Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) explained
Answer engine optimization (AEO) focuses on the passage rather than the page. Its core question: for each question your audience asks, is there a clear, specific, self-contained answer on your site that a machine can extract and attribute?
Typical AEO work includes answer-first writing, descriptive headings phrased around questions, short definitions, numbered steps, comparison tables, visible authorship and dates, accurate structured data and making sure the text is present in the HTML.
AEO overlaps with SEO (you still need to be found) and with GEO (you also want to be referenced elsewhere), but its specific focus is answer quality on your own pages.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): an example
A pricing page that opens with "Plans start at ₹2,000 per user per month, billed annually" is easier to quote than one that says "flexible pricing for every business".
Why it matters for search and AI visibility
Answer engines work at the level of passages. A page can rank well and still never be quoted if its answers are vague or buried.
Last reviewed by the Prisol team.