Guides / Get cited by AI
Answer engine optimization
Answer engine optimization is the work of being the source an AI answer quotes: the right question, a direct answer, and proof on the page. It does not replace SEO. It changes what “ranking” means when the click never happens.
About 2,400 US searches a month for “answer engine optimization”. Updated October 4, 2026.
- 1The questionIn the words a buyer asks, not your internal name for the feature.
- 2The answerTwo or three sentences, near the top, that stand alone.
- 3The proofA number, a step, or a named source. Vague confidence does not get quoted.
- 4The restThe detail, for the human who clicks and for the model that keeps reading.
What it is
About 2,400 US searches a month are for answer engine optimization, and 457 ask what it is. The short definition lives in the AEO glossary. This page is the work: pick questions, answer them in a form a model can lift, and check whether the engines actually do.
Generative engine optimization is the overlapping phrase. The difference, such as it is, is on AEO vs GEO.
Pages, not prompts
You do not optimize a prompt you do not control. You optimize the page the model might read. A heading that is the question, a paragraph that is the answer, and a table when the answer is a comparison. That is the format of this cluster, and it is the format worth stealing.
Tools that watch whether it worked are on AEO tools. A one-off check is the AEO grader.
SEO still fetches the page
If the model cannot find the page, it cannot cite it. Ordinary technical SEO, internal links, and a page that says something specific are the foundation. AEO is what you do with the words once the page can be fetched.
Being the citation, specifically in ChatGPT, is on how to get cited by ChatGPT. Perplexity’s version is on how to rank in Perplexity.
Questions
Is AEO different from SEO?
SEO earns the blue link. AEO earns the sentence in an AI answer, which may cite you and may not send the click. You still need the page to be findable, so you do both.
Can I do AEO with a blog post?
Yes, if the post answers one question in the first sentences and the rest supports it. A post that circles the question for 800 words gives the model nothing clean to lift.
How do I know it worked?
Ask the question in the engines your buyers use, and see if you are mentioned or cited. Then do it on a schedule. A single screenshot is a mood, not a measurement.
Keep going
Put it in the account
Connect the ad account. Sprites reads it, drafts the change, and waits for your approval before anything spends.
Start 7-day trial →Rather talk it through? Book a demo