What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the discipline of optimizing websites, content, and technical infrastructure so that AI-powered answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Claude — cite, recommend, or summarize your brand in response to relevant queries.
Where traditional SEO targets the ten blue links in a search results page, AEO targets the single, confident answer that AI systems now provide at the top of an increasing share of searches. When someone asks ChatGPT "what is the best SEO agency in Stockholm?", the answer is not a list of links — it is a direct recommendation. AEO determines whether your brand is that recommendation.
AI-generated answers now appear on over 30% of Google searches in markets where AI Overviews have rolled out. Perplexity AI processes over 100 million queries per month. ChatGPT is used as a primary research tool by millions of professionals. The share of information-seeking queries that never result in a traditional search click is growing rapidly.
AEO vs. SEO: What is the difference?
SEO and AEO are complementary, not competing. Many of the same signals that help a page rank in Google — quality content, authority, structured data, fast loading — also help it appear in AI answers. But AEO adds several requirements that traditional SEO does not address:
- AI crawler access: AI systems use their own crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot). These must be explicitly permitted in robots.txt.
- llms.txt: A machine-readable summary of your site, analogous to robots.txt but designed for large language models.
- Answer-ready content format: AI systems prefer content written in Q&A format, with direct answers to specific questions.
- Structured data: FAQ, HowTo, Article, and Organization schema are particularly valuable for AI citation.
- Brand entity consistency: AI systems build a model of your brand from multiple sources. Consistent NAP data, author bios, and citations across AI-indexed directories strengthen this model.
How AI citation works
AI language models generate answers by drawing on their training data and, increasingly, real-time web retrieval. When a user asks a question, the model identifies the most relevant, authoritative, and clearly-structured sources and synthesizes them into a response. Your goal is to be one of those sources.
AI Readability
Can AI systems parse your content? Schema markup, semantic HTML, and a well-structured llms.txt file all help AI models understand your site.
Answer-Ready Content
Does your content directly answer common questions? FAQ sections, definition boxes, and concise summaries improve citation rates.
Trust & Authority
Is your website cited by other authoritative sources? Third-party reviews, directory listings, and press mentions build AI trust.
Platform Presence
Is your business listed on the platforms AI models trust? Google Business Profile, Wikipedia, Wikidata, and industry directories matter.
What is an AEO score?
An AEO score is a numerical measure (0–100) of how well a website is optimised for AI visibility. Kaistone calculates this score across four categories, each weighted by its impact on AI citation frequency.
| Category | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| AI Readability | 30% | Schema markup, semantic HTML, robots.txt, llms.txt |
| Answer-Ready Content | 30% | FAQ sections, definition content, direct answers |
| Trust & Authority | 25% | Third-party citations, reviews, press mentions |
| Platform Presence | 15% | Directory listings, knowledge base entries, social profiles |
Most unoptimised websites score between 15 and 40 out of 100. A score above 70 indicates strong AI visibility. Kaistone's audit identifies the specific actions needed to improve each category score.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a plain-text Markdown file placed at the root of a website (e.g. yoursite.com/llms.txt) that provides AI language models with a structured, machine-readable summary of the website.
It is the AI equivalent of robots.txt. While robots.txt tells search engine crawlers what to index, llms.txt tells AI models what to understand about your site — your product, your company, your key facts, and your pricing.
A well-structured llms.txt file should include: a brief company description, a list of key pages with descriptions, your core product or service offering, pricing information (if public), and contact details. Publishing this file is one of the fastest, highest-impact AEO improvements a website can make.
How to improve your AEO score
AEO improvements fall into three phases, ordered by implementation speed and impact:
- Publish llms.txt at your domain root
- Add Organization, WebSite, and FAQPage schema markup
- Update robots.txt to allow all AI crawlers
- Ensure semantic HTML structure (H1 → H2 → H3 hierarchy)
- Fix Core Web Vitals (LCP < 2.5s, CLS < 0.1)
- Rewrite key pages as answer-ready content (direct answers first)
- Add FAQ sections to all major service and product pages
- Create definition pages for key terms in your industry
- Add HowTo schema to process-oriented content
- Ensure every page has a clear, concise meta description
- Submit to G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and industry directories
- Build citations on Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Crunchbase
- Pursue press mentions and third-party reviews
- Optimise Google Business Profile
- Build a consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across all platforms
Frequently asked questions about AEO
What is AEO?
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing websites and content so they appear in AI-generated answers from systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini. Unlike traditional SEO, which targets ranked links in search results, AEO targets the AI-generated summaries that increasingly appear before those links.
How is AEO different from SEO?
Traditional SEO focuses on ranking in Google's blue-link results by optimizing for keywords, backlinks, and technical factors. AEO focuses on being cited in AI-generated answers by optimizing for clarity, authority, structured data, and answer-ready content. The two disciplines overlap significantly — a well-optimized SEO site is a good foundation for AEO — but AEO requires additional work around schema markup, llms.txt, FAQ content, and third-party citations.
What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?
GEO is another term for the same discipline as AEO. Both refer to optimizing for visibility in AI-generated answers. 'AEO' emphasizes the answer engine aspect (ChatGPT, Perplexity), while 'GEO' emphasizes the generative AI aspect (Google AI Overviews, Gemini). In practice, the optimization strategies are identical.
Why is AEO important for businesses?
AI search tools now have hundreds of millions of active users. When a potential customer asks ChatGPT 'What is the best SEO agency in Stockholm?' or Perplexity 'What accounting software is best for Swedish SMEs?', the AI generates an answer that cites specific companies. If your company is not cited, a competitor is. AEO is about ensuring your business appears in those answers.
What is an AEO score?
An AEO score is a numerical measure (typically 0–100) of how well a website is optimized for AI visibility. It is calculated across several categories including AI Readability, Answer-Ready Content, Trust & Authority, and Platform Presence — each weighted by its impact on AI citation frequency.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a plain-text file placed at the root of a website (e.g. yoursite.com/llms.txt) that provides AI language models with a structured, machine-readable summary of the website's content, purpose, and key facts. It is the AI equivalent of robots.txt — while robots.txt tells search engine crawlers what to index, llms.txt tells AI models what to understand about your site. Publishing an llms.txt file is one of the highest-impact AEO actions a website can take.
How long does it take to improve an AEO score?
Technical AEO improvements (adding schema markup, publishing llms.txt, fixing robots.txt) can be implemented in days and typically show results within 2–4 weeks as AI crawlers re-index the site. Content improvements take 4–8 weeks to be reflected in AI citations. Authority improvements (building third-party citations and reviews) typically take 3–6 months.
Which AI platforms does AEO target?
The primary platforms are ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity AI, Google AI Overviews, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot (Bing), and Claude (Anthropic). Each platform has its own crawling and citation logic, but the underlying optimization strategies — structured data, answer-ready content, authority signals — are effective across all of them.