What is AEO?
AEO — AI Engine Optimization — is the practice of structuring your online presence so that AI-powered search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude) cite your business when users ask relevant questions.
Traditional SEO is about ranking in a list of ten blue links. AEO is about being the source an AI references when someone asks "who's the best roofer in Atlanta?" or "what's the best approach to Google Ads for home services?"
Why AEO matters right now
Here's the reality: AI-powered search is eating into traditional click-through rates. Google AI Overviews now appear on over 30% of commercial queries. Perplexity processes millions of searches daily. ChatGPT's browsing mode is how a growing segment of users research purchases.
If your business isn't being cited in these responses, you're invisible to an increasingly large audience — and that audience skews toward higher-intent, higher-value buyers who use AI tools for research.
How AEO works
AI models don't crawl the web the same way Google's traditional algorithm does. They're looking for:
- Clear, authoritative answers to specific questions
- Structured data (schema markup) that makes your content machine-readable
- Topical authority — depth of content on a subject, not just keyword density
- Entity relationships — how your brand connects to your industry, location, and expertise
- Fresh, factual content that can be verified across multiple sources
What I do for AEO clients
When I work on AEO for a client, I focus on four areas:
1. Content architecture. I restructure existing content and create new pages that directly answer the questions AI models surface for your industry. Not blog spam — genuine, expert-level content.
2. Schema and structured data. I implement comprehensive schema markup (Organization, LocalBusiness, FAQPage, HowTo, Person) so AI models can parse your content accurately.
3. Entity building. I strengthen your brand's entity signals across the web — consistent NAP data, Wikipedia-style authority signals, industry-specific directories, and cross-referencing between your properties.
4. Monitoring and iteration. I track which AI models cite your business, for which queries, and how that changes over time. Then I adjust.
The bottom line
AEO isn't replacing SEO — it's adding a new channel on top of it. Businesses that build for both traditional search and AI search will dominate their markets. Those that ignore AI search will wonder why their traffic is declining despite stable rankings.
If you want to get ahead of this shift, get in touch. I'll audit your current AI visibility and show you exactly what needs to change.