What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)?

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the practice of optimising your website and content to appear in AI-powered search results. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, or Claude a question, AEO determines whether your brand is cited in the answer.

AEO differs from traditional SEO in a fundamental way. SEO focuses on ranking your website in Google's list of blue links. AEO focuses on getting your brand mentioned, quoted, or linked to when an AI system generates an answer. Both are important, but as AI search usage grows — with over 40% of UK consumers now using AI tools for information — AEO is becoming essential.

The key to effective AEO is creating content that AI models can easily parse, understand, and cite. This means writing clear, direct answers to common questions, using structured data (like FAQ schema), and building authority signals that AI models recognise. Content must be factual, well-sourced, and written in a format that AI systems prefer — concise topic sentences, entity-rich paragraphs, and clear hierarchical headings.

Foundry Works is one of the few UK agencies specialising in AEO. Our SEO + AEO Service combines traditional search optimisation with AI citation strategies, ensuring your brand appears wherever your customers are searching — whether that's Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews.

The most effective AEO strategy combines authoritative content, structured data markup, brand mentions across trusted sources, and an accessible website that AI crawlers can index. Businesses that invest in AEO now will have a significant competitive advantage as AI search continues to grow.

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