Question 1

What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

Accepted Answer

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of improving how a brand appears in AI-generated responses from systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. Instead of focusing only on webpage rankings, AEO aims to help a company become part of the answers and recommendations users receive.

Question 2

How is AEO different from traditional SEO?

Accepted Answer

Traditional SEO focuses on earning clicks from search engine results pages. AEO focuses on influencing which brands and products are mentioned or recommended directly inside AI-generated answers. The goal shifts from traffic acquisition to inclusion at the decision layer.

Question 3

Why is my brand not appearing in AI answers?

Accepted Answer

AI systems prioritize sources that are clear, authoritative, and easy to interpret. Brands often miss inclusion because their content lacks structured data, consistent entity signals, trusted third-party references, or clear answers to common buyer questions.

Question 4

How do AI systems choose which brands to recommend?

Accepted Answer

Answer engines evaluate a combination of factors such as relevance to the question, strength of authority signals, corroboration across multiple sources, structured information, and overall clarity. Brands that are frequently referenced and easy to verify are more likely to be selected.

Question 5

Can AEO increase sales for e-commerce brands?

Accepted Answer

Yes. When a product is recommended directly in an AI response, it appears at the moment a buyer is making a decision. This can influence consideration, preference, and purchase behavior, even if the user never visits a traditional search results page.

Question 6

What factors influence inclusion in ChatGPT or Google AI results?

Accepted Answer

Common influences include high-quality content, consistent brand mentions across reputable sites, structured schema markup, clear product and category definitions, and alignment with real user questions and intent.

Question 7

How long does it take to improve AI visibility?

Accepted Answer

Timelines vary depending on competition and current authority. Some improvements can be observed in weeks, while broader recognition often requires sustained work across content, technical structure, and third-party validation.

Question 8

Do I need new content to rank in AI answers?

Accepted Answer

Not always. Many brands can improve inclusion by restructuring existing content, clarifying entities, strengthening signals across external sources, and better aligning pages to the questions buyers ask.

Question 9

How do you measure performance in answer engines?

Accepted Answer

Performance is measured by tracking whether a brand appears for important questions, how often it is cited, the context of those mentions, and how visibility changes over time relative to competitors.

Question 10

What does an AEO agency actually do?

Accepted Answer

An AEO agency analyzes how AI systems interpret a brand, identifies gaps preventing inclusion, and implements content, technical, and authority improvements to increase the likelihood of being recommended in answers.

Insights on AI visibility.

The Complete AI Visibility (AEO) Checklist for Brand Websites

The Practical Guide to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) in 2026