Answer engine optimization (AEO)

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of researching the questions buyers ask and building pages that answer each one first, specifically and with a source, so featured snippets, AI Overviews and AI assistants can lift a clear, correct answer.

Where AEO starts

With a question map: the questions people actually type or say, grouped by intent and stage, and matched to the page that should answer each one. Questions with no page, answers hidden in PDFs, and the same fact stated differently on three pages are the usual findings.

What an answer-first page looks like

The question is the heading, the first sentence is the answer, the next lines give the specifics and the source, and only then comes the context. Google’s guidance for AI features and snippets points at the same thing: content that answers directly and can be shown on its own.

AEO and GEO

AEO is about structure and coverage (which question, which page, answer first). GEO is about evidence (is the claim specific, sourced, original). We measure AEO with featured-snippet and AI-feature appearances in Search Console and with sampled prompts.