What Is AEO?
Being the answer, not just a link.
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is writing your content so it gets picked as the direct answer to a question. That might be Google's answer box at the top of the results, a voice assistant reading out an answer, or an AI tool quoting you. The rule is simple: answer the question clearly, early and in plain language.
Where answers show up
Google's featured snippets and AI Overviews, "People also ask" boxes, Siri and Google Assistant reading an answer out loud, and AI chat tools. In each case one clear answer wins and gets shown or spoken. Everyone else is a link further down, or nothing at all.
Zero-click search: when nobody visits your website
More and more searches end on the results page. The person reads the answer box or the AI Overview, gets what they need and never clicks through. That is called zero-click search, and it is why ranking alone is no longer enough.
For a local business that is not bad news if your name is in the answer. When an AI tool or Google quotes your page, it often names your business or links to it. The customer remembers the name and calls. The win is being the business they mention, even when nobody visits the website.
Three rules for writing answers that get picked
Answer first, in 40 to 60 words. Put the question as a heading and answer it straight underneath, before any detail. This page does that in the box at the top.
Use lists, steps and FAQs. Numbered steps, short lists and question-and-answer sections are easy for search engines to lift. Behind the scenes, FAQ schema code tells Google exactly which text is the question and which is the answer.
Write the way people talk. People ask "how much does a bathroom reno cost in Perth", not "bathroom renovation pricing solutions". Use their words.
What questions should your business answer?
Start with the questions you hear on the phone every week: how much, how long, do you service my suburb, what is the difference between two options, what should I check before I hire someone. Each one is a page or an FAQ waiting to be written. Your best salesperson's answers, written down, are your best AEO.
Keep reading: What Is SEO? · What Is GEO? · SEO vs GEO vs AEO
Written by Justin Ripley, co-owner of Syvex, a father and son marketing business in Perth's northern suburbs.
Is AEO the same as GEO?
They overlap. AEO is about being the direct answer to a question, on Google or a voice assistant. GEO is about being recommended by AI tools. Clear answers help with both.
Does AEO help with voice search?
Yes. Voice assistants read out one answer. Short, direct answers written the way people speak are the ones that get read.
What is FAQ schema?
A small piece of code on your page that labels each question and its answer, so Google and other tools can understand and show them. Your web developer can add it, and every page on syvex.xyz has it.
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