Answer engine optimisation (AEO)
Short definition
AEO is the work of getting your content chosen as the answer in search features and AI assistants that reply to a question directly instead of listing links.
When someone types a question, search tools often show a short answer rather than a list of links. AEO aims to make the information on a page clear, brief and self-contained enough to be picked to build that answer: a heading that states the question, one complete answer sentence straight beneath it, then the detail.
Where the term ends is disputed in the industry. Some practitioners treat AEO and GEO as two names for the same work, while others keep AEO for classic answer surfaces such as featured snippets and voice assistants, and GEO for generative tools like ChatGPT. There is no single agreed definition.
In practice both approaches ask for much the same things: learning the question patterns, putting the answer at the top of the page, and backing it with structured data. AEO does not promise ranking or visibility; it only puts the content on a sound footing to be chosen as an answer.
Why it matters
Your customer can often get the answer to a question without opening a page. If that answer comes from your sentence, your brand is visible at that moment; if it does not, a competitor's sentence speaks in your place. That is why AEO belongs in how content is written.
Illustrative example
A spa group put real customer questions such as 'how long does a massage take' at the top of each service page, with a single clear sentence beneath. The pages read better and became likelier candidates for answer features.
