AI Search

What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so that a direct answer to a specific question can be extracted cleanly — by search features such as featured snippets, or by assistants that reply in prose instead of links.

Why it matters

Questions are how most people phrase searches, and the pages that win answer slots are usually the ones that answer in the first two sentences rather than after six hundred words of preamble. That discipline also serves the readers who only skim.

Example

A page on link attributes opens with a two-sentence answer to "what does rel=sponsored mean", then expands underneath. The short answer is what a snippet or an assistant can lift whole.

Common misconception

That marking a page up or bolting on an FAQ block wins the answer slot. Schema helps machines parse a page; it does not promise selection. Google and the assistant vendors pick sources on their own criteria and revise them constantly, so no format guarantees you the answer.

Related terms

Featured Snippet An answer Google extracts and shows above the results. People Also Ask (PAA) The expandable related-question box on Google results. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Making content easy for AI answer engines to use and cite. Search Intent What a searcher is actually trying to do with a query. AI Overview Google's AI-generated summary above some search results.

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