What is AEO?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It refers to the practice of optimizing your business information so that AI-powered answer engines - like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity - can find, understand, and recommend your business when users ask them questions.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) focuses on ranking your website in Google search results. AEO focuses on getting AI engines to mention and recommend your business in their answers. The signals are different: SEO relies heavily on backlinks and keyword placement. AEO relies on structured data, entity recognition, review sentiment, directory consistency, and answer-format content. A business can rank #1 on Google and still be completely invisible to ChatGPT.

45% of consumers now use AI tools to find local services - up from 6% a year ago (BrightLocal, 2026). When someone asks ChatGPT "best dentist near me" or "who should I hire for estate planning," the AI gives a direct answer. There is no page 2. Either you are in the answer, or you are not. If AI does not know your business exists, a growing share of potential clients will never find you.

Yes, and the shift is accelerating. Google's share of US searches fell to 73.7% when AI and alternative platforms are included (SparkToro/Datos, Q4 2025). ChatGPT alone has over 800 million weekly active users (OpenAI, Oct 2025). These tools give direct recommendations instead of a list of links, which means the decision happens inside the AI conversation - not on a search results page.

The four that matter most right now are ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Claude (Anthropic), and Perplexity. Each uses different data sources and weights different signals. A business might be visible on Gemini but invisible on ChatGPT. Testing across all four gives you a complete picture.

AI engines pull from several signals: (1) Structured data on your website - schema markup that tells AI what you do and where. (2) Review volume and sentiment across Google, Yelp, and industry directories. (3) Directory consistency - is your name, address, and phone the same everywhere? (4) Content that directly answers the questions people ask. (5) Entity authority - does the web consistently associate your brand with your industry and location?

Not necessarily. A website built for human visitors may not be structured for AI engines. AI cannot "see" your beautiful design. It reads structured data, schema markup, and answer-format content. Many businesses with polished websites score below 30 on AI visibility because they lack the machine-readable signals that AI engines need.

AEO Grader queries ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity with 60 real prompts about your business. It scores you on brand recognition, competitive position, contextual relevance, sentiment, and citation authority. The scan takes about 60 seconds and is completely free. No account required.

Scores range from 0 to 100. Below 20 means AI does not know your business exists (AI Unknown). 20-39 means you are invisible to most AI queries (AI Invisible). 40-59 means AI has partial awareness but does not consistently recommend you (AI Emerging). 60-79 means AI recognizes and sometimes recommends you (AI Visible). 80+ means AI actively recommends your business across multiple engines (AI Dominant). Most local businesses score below 40.

Start with the highest-leverage actions: (1) Add structured data (JSON-LD schema) to your key pages - LocalBusiness, FAQ, Service, and Product schemas. (2) Create an llms.txt file at your domain root to help AI models understand your business. (3) Publish answer-format content that directly addresses the questions your clients ask. (4) Ensure your directory listings are accurate and consistent. (5) Build review volume on Google, Yelp, and industry-specific sites. Unlike traditional SEO, which can take 3-6 months to show results, AEO changes can have an impact in days to weeks because AI engines re-query live data sources regularly.

AI-powered search is not a fad. Google has integrated AI Overviews into its core search product. OpenAI launched ChatGPT search. Perplexity raised $500M. Apple is integrating AI assistants deeper into Siri. The direction is clear: consumers are shifting from browsing links to asking AI for direct answers. Businesses that optimize for this shift now will have a structural advantage over those that wait.

You can start on your own. Run a free scan to see where you stand, then follow the prioritized recommendations in your report. The basics - structured data, directory accuracy, answer-format content - are things most business owners or their web developers can handle. If you want professional help, agencies that specialize in AI visibility can accelerate the process.