What is AEO (answer engine optimisation)?
AEO is the work of getting a business named and cited when people ask AI assistants a question. What it covers, how it differs from SEO and how it is measured.
AEO, answer engine optimisation, is the work of making a business the answer when someone asks an AI assistant or a search engine a question: named in the reply, and cited among its sources. It builds on the foundations of SEO, but success is measured in the answers themselves, question by question and engine by engine, not in a position on a results page.
An answer engine replies with an answer, not a list of links
A results page gives a list of links and leaves the choice to the reader. An answer engine gives the answer. Search engines have done a version of this for years with featured snippets, which Google describes as results where the usual format is reversed and the descriptive snippet comes first. AI assistants go further. ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity and Copilot write a reply in their own words and cite a few sources.
That changes what winning means. There is no second page in an answer. For any one question, a business is named in the reply, or its site is read but a rival is recommended, or it does not appear at all.
AEO builds on SEO, but measures something different
The technical foundations are shared. Google's guidance says there are no additional requirements and no special optimisations for appearing in AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, as in Search. What changes is what gets measured.
| Compared on | SEO | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| The result | A ranked list of links | One written answer with a few sources |
| Success | A higher position for a search term | Being named in the answer, and cited as a source |
| Measured by | Rank trackers and Search Console | Asking the engines the buyer's questions and recording each answer |
| The competition | The other pages on the results page | The businesses the answer recommends instead |
AEO work starts with access and ends with evidence
- Access. An assistant can only cite pages its crawlers can reach. OpenAI, for one, says sites that opt out of its OAI-SearchBot crawler will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
- An answer in the HTML. Each page states its answer plainly and near the top, in the page's own text.
- Structure that matches the page. Clear headings, questions answered where they are asked, and structured data that describes what is actually on the page.
- The sources the engines read. The pages an engine cites for a question show where it looks. A business missing from those sources is usually missing from the answer.
- Measurement. The buyer's questions, asked on each engine, with every answer and its sources kept, so a change can be seen after the work ships.
AEO, GEO and AI SEO name overlapping work
Agencies use the three names for largely the same job. AEO puts the emphasis on being the answer. GEO, generative engine optimisation, a term from a 2023 research paper, puts it on being included in answers that generative AI writes. AI SEO is the plainest label for a search team. Whatever the name, the work is judged the same way: is the client named when its buyers ask, and who is cited instead.
How AEO is measured
AEO is measured in answers. Put the questions a client's buyers actually ask to each engine, keep every answer with its sources, and sort each one into three outcomes: named, where the answer recommends the business; read but not named, where its site is among the sources but a rival is recommended; and not found. Track the same questions over time, and compare the client with the rivals the answers name instead. An answer can differ from one run to the next, so a single snapshot is a starting point, not a verdict.
That is what AI visibility tracking in Inciteful does for each client, on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, with Copilot on Pro and Agency. The free visibility report runs the same measurement once, for any site. When a page ships, Proof shows the same question on each engine before the page and since. It never states that the work caused the change.
Is AEO the same as SEO?
No, but it builds on it. SEO aims for a higher position in a list of links. AEO aims for the answer itself: being named in what an AI assistant writes, and cited among its sources. The foundations overlap: Google says a page needs to be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a supporting link in its AI features.
Is AEO the same as GEO?
Largely. Both describe getting a business into AI answers. AEO stresses being the answer; GEO, generative engine optimisation, stresses visibility in answers that generative AI writes. Most agencies sell them as one service, and both are measured the same way: named, read but not named, or not found.
Which engines does AEO cover?
Any system that answers instead of listing links. For most businesses that means ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity and Copilot. Inciteful tracks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity on every plan, includes Copilot on Pro and Agency, and offers Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode as add-ons per client.
Can an agency promise a client will appear in AI answers?
No. Each engine chooses its own sources, and nobody outside it controls that choice. An agency can promise the work instead: access for AI crawlers, pages that answer the buyer's questions, and a record of what was measured after the work shipped.
Does AEO need an llms.txt file?
No. llms.txt is a proposed file that some AI tools may read. It is not a requirement and not a ranking or citation signal. Crawler access, a clear answer on each page and structured data that matches the page matter more.
How do you measure AEO?
Ask each engine the questions a client's buyers ask, keep every answer with its sources, and sort each into named, read but not named, or not found. Track the same questions over time, alongside the rivals the answers name instead. Inciteful's free visibility report does this once for any site, with no card.
