AEO

What is AEO?

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is the practice of optimising a business's online presence so AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot) cite, trust and recommend it. The good news: what moves AI visibility is now known, measurable, and firmly within your client's control.

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AI answer engines are quietly replacing the search results page. Agencies that get their clients recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity now are building a service most rivals can't sell yet, while everyone else is still fighting over page one.

Why it matters

Your client's next customer is asking AI, not Google

Search is moving to AI

More people skip the search page entirely and just ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity, and your clients are being judged there whether they know it or not.

One answer, not ten links

AI usually names a short list of businesses, sometimes just one. If your client isn't in that answer, they're not in the running.

“Near me” is now a conversation

“Where’s the best plumber near me?” used to mean a Google search. Now it’s a single, confident reply, and your client is either in it or invisible.

Invisible to ready-to-buy customers

People asking AI for a recommendation are ready to act. A client left out of the answer loses them before they ever see the name.

A conversation only you can start

Almost no local business knows what AI says about them, which makes it the perfect reason to pick up the phone and open a new pitch.

The reality

Most local businesses have no idea they're invisible to AI

1 in 3

of local businesses are invisible to AI search

55%

have inaccurate details in AI answers

41%

aren't recommended by AI at all

Read the AI Visibility Report

The data

We didn't guess. We analysed 10,000 businesses

To find out what actually gets a local business recommended by AI, we studied 10,000 US businesses across ChatGPT and Perplexity, correlating 200+ digital marketing signals against real AI answers. We published every finding as the AI Visibility Report.

10,000

US businesses analysed across 200+ ranking signals: a comprehensive study of how AI chooses local businesses, and the proof behind everything on this page.

AEO vs SEO

What's actually different

Ten blue links → one answer

Search showed a page of options to choose from. AI gives one short, confident recommendation, a single business, not a page of options.

A ranking → a mention

It's no longer about where your client sits on page one. It's whether the AI can find, name, and recommend them.

Keywords → trust signals

AI leans on reviews, accurate listings and clear content far more than the keyword tricks that move Google rankings.

The click → the answer

AI often answers for the customer directly, so what it knows about your client matters more than winning the click.

A new layer, not a replacement

AEO builds on the SEO work you already sell (same foundations, a new payoff). It's an easy upsell, not a rebuild.

An Insites view of how a local business appears across AI and local search

What to fix

The three things that decide whether AI recommends your client

AI weighs the same trust signals a careful customer would, and our 10,000-business study shows exactly which ones move the needle. Every one of them is within your client's control.

On the website

What an AI-ready website looks like

More pages, more coverage

Give AI more to cite. A dedicated, up-to-date page for each service and location means AI can match your client to more of the questions customers actually ask.

Strong E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Real author names, credentials, case studies and clear “about” detail tell AI (and Google) this is a business worth recommending. Check any site's E-E-A-T signals free.

Answer real questions

Write the way customers ask. Content that answers the actual questions people put to AI, in plain language, is far more likely to be quoted back to them.

Plain-language FAQs

A clear FAQ section turns your client's most common customer questions into ready-made answers AI can lift straight into a recommendation.

Get the technical hygiene right

Schema markup and an llms.txt file are worth adding and sharpen traditional search, though our data shows reviews, listings and clear content do the heavy lifting for AI. Do them, but don't stop there.

Plenty of tools hand a business an AI score. Knowing what to fix is the hard part, and it's exactly what Insites shows you and your client.

AEO, answered

What does AEO stand for?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It means getting a business recognised and recommended by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity, the tools people increasingly ask instead of searching. It's fast becoming a service agencies and resellers offer alongside SEO.

Is AEO replacing SEO?

No. Think of AEO as the next layer on top of SEO. Much of the SEO work you already do for clients (accurate listings, genuine reviews, clear content) also helps AI recommend them. AEO is about making sure that work pays off in AI answers too.

What actually gets a business recommended by AI?

Our study of 10,000 businesses found three signals do the heavy lifting: genuine reviews (the businesses AI recommends average 133 Google reviews versus 11 for those it ignores), a complete and consistent Google Business Profile and directory listings, and a clear website that plainly answers what the business does and who it helps. Get those right and you give AI every reason to recommend a client.

What can I actually fix that's within a client's control?

Almost all of it. AEO comes down to three levers you can influence directly: the client's website and content, their listings and Google Business Profile, and their reviews. Unlike a raw AI score, these are concrete, fixable things. Insites shows you exactly which ones are letting a client down and what to do about each.

Do schema and llms.txt help with AI visibility?

They're worth adding as good housekeeping and they sharpen traditional search, but in our 10,000-business study, schema markup and llms.txt barely moved AI visibility. What counts far more is genuine reviews, consistent listings and clear content that answers real customer questions. Do the technical basics, but don't expect them to be what wins AI.

Which AI platforms should I check for clients?

The big ones are ChatGPT, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Grok and Perplexity. Each pulls from slightly different sources, so checking a client across all of them gives the fullest picture of where they stand.

How do you know all this?

We ran the numbers. Insites analysed 10,000 US businesses across ChatGPT and Perplexity, correlating 200+ digital marketing signals against real AI answers, and published every finding in the AI Visibility Report. The guidance on this page comes straight from that data, not guesswork.

Do I need to be technical to sell AEO?

Not at all. Most of AEO is getting the simple things right, and Insites turns it into one clear report you and your client can both understand. The first step is just seeing where a business stands, which takes seconds.

Is AEO the same as GEO?

Mostly, yes. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) both describe getting a business recommended inside AI-generated answers. AEO is the term we use, but if you've seen GEO elsewhere, it's the same idea.

How do I check whether a business appears in AI search?

Run a free AI visibility check. It scans ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok to show whether the business is mentioned, whether its details are accurate, and which competitors show up instead, in seconds, with no sign-up.

Does checking a client's AEO cost anything?

No. Our free GEO audit is completely free with no sign-up. AI visibility is also one of 70+ checks in the full Insites platform, alongside SEO, local SEO and more.