Answer
Engine
Optimization.
The on-page discipline of being quoted — cleanly, confidently, with attribution — by AI answer engines.
Definition. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so that AI-powered answer engines — including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Copilot — can extract a clean, attributable answer from a page and cite the source.
Etymology
The term gained traction as featured snippets and generative answer boxes began replacing classical search result pages. AEO describes the narrower execution layer of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): specifically, the on-page work of making a passage quote-ready for an answer engine.
What AEO covers
AEO includes extractability audits, TL;DR answer blocks, FAQPage and HowTo schema, entity-stable phrasing, atomic factual sentences, and the structural choices that let an answer engine lift 30–60 words of your content with confidence.
AEO vs GEO
GEO is the broader strategic discipline. AEO is the specific craft of making individual passages citeable. Most engagements deliver both together.
Related terms
Further reading
→ The Answer Engine Optimization playbook (pillar article)
→ Our AEO service page
Be the passage the answer engine chooses.
Free AEO audit. Response in one working day.