answer engines reuse them. Finally, write content that directly answers the questions your audience asks.
Measure what matters
Track AI referrals in GA4 (they appear as 'ai-assistant' or referral traffic from chat platforms), monitor your brand's presence in answer outputs, and keep your structured data valid with the Schema.org validator. AEO compounds: the more AI systems cite you accurately, the more trust they place in your domain.
Frequently asked questions
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
AEO is the practice of making your content legible and citable to AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, so your brand appears when those systems synthesize answers.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO optimizes for traditional search engines that return lists of links. AEO optimizes for AI systems that generate direct answers. They share foundations (structured data, clean content) but AEO adds machine-readable files like llms.txt.
Do I still need traditional SEO?
Absolutely. Google and Bing still drive the majority of referral traffic, and their results are increasingly used as sources by AI systems. The two disciplines reinforce each other.