AI search is rewriting the rules. Instead of ten blue links, engines like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity increasingly answer questions directly and cite only a handful of sources. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is how you become one of those cited sources.
The fundamentals still apply, crawlable pages, clean structure, and real authority, but AEO adds a few priorities. Define your entities clearly, mark up content with schema, and answer real questions concisely so an engine can lift your answer with confidence. Build topical depth so you are the obvious expert, and earn brand mentions across the web so AI models associate your name with the subject.
Start with the questions your buyers actually ask. Answer each one directly near the top of the page, back it with data, and format it so it is easy to quote. Do that consistently and you will show up where the next generation of search really happens.