What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)? A Complete Guide

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the process of improving content so it appears in answer boxes, voice search results, and AI-generated responses in search engine results. It involves creating content that answers users’ queries more directly and targeting more conversational search terms.

Digital marketers are used to big industry shakeups — and the introduction of answer engines and their impact on organic traffic has been among the most jarring.

But with answer engine optimization (AEO), SEO experts are using AI assistants, voice search, and zero-click searches as just another opportunity to reach their target audience.

Learn what AEO is and how to create your own AEO strategy with expert insights from HawkSEM Senior SEO Manager Alyssa Mountz.

What is AEO?

AEO is the practice of optimizing content to provide direct answers to users’ more conversational queries through AI-powered answer engines, like Google’s AI overviews (sometimes called AIO) and ChatGPT, or voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.

Answer engines use natural language processing (NLPs), artificial intelligence (AI), structured data, and search engine crawling to deliver immediate and relevant answers to user queries, typically without requiring users to click on a traditional search result.

How is AEO different from SEO?

AEO optimizes content to be the top answer featured by an answer engine or voice assistant, while SEO (search engine optimization) optimizes content to rank higher on traditional search engines to get more clicks.

Strategies for AEO overlap with traditional SEO strategies — after all, content that is quoted by a voice assistant or featured in Google’s AI Overview (AIO) still needs to rank highly on the search engine results page (SERP).

AEO optimizes content to be the top answer featured by an answer engine or voice assistant, while SEO optimizes content to get more clicks. (Image: Adobe)

Authoritative backlinks and a good user experience are important qualities of SEO and AEO sites.

However, the primary difference is that AEO shifts your strategic mindset from getting clicks to getting quoted as the best possible answer.

What are AEO keywords?

Like traditional SEO, AEO leverages keywords to make content visible for target search queries. However, AEO keywords revolve around more conversational and question-based search terms, meant to be compatible with voice assistants and snippets or summaries for AI tools.

Alternatively, SEO keywords tend to be more transactional or navigational in order to rank on search engine results pages. That said, some long-tail SEO keywords may overlap with AEO keywords.

Here’s an example:

• SEO keywords: “Answer engine optimization”
• AEO keywords: “What is answer engine optimization?”

The core content for each of these queries would probably be the same, right? The difference is how the answers are delivered. An effective strategy uses both SEO and AEO to maximize visibility and traffic.

AEO keywords revolve around more conversational and question-based search terms, meant to be compatible with voice assistants and snippets or summaries for AI tools. (Image: Adobe)

The role of keywords in optimizing for answer engines

“Since ranking for an answer engine result is position one in the SERP, it’s about ranking all or nothing,” says Mountz.

“I think that involves more drastic changes to the content than previous optimizations, whereas before, it might just take changing the title tag to see a positive result.”

Answer engines have also shifted strategies to focus on clusters of relevant keywords around a given topic — not just on one primary keyword.

“Instead of one valuable keyword, I will categorize all ranking AIOs into different content themes and see which theme is ranking the best,” says Mountz.

“From there, I determine whether to invest in more content creation around that topic to get more AIOs (if that is the goal) or make content around a topic we don’t have a lot of ranking SERP features for. So, keywords become something that helps more with thematic ideation, rather than being a singular goal.”

Why AEO matters

The rise of AI-generated answers (and the decline of traditional blue links) has shaken the SEO industry.

Organic traffic seemingly plummeted for many sites after AIO started taking up valuable SERP real estate and answering people’s questions without clicking a link.

But appearing in Google’s AIO or being quoted by a voice assistant is a massive opportunity for visibility and brand authority.

For better or worse, these AI-driven platforms are considered trustworthy and authoritative. If your content is chosen as the top result, users are more likely to trust you.

“Currently, the importance of AEO, in my opinion, is its relationship with brand awareness and reputation,” says Mountz.

AI could impact brand discovery through top-funnel queries. (Image: Adobe)

“Clients with heavy top-of-funnel content like SaaS (with a lot of how-to or educational content) will lose brand exposure when they lose the click to an AI Overview, for example. But their lead quantity and quality might not be immediately affected.”

AEO and funnel stage

Mountz adds that, since bottom-funnel queries elicit a higher CTR, an AIO might not be enough information for them.

While these types of sites will lose traffic, that loss of traffic might not immediately hurt their bottom line.

AI could, however, impact brand discovery through top-funnel queries.

Additionally, there are theories that brand reputation (through reviews, for example) affects what sites are served in ChatGPT and other LLMs.

If this is the case, larger brands that have participated in reputation management or built strong brand followings are predisposed to show up in LLM results.

How to identify AEO keywords for your content strategy

Like SEO, a strong AEO strategy begins with keyword research.

To identify AEO keywords for your content strategy, however, your focus should shift to queries that align with how people ask questions — and the direct way answer engines deliver answers.

AEO-friendly queries include:

• FAQs
• “How to” or “What is” queries
• Comparison and decision-making queries
• Conversational and long-tail keywords

To explore the types of questions your target audience is asking, we recommend using keyword research tools such as:

• Google’s “People Also Ask”
• Google Search Console
• Answerthepublic
• Semrush or Ahrefs

• AlsoAsked
• Featured snippets and related searches for common phrasing and formatting

How to optimize content for AEO

Once you identify your target AEO keywords, apply an optimization strategy to your content.

1. Craft direct answers to user queries

Answer engines and voice assistants select high-quality content with concise answers. In order for your content to be chosen, you need to craft direct answers to user queries.

2. Use conversational language to match voice search

People who use voice search speak conversationally, so user questions are phrased a bit differently. To match these queries with your content, leverage more casual language.

3. Improve formatting

“The AEO strategy with the most benefit and easiest lift is probably rearranging existing content to make it more extraction-friendly,” says Mountz.

The way you structure content plays a huge role in whether it gets selected by answer engines. Here are some quick tips:

• Use clear headings (H2s and H3s) to mirror common search queries
• Break complex ideas into short paragraphs
• Include numbered or bulleted lists: “I’ve been going back and reviewing web pages that could have a better extractable layout – so bullet points, tables – to help answer engines extract information easily,” Mountz recommends
• Use AEO keywords in headings and a one-paragraph answer under the heading

Well-formatted content is easier for both users and algorithms to scan and understand and lowers bounce rates when users choose to click.

4. Build FAQ pages

FAQs are ideal for AEO because they mirror real, specific questions and let you deliver clean and direct responses.

Add common questions and answers as standalone pages or embed them within blog posts to capture featured snippets and voice search results.

5. Implement structured data

Schema markup helps search engines better understand your content and display it in rich results.

While structured data isn’t required for AEO success, it does enhance how your answers are indexed and displayed. This is especially true for tutorials, products, and FAQs. Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper or Schema.org to add the right markup to your site.

6. Maintain E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) are key signals that search engines use to gauge content quality.

“We’ve been adding authoritative content to blogs, like ‘reviewed by Doctor XX’ if it’s a medical blog,” shares Mountz. “If it’s an education blog, we say ‘reviewed by Professor XX’ and then we mark that up with schema. Also, using specific statistics to support authority. A lot of the normal E-E-A-T optimizations still apply.”

How to monitor your AEO efforts

Because answer engines often don’t drive direct clicks the way traditional SEO does, it’s a bit harder to track your AEO performance.

But there are still ways to evaluate the impact of your efforts:

1. Use SEO tools to track featured snippets with SEO tools

Use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs to monitor whether your pages appear in featured snippets, people also ask boxes, or knowledge panels.

2. Analyze AIO inclusion

Run manual queries and use tools like seoClarity or BrightEdge to track which URLs appear in AI-generated snapshots.

3. Monitor Search Console for CTR drops

If your content appears in an AIO or featured snippet, clicks might drop even if impressions rise. So keep an eye out for a decrease in click-through rate (CTR) with stable or rising impressions and keywords with high rankings but lower traffic.

4. Compare page types and query categories

Break down your content by URL type, track correlation between AIO visibility and session changes. Also, monitor performance by intent type.

5. Set up alerts

Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track session declines for high-traffic, answer-focused content and set alerts for significant drops in page engagement or ranking.

Real example of an AEO strategy in action

So, how are SEO experts pivoting with the new wave of answer engines? Here’s how Mountz has been tackling AEO for one of her clients:

1. Tracking the effects of AIOs on various page types

One of Mountz’s clients started ranking heavily for Google’s AIOs in March 2025. Since then, however, they have seen drops in sessions.

“I organized the URLs into categories, since not all of them are ranking in AI Overviews,” she recounts.

“Then I calculated a Correlation Score (CS) to see whether there’s an inverse relationship — in other words, does an increase in AIO appearances correlate with a drop in sessions? I’ve been tracking these metrics in a doc.”

2. Content suggestions with click-through rate (CTR) as the KPI

Mountz observed that the type of page affected whether sessions went up or down — even when the page ranked in AI Overviews.

“For instance, they have a landing page promoting a free laptop for degree-seeking students,” she says. “That page is ranking in AIOs and actually saw an increase in sessions, unlike some of the blog posts, which saw declines.

Some page types showed a moderate Correlation Score, while others were weak. Based on that, she started recommending new content aimed at boosting click-through rates.

Mountz suggested a page or blog about degrees that can be completed in two years. The assumption was that it could rank in AIOs but still entice users to click through to learn more or sign up.

3. Optimizing a page for AIOs

The client has been receptive to experimenting with strategies. So, Mountz took the blog that drives the most traffic, pulled the AIO results it was not ranking for, and then optimized the page toward those for AIO queries.

AEO vs. GEO: What’s the difference?

Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization (or GEO) have overlapping goals (getting your content surfaced by AI tools). However, they focus on different kinds of AI systems and search intent.

AEO is about optimizing content to provide direct, concise answers to user queries. It’s geared toward search engines and AI tools that provide immediate responses — like Google featured snippets, knowledge panels, and voice assistants.

GEO is about optimizing content to be a trusted source for generative AI tools, such as chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity. These tools create “new” content from learned data, not just extracting answers.

The takeaway

AEO isn’t taking the place of SEO — it’s just an extension of the digital marketing strategy.

As voice and AI search grow in popularity, providing relevant content that meets user intent continues to be the highest priority.

Looking for some guidance through the new age of SEO? Our team of experts is here to help.