UXIQ

AEO

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

AI tools quote the pages that answer questions clearly. We structure your content so yours is the one they quote.

Get a Free AuditSee the structured data guide

The definition

What answer engine optimisation is

AEO is about the format of your content: writing it so an AI answer engine can pull out a clear answer and credit you.

Answer engines are the tools that respond to a question with an answer instead of a list of links: Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT's search feature and Google's AI Overviews. They scan pages for passages they can lift and quote.

A page can rank well and still be passed over, because the answer is buried in long, vague paragraphs. AEO fixes that. It sits alongside our wider GEO service and relies on solid on-page SEO underneath.

Three terms, one family

AEO, SEO and GEO compared

They overlap, and most projects use all three. This is how they differ.
SEO compared with AEO and GEO
AspectSEOAEOGEO
GoalRank pages and win clicksGet answers extracted and creditedBe cited across AI-generated answers
PlatformGoogle and Bing resultsAnswer engines: Perplexity, Copilot, ChatGPT search, AI OverviewsEvery AI answer tool, plus how models know your brand
Content formatPages built around keywords and intentQuestion headings, direct answers, lists, tablesAuthoritative content plus entity and citation signals
SchemaHelps with rich resultsFAQ, step-by-step and Article markup for clean structureFull business and entity markup
MeasurementRankings and trafficAnswers quoted, snippets held, AI referralsCitations, mentions, share of AI answers

What works

The content structures AI tools love

AI tools favour content where the answer is obvious. Five structures do most of the work.

Question and answer

The question as a heading, the direct answer in the first sentence or two, detail after.

Numbered lists

Steps and ranked options are easy to lift whole. Use them for any process.

Definition blocks

A one or two sentence plain definition of each key term, placed right under its heading.

Comparison tables

Side-by-side facts in a real table, not an image, so the structure survives extraction.

Attributed statistics

Numbers with the source named. Unsourced figures are easy for a model to distrust.

One topic per section

Each section should answer one question well enough to stand alone when it is quoted out of context.

Side by side

Content AI ignores, and content AI cites

Both pages might contain the same facts. Only one makes them easy to extract.
Content AI skipsVague, no clear question, answer buriedContent AI cites123Question heading, direct answer, steps, table

A core tactic

FAQ schema, with a real example

FAQ markup gives machines your questions and answers in a clean, labelled form.

Here is the markup behind one of the questions on our own site. Google now shows FAQ rich results only for a small set of authoritative sites, but the markup remains valid and is a tidy way to present answers to any machine reading the page. Pair it with visible FAQ content, and read Google's FAQPage guidance for the rules. Our technical SEO work includes adding and testing it, and our guide to structured data covers the other types.

FAQPage schemaJSON-LD
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [
    {
      "@type": "Question",
      "name": "How long does SEO take to work?",
      "acceptedAnswer": {
        "@type": "Answer",
        "text": "Typically 3-6 months to see real movement. Real results take time."
      }
    }
  ]
}
Markup must match the question and answer visible on the page. Never mark up content visitors cannot see.

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The opportunity

People now ask full questions

Nobody types "boiler service Taunton price" into an AI tool. They ask: "How much does a boiler service cost in Taunton, and is it worth doing every year?" Your content needs to be the answer to that whole question, with a price range, the areas you cover and why it matters.

We find the real questions your customers ask, from search suggestions, enquiries and phone calls, and answer them first, with keyword research to guide the priorities. For local businesses that also means local SEO and visible credentials, because E-E-A-T decides which answers an AI tool trusts.

Want to know how your pages measure up? Start with an AI SEO audit, or see how Google's side of this works in AI Overview optimisation.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is writing and structuring content so AI answer tools, such as Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT search and Google AI Overviews, can lift a clear answer from your page and credit you. It is the content-format side of AI search.

SEO focuses on getting a page to rank. AEO focuses on making individual answers on that page easy to extract. A page can rank well and still be skipped by an AI tool if the answer is buried in long, vague paragraphs. AEO fixes that with clear headings, direct answers and supporting facts.

Formats that make the answer obvious: a question as a heading, a direct answer in the first sentence or two, then detail. Numbered steps for processes, short definitions, comparison tables and statistics with the source named. Keep each section about one question so it can stand alone when quoted.

It helps machines read your questions and answers cleanly, but it is not a guarantee of anything. Google now shows FAQ rich results only for a small set of authoritative sites, yet the markup stays valid and useful as a clear question-and-answer structure. Pair it with visible FAQ content. Our guide to structured data for AI search explains what each type does.

Yes. Customers ask full questions now: "how much does a boiler service cost in Taunton" or "do I need planning permission for a loft conversion". A local business that answers those questions plainly, with prices, areas and credentials, is the kind of source an answer engine can use and a customer will trust.

Track whether you are named or linked when you ask your customers' questions on each AI platform, watch for visits from AI tools in your analytics, and keep an eye on the featured snippets and AI Overviews you hold in Google. Progress is usually gradual, so compare month against month rather than week against week.

Keep reading

Related pages

This page is part of our AI search readiness work. These pages go further.

Be the answer they quote.

Our free audit reviews how your key pages are structured and shows where an AI tool would struggle to lift an answer from them.

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