Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimizing your business’s digital presence so AI-powered systems—like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot—can accurately understand, trust, and recommend your business when potential clients ask for help.
Traditional SEO gets you ranked on Google’s search results page. AEO gets you personally recommended by name when someone asks an AI assistant a question like “Who’s the best marketing consultant in Las Vegas?” or “Find me a dermatologist near me who takes Cigna.”
The businesses getting recommended right now have optimized for how AI systems evaluate credibility, expertise, and trustworthiness. The businesses being ignored are still relying on strategies built before AI changed how people find services.