Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): How to Get Cited by AI Search

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — sometimes called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — is the practice of structuring content so AI-powered search tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude) can find, understand, and cite your pages when users ask questions. Traditional SEO gets you into Google's blue links; AEO gets you into the answer itself. In 2026, roughly 15% of website traffic arrives via AI agents and bots — and that share is growing faster than traditional search.

Key takeaways

• Lead every section with a 40–60 word direct answer — ~44% of LLM citations come from the first 30% of page content.
• Use question-shaped H2 headings that mirror how people ask ChatGPT, not just short-tail keywords.
• Publish comparison tables and FAQ schema — AI models extract structured data more reliably than prose.
• Build topical clusters: one pillar plus supporting articles signals authority to both Google and LLMs.
• Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt, publish llms.txt, and set accurate dateModified on every article.

How answer engines choose sources

• Clear, direct answers to specific questions — not vague marketing copy.
• Structured data (FAQ, Article, HowTo schema) that machines can parse.
• Entity clarity — a consistent brand name, logo, and sameAs profiles.
• Freshness signals — published and updated dates on content.
• Crawlability — robots.txt allows AI bots, sitemap submitted, no noindex.

Maybe Labs explicitly allows AI crawlers in robots.txt and publishes llms.txt — a machine-readable index of key pages for LLM discovery.

AEO vs SEO: what's different

The AEO content playbook for startups

• Publish definitive guides that answer one question completely — see our blog.
• Add FAQ blocks with schema on every guide and landing page.
• Use descriptive H2s as questions: 'How long should a launch video be?'
• Include comparison tables — AI models love structured comparisons.
• Link internally so crawlers discover related depth.
• Keep an llms.txt file listing your best pages for AI discovery.
• Target prompt-style queries — how people ask ChatGPT often differs from Google search terms.

Prompt research: the keyword layer most teams miss

Traditional keyword tools measure what people type into Google. Prompt research measures what they ask ChatGPT an hour later — often in full sentences with different phrasing. A topic with 500 Google searches/month but 5,000 AI prompts/month is often more valuable for citation than a 10,000-volume head term where competitors already dominate. Test your target questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews; note who gets cited and where the gaps are. Our Wave 1 guides — release notes to video, what is a product demo video, product video cost — are structured as citation targets using this playbook.

Where AI engines cite from (2026)

Technical AEO checklist

• Verify Google Search Console and submit sitemap.xml.
• Allow GPTBot, Google-Extended, and PerplexityBot in robots.txt.
• Add Organization + WebSite JSON-LD with stable @id nodes.
• Publish an RSS feed so new content is discovered quickly.
• Use IndexNow for Bing/Copilot indexing.
• Set accurate publishedTime and dateModified on articles.

For a startup-focused deep dive, see generative engine optimization for startups.

Answer engine optimization FAQ

AEO isn't a separate channel — it's how you make the content you're already writing legible to the search engines that now answer instead of list. Start with one definitive guide, add FAQ schema, submit your sitemap, and ship.