Search Tactic
Answer Engine Optimisation
Also known as: AEO
The practice of structuring content so it can be lifted directly into AI answers. Close cousin of GEO; emphasises clean, parseable facts and unambiguous attribution.
What it is
Answer Engine Optimisation is the practice of structuring content so discrete facts can be lifted directly into AI answers with minimal reshaping. It is a close cousin of GEO that emphasises clean, parseable statements and unambiguous attribution over narrative flow.
Why it matters
Answer engines reward content they can extract confidently, so parseable facts increase the odds of being selected and reduce the risk of misattribution. It positions a brand as the canonical source for a specific answer.
How it works
Write one clear fact per sentence, pair claims with named sources and dates, and use structured formats such as definition lists, tables, and schema markup so machines can map question to answer. Remove hedging language that makes a fact ambiguous to extract.
When it applies
It applies to factual, definitional, and how to queries where a single correct answer can be stated plainly.
Examples
- A recipe site marks up cooking times and yields so an assistant returns the exact figure when asked.
- A finance glossary states each definition in a single unambiguous sentence and becomes the quoted source for that term.
- A support knowledge base reformats troubleshooting steps into numbered, self contained instructions that an assistant reads back verbatim.
How it is measured
- Rate of correct attribution when your fact appears in an answer
- Number of distinct questions for which you are the extracted answer
- Coverage of target questions with a clean, parseable answer on page
- Reduction in answers that cite a competitor for facts you also publish
Related terms in Search Tactic
- Citation-worthy contentContent with the qualities LLMs select for when synthesising an answer: a single, defensible claim per paragraph; named entities; first-hand evidence; and a clear authority signal.
- Digital discoveryThe full set of channels through which people find brands, products, and answers, search engines, AI assistants, social platforms, marketplaces, and agentic browsers. Replaces the narrower frame of just “SEO”.
- Generative Engine OptimisationThe discipline of optimising content to be cited inside generative answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews. Overlapping but distinct from classical SEO, favours specificity, citation-worthy claims, and structured attribution.
- Intent resolutionHow completely a page answers the underlying job the searcher was trying to do, not whether it matches the keywords used. The dominant ranking factor post-Google May 2026 core update.
- LLM-friendly contentContent structured to be parseable and citation-worthy by language models: clear claims, specific facts, named sources, structured data, and unambiguous attribution.