AEO · GEO · AI Search
Be the source AI assistants cite.
As people ask ChatGPT and Perplexity instead of clicking blue links, being the source those answers cite is the new front page of search. I make your site machine-readable, citation-worthy, and impossible for answer engines to skip.
The shift
Search is becoming answers, not links.
Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity answer the question directly and cite a handful of sources. If you're not one of them, you're invisible, no matter how well you 'rank'. AEO optimises to be the source that gets quoted.
What is AEO?
The short, quotable answer.
What is Answer Engine Optimization?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimising your website so AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and others) can read, understand, and cite it. Instead of only ranking in a list of links, the goal is to be the trusted source the AI quotes directly in its answer.
It overlaps with SEO (both need clean technical foundations and good content) but AEO leans harder on structured data, answer-first writing, FAQ markup, entity clarity, and machine-readable files like llms.txt.
Agent-ready?
The signals that get you cited.
The machine-facing checklist most sites fail, and this one passes.
- Structured data (Service, FAQ, Person, Organization)Pass
- Answer-first content with FAQ markupPass
- llms.txt for AI agentsPass
- RFC 8288 Link headers + API catalogPass
- Clear entity graph (@id linking)Pass
- Fast, crawlable, semantic HTMLPass
What I do
The AEO stack.
Everything that makes your site readable, citable, and recommendable by AI.
- 01
Structured data & schema
Service, FAQPage, Person, and Organization schema so AI systems can parse exactly what you offer and who you are.
- 02
llms.txt & crawler access
An llms.txt file and crawler config that let AI agents discover and summarise your key pages and services.
- 03
Answer-first content
Content restructured around the questions your buyers ask, with direct answers AI can quote verbatim.
- 04
Entity & internal linking
Clear entity relationships and internal links so AI understands how your pages and services connect.
- 05
Technical SEO & speed
Core Web Vitals, clean semantic HTML, sitemaps, and metadata: the foundations AI and search both reward.
- 06
Agent-discovery layer
Link headers, an API catalog, and content signals: the machine-facing layer most sites haven't built yet.
The AEO checklist
What it takes to get cited by AI.
Answer Engine Optimization is about being the source AI assistants quote, in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews. Here is what that actually takes.
Machine-readable content
- Structured data and clean semantic HTML.
- An llms.txt guide written for AI crawlers.
- Markdown and API access so agents can read pages easily.
Answer-ready writing
- Content structured as clear questions and direct answers.
- FAQ and How-To coverage on every key page.
- Concise, quotable summaries an assistant can lift.
Entity and authority
- Consistent name, brand, and author entities.
- E-E-A-T signals like credentials and real work.
- Citations and mentions that build trust over time.
Access and measurement
- Allowing the right AI crawlers, from GPTBot to PerplexityBot.
- Tracking AI referral traffic in analytics.
- Monitoring which pages actually get cited.
The goal is simple: when someone asks an AI who can build what you build, your pages are structured, trusted, and quotable enough to be the answer it gives.
Process
How it works.
From audit to measurable AI citations, a clear and iterative path.
AI-visibility audit
I check how ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI currently describe you and your competitors, and find the gaps.
Schema & structured data
Add Service, FAQ, Person, and Organization schema across your key pages so machines understand them.
Answer-first content
Restructure pages around buyer questions with concise, quotable answers and FAQ sections.
llms.txt & crawler setup
Publish an llms.txt, confirm AI crawlers are allowed, and wire up sitemaps, Link headers, and metadata.
Measure & iterate
Track AI citations, branded mentions, and referral traffic from AI tools over time, and refine.
Ready when you are
Want to be the cited source?
Proof
This site is the case study.
Don't take my word for it; the artifacts are live and inspectable.
FAQ
Common questions.
- AEO is optimising your website so AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and others) can read, understand, and cite it. Instead of only ranking in a list of links, the goal is to be the trusted source the AI quotes directly in its answer.
- SEO optimises to rank in search result lists; AEO optimises to be cited inside AI-generated answers. They overlap (both need clean technical foundations and good content) but AEO leans harder on structured data, answer-first writing, FAQ markup, entity clarity, and machine-readable files like llms.txt.
- There are no guarantees with AI systems, but sites that get cited consistently share clear structured data, direct answer-first content, strong topical authority, and fast, crawlable pages. AEO puts those signals in place to maximise the chance your site is the source quoted.
- I baseline how AI assistants describe you and your competitors before starting, then track changes in citations, branded mentions, and referral traffic from AI tools over time, alongside traditional search rankings.
- More than ever. Structured data is how machines reliably extract what your page means: Service, FAQPage, and Person/Organization schema make your content unambiguous to answer engines, which makes it far easier to cite.
- AEO builds on good SEO rather than replacing it. If you have solid technical SEO, AEO adds the machine-facing layer (schema depth, answer-first structure, llms.txt, and entity clarity) that turns rankings into citations.
Explore
Related services.
The visibility layer pairs with everything I build.
