Answer engine optimization is the practice of making content the answer AI systems give: structuring pages answer-first, marking them up with specific schema, k
AEO is the practice of making content the answer AI systems give: structuring pages answer-first, marking them up with specific schema, keeping facts quotable and self-contained, maintaining freshness signals, and tracking citations in assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and AI search.
SEO optimizes to rank in a list of links; AEO optimizes to be the cited source inside an AI-generated answer. They sit side by side in 2026 because a growing share of questions get answered with citations instead of returning ten blue links.