Guide to Answer Engine Optimization
Answer Engine Optimization (or AEO) is the process of applying dedicated marketing practices and website optimizations to increase visibility in AI-generated tools – like Google’s AI Mode and ChatGPT.
Two of the most powerful ways to optimize your brand for AEO is:
- Earning position citations/links on other high-quality websites (news articles, blog posts, podcasts, etc.)
- Publishing content on your website that is helpful, unique, and easy for AI to read and cite.
You may notice that these steps are basically off-page and on-page SEO, respectively. If you’ve been applying a strong SEO strategy, you’re already most of the way there. You may even be ranking on AI tools without realizing it yet!
Is AEO Important?
AI search is dominating the online landscape right now. Every business is pushing their AI tools and features. And millions of people are learning how to rely on AI for quick and easy answers. You want to be where your clients are. So if they’re using AI, that’s where you should be too.
Appearing in traditional search results is still incredibly important. But adding AEO to your strategy means getting ahead of the competition. Here’s why AEO should be important to you:
- AI tools push traditional SERPs down the page, making it easiest for searchers to read the AI result first.
- AI summaries are becoming popular for research purposes, as opposed to skimming through a website. People are learning to trust these summaries more and more.
- AI traffic is essential. Semrush conducted a thorough AI search study and learned that, according to conversion rate, AI search is 4x more valuable to a user than traditional search.
How do you Optimize Website Content for AEO?
The good news is that if you’re already doing strong SEO work, you’re probably already more than halfway there. Best practices for ranking in answer engines are:
Build strong external links/link building
Take the time to get your site mentioned by multiple relevant and high-quality sources on a consistent basis. Find opportunities on multiple platforms and websites where you can make connections and get links back to your site. Just like with traditional off-page SEO, answer engines want to see that you’re an expert in your field and that other sites trust what you have to say.
Format content for AI
Answer engines can more easily contextualize and cite information formatted in question/answer format.
- Target specific questions in your H2 and H3 subheadings. These should be long tail keywords that funnel back into your main keyword focus.
- Answer those in summarized and concise ways, just below the subheading. Use bold text to make it easier for tools to find the right answer, and easier for humans to skim.
- Use bulleted and numbered lists that answer engines can easily show searchers. An answer to a question that includes a list of easy to follow steps or details is gold.
- Write rich content that is full of details, steps, statistics, links, etc. It’s not enough to just publish quick answers and nothing else. Back it up with proof that you know your stuff.
- Implement schema markup wherever possible. Use code, plugins, or other tools to tell the machines exactly what kind of content this is.
- Add an FAQ section to the bottom of the page. Use this section to answer any other questions about the topic, making this page as rich and helpful as possible.
Write good stuff
It’s not just about throwing as much stuff out there as you can. Continue to write relevant, helpful, and rich content. Just because someone may land on your AI summary, doesn’t mean they won’t click through to your site to read more.
Keep content up to date
Answer engines deeply value information that is up to date. It’s one of the ways they qualify content. So make sure you have a calendar set up reminding you to revisit old content and give it a once-over.
What is the Difference Between AEO and GEO?
Both Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization are methods for optimizing a website or brand for AI tools. They overlap in tons of ways and are both extensions of traditional SEO. Here’s how the two methods differ:
| Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) | Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) |
| Focuses on direct Q/A style content. | Focuses on comprehensive and authoritative content. |
| Designed for Google featured snippets and voice assistants. | Designed for LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini. |
| Utilizes structured data, schema, and conversational language. | Utilizes topic authority and organized content. |
| The goal is quick answers. | The goal is building a reputation and ensuring AI answers are accurate and trustworthy. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Manually type questions into ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc. See if you come up for the questions you hope to answer. You can use Semrush’s AI visibility toolkit to track mentions, too. You can also monitor performance in Google Search Console. Search by query and look for the number of impressions you’re getting.
The most popular SEO tools so far are Profound, Semrush AI toolkit, and Hubspot AEO grader.
Use a tool like semrush to conduct keyword research. Add your main focus keyword and it will give you related keywords and questions related to that search term.
