What AEO means.
AEO stands for answer engine optimization. An answer engine is anything that responds to a question with an answer rather than a list: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, voice assistants.
AEO is the work of making your business easy for those tools to find, understand and name. You may also see it called GEO, or generative engine optimization. We cover that term in a separate guide.
In short: SEO tries to rank a page. AEO tries to get a business named in the answer.
How AEO differs from SEO.
SEO is still the base. A page that is not findable cannot be cited. But the goal changes. In SEO you want the click. In AEO you want to be the name in the answer, and sometimes there is no click at all.
That changes the work. Answers favor clear statements, consistent business details, structured data and mentions from sources the model trusts. A page that answers one question plainly beats a page that circles it.
How an AI assistant picks a business.
Each assistant works differently and none publish the full recipe, so be wary of anyone who promises a guaranteed result. What we can say from the work is that the same things keep helping: pages that state clearly what you do and where, schema markup that tells machines the same thing, reviews, and consistent details across the web.
The assistants also read what others say about you. A business with real reviews and real mentions is easier to name than one with a blank profile.
Where a local business should start.
Ask the questions your customers ask, in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and write down who is named. That is your baseline.
Then fix the basics: one clear page per service, the same name, address and phone everywhere, schema markup, and a steady stream of real reviews.
Add pages that answer your customers' common questions in plain words. Check the same questions each month and see what changed.
If you want a second opinion.
We run the baseline for any business for free: our AI Visibility Report shows what the assistants say about you today. If you want help acting on it, see our AEO services or book a call.
Written by Matthew Montez, founder of The MBC Group in Denver. Matt has run the agency since 2018 and is the marketing director on every account. Questions about your own marketing? Book a call.