AEO in one paragraph
When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Google AI Mode which CRM to buy, they get a written answer that names a few options and may link to a few sources. Answer engine optimization is the work of making it more likely that your brand is one of those options and your pages are among those sources. It covers technical access, the way content is written, the evidence behind your claims and your reputation on other websites.
The term matters because the unit of success has changed. A search result gives you a position in a list. An AI answer gives you a mention, a citation or nothing, and the reader may never click through at all.
How an answer engine chooses what to say
The details differ between services and they change often, but the broad sequence is consistent enough to plan around.
- It interprets the question. A question can be split into several searches. Google describes this as a "query fan-out" technique for AI Overviews and AI Mode: issuing multiple related searches across subtopics to build a response.
- It retrieves candidate pages. Pages come from a search index or a live fetch, so a page the service cannot reach cannot be used.
- It reads and composes. The model picks the passages it can use and writes an answer from them, together with whatever it already knows.
- It attributes some of it. Some of the pages used appear as citations. Being used and being cited are not always the same thing.
This sequence explains why AEO has several layers. If you fail at retrieval, your writing doesn't matter. If you are retrieved but your page has no clear passage to use, your access doesn't matter.
The AEO work that matters, in order
1. Check that AI crawlers can reach you
Each AI company runs different crawlers for different jobs. OpenAI, for example, says that OAI-SearchBot is used for ChatGPT search and GPTBot is used for model training, and that each setting is independent of the other. A rule written to decline training can take search down with it by accident. The AI crawler directory lists what each bot does and how often major sites block it.
2. Get the basics of search right
Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that the best practices for SEO remain relevant. If a page is not indexed, or nothing links to it, AEO work on that page is wasted.
3. Write passages that can stand alone
Models lift passages, not whole pages. Put the answer in the first sentence under a heading that matches the question, and make sure the passage still makes sense when it is read on its own. Replace "it" and "this solution" with the actual name of the thing. Our guide to answer-ready passages goes further.
4. Back up what you claim
The research paper that coined the term GEO tested content changes such as adding citations, quotations and statistics, and found they can improve how visible a source is in generated answers. Dates, named authors and links to primary sources also let a reader, or a model, check the claim.
5. Earn mentions on other websites
Answers about a category often draw on review sites, comparison articles, forums and the press rather than vendors' own pages. Our AI recommendation leaderboards show the sources cited most often in each category we measure. If those sites never mention you, improving your own pages can only do so much.
6. Measure, then repeat
Track a fixed set of questions over time. The next section explains how.
How to measure AEO without fooling yourself
AI answers vary. The same question asked twice can name different brands and cite different pages, so a single screenshot proves very little. Four habits keep the measurement honest:
- Use a fixed question set. Write the questions your buyers actually ask, then leave them alone so results stay comparable.
- Measure more than one service. ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Claude and Perplexity often disagree.
- Separate named from cited. Being recommended in the text and being linked as a source are different results, and they call for different fixes.
- Show the sample size. "Named in 4 of 30 answers" tells the reader far more than "13%".
You can do this by hand with a spreadsheet for a small set of questions, and move to an AEO tool when you need repeated checks. How to measure AI visibility without false claims covers the pitfalls.
What AEO cannot do
Nobody can guarantee a citation. There is no submission form and no paid placement inside the organic answer, and any vendor who promises a position in ChatGPT is promising something they don't control. AEO improves your odds and removes the obstacles you can see. It also won't rescue a weak product: if reviewers and customers don't recommend you, answers built from their words are unlikely to either. If you are weighing outside help, see what AEO services cost and what to ask an agency.
Where to start this week
- Open your robots.txt and check each AI crawler against what you actually intend.
- Write down 20 questions a real buyer would ask, phrased as questions rather than keywords.
- Ask five of them in two AI services and note who gets named and which sites get cited.
- Pick the one page that should answer your most important question and rewrite its opening passage.
- Note the date, then check the same questions again in four weeks.
If you would rather see this as a report, an example report shows every answer and citation for one real buyer question.
