Also called answer engine optimization
AEO, explained
In practice, AEO overlaps heavily with ordinary SEO, and the vocabulary is still settling: GEO, generative engine optimization, describes much the same work. Answer engines retrieve pages, then build replies from passages they can lift cleanly. Pages that get quoted tend to open with a direct answer that stands on its own, name their subject explicitly, give specific and sourced facts, and stay crawlable. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond SEO fundamentals, so be skeptical of anyone selling AEO shortcuts.
For a domain investor, AEO matters in two places. First, a domain name does not earn citations by itself; answer engines cite pages with useful content, so an exact-match name is not an AI-visibility play, whatever a seller claims. Second, when you value a developed site, check where its traffic comes from: visits referred by AI assistants depend on choices the engine makes and can change without notice.
Example. A site that opens every page with a one-sentence, self-contained definition and cites its sources is applying AEO.
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