For the last two decades, getting found online meant ranking well on Google. That's still important — but the way people search is shifting. More and more, people are getting answers directly from AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's own AI Overviews, rather than clicking through to individual websites.
This is where AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation — comes in.
What is AEO?
AEO is the practice of structuring and writing your website content so that AI-powered answer engines can understand it, trust it, and cite it when answering relevant questions. Where SEO is about ranking in a list of blue links, AEO is about being the source an AI quotes when someone asks a question in your area of expertise.
Why does it matter?
AI tools are increasingly the first stop for research. When someone asks ChatGPT "who does website design in Dunedin?" or "what should I look for in a web hosting provider?", the AI draws on websites it has crawled and indexed. If your content is well-structured, authoritative, and clearly answers common questions in your field, you stand a much better chance of being cited.
Businesses that invest in AEO now are building an advantage that will compound as AI-driven search continues to grow.
How is AEO different from SEO?
They overlap significantly — good SEO practices like fast load times, clean code, and quality content all support AEO. But AEO has some additional emphases:
- Clear, direct answers: AI tools favour content that answers questions concisely and clearly.
- Structured data: Schema markup helps AI crawlers understand what your content is about.
- Authoritative sourcing: AI tools prefer citing established, trustworthy sources.
- Allowing AI crawlers: Make sure your robots.txt doesn't block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and Google-Extended.
What can you do right now?
Start by making sure your website clearly answers the questions your potential customers are asking. A well-structured FAQ page, service pages that explain what you do in plain language, and regular articles covering topics in your industry all contribute to your AEO standing.
At Flatout, we build AEO considerations into every website we design — from structured data and clean markup to content strategy guidance. If you want your business to be visible in the AI-driven search landscape, it's worth thinking about this from day one.