What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?

AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of making a page the one a search or AI engine uses to answer a question directly: a featured snippet, a People Also Ask box, a Google AI Overview, or a cited source in ChatGPT, Perplexity or Claude. Classic SEO aims for a blue link; AEO aims for the answer itself.

How is AEO different from SEO and GEO?

The three overlap. GEO is the newer name for being cited by generative AI in particular. AEO is the older, wider name for any engine that answers instead of listing links. Both rest on SEO: an engine can only quote a page it can crawl, index and trust. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to appear as a link in its AI features, and that there are no extra technical requirements.

What does AEO look like in practice?

• Put a direct, two or three sentence answer right under the heading that asks the question.
• Use the words people search with as headings, then add the detail, steps or table below.
• Cover the follow-up questions on the same page, so one page can answer the whole thread.
• Mark up what the page shows with structured data, and keep facts current and dated.

Example

A plumber’s page titled “How much does a water heater replacement cost?” that opens with a clear price range, and what changes it, is far more likely to be quoted than one that opens with company history. The answer goes first; the sales pitch can come after.

For a longer walk-through, see the AEO guide. SEO Rank Fixer finds the questions your pages show up for in Search Console but leave unanswered, and drafts the answer and FAQ markup for you.