Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Updated · By the Everything-PR Editorial Team. Reviewed by a human editor before publication.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring a page so a search feature or AI assistant can lift a direct answer to a specific question. It is a separate discipline from SEO and from GEO, with its own unit of work, which is a passage on a page. EPR's full guide is What Is AEO? Answer Engine Optimization Explained.
How does AEO differ from SEO and GEO?
- SEO competes for a ranking position in a list of links on a results page
- AEO competes to be the quoted answer in a featured snippet, an AI Overview or a conversational answer engine
- GEO works on whether a brand or other entity is named across a whole category of answers, through independent coverage and corroboration, so it is a different job and not a parent of AEO
What does AEO work on?
- Clear, self-contained answers to the questions buyers ask, using answer formatting
- Pages built to be lifted into answers, such as a retrieval anchor
- Machine-readable structure, as described under schema
How is success measured?
AEO success is measured per question: whether the page is cited, plus impressions, position and AI-assistant referral sessions. The category-level measure of being named across answers, Citation Share, belongs to GEO and wider AI visibility.