Answer engine optimization (AEO)
Also called AEO, Generative engine optimization, GEO
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring web content so AI answer engines, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, can find, understand and cite it. It favors direct answers near the top of a page, clear headings, accurate facts, structured data and pages that crawlers can read.
Example
A plumber adds a page that starts with "A typical water-heater replacement costs…" followed by a price range, so AI tools quote it for cost questions.
Why it matters for a website chatbot
The content that helps answer engines also trains a better chatbot: direct, accurate answers to real questions. ChatBento learns from the same pages, so improving your site for AEO improves your chatbot's answers too.
See it in practice: Pre-sales questions
Related terms
- AI OverviewsAI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google Search shows above the regular results for some queries, with links to the web pages the summary draws on. Google launched them broadly in the United States in May 2024, and they answer many questions directly on the results page.
- llms.txtllms.txt is a proposed web standard for a Markdown file placed at a site's root, at /llms.txt, that gives large language models a concise summary of the site and links to its most useful pages. Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI proposed it in September 2024. Support among AI companies is still uneven.
- FAQ pageAn FAQ page lists frequently asked questions about a business, product or topic, each followed by a short answer. It lets visitors find common answers without contacting anyone, and clear question-and-answer formatting also makes the content easy for search engines and AI answer engines to understand and quote.
- Knowledge baseA knowledge base is an organized collection of information, such as help articles, policies, product details and answers to common questions, that people or software can search. In AI chatbots, the knowledge base is the content the chatbot is allowed to answer from, usually built from a company's website, documents and written Q&As.