Resource Center
What is answer engine optimisation (AEO) and why does it matter for B2B teams?
A simple guide to the next era of search and how to prepare for it
Created by:
Ómar Thor
Posted on:
March 13, 2025
TLDR
Answer engine optimisation, or AEO, is the practice of improving your visibility inside AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.Unlike traditional SEO, which helps you rank on Google, AEO helps your brand appear when someone asks an AI engine a question.
AEO is becoming essential for B2B teams because buyers are shifting their research from search engines to AI assistants.
With Optise, you can finally measure your AI visibility and optimise for this new discovery channel.
Smart Summary (At a glance)
AEO is the new way to rank inside AI-generated answers
Buyers now ask AI engines for recommendations, comparisons, and explanations
Showing up in those answers increases trust and visibility
Optise helps B2B teams track and improve their AEO performance
What is answer engine optimisation (AEO)?
AEO is the process of making sure your brand appears in answers generated by AI engines.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini a question about your industry, your category, or the problems you solve, AEO helps those engines include you in the response.
It is like SEO, but for AI.
Instead of ranking on a results page, you aim to be part of the answer.
Why AEO matters right now
AI engines have become a major part of how people research online.
B2B buyers now use them to ask questions such as:
“What are the best B2B website analytics tools?”
“How do I improve my website conversions?”
“Which companies help with AI website optimisation?”
If your brand is not appearing in those answers, you are losing visibility at the exact moment buyers are seeking solutions.
AEO gives you a way to influence what AI engines say about your company.
How AI engines decide what to include in answers
AI engines gather information based on:
Your website content
Brand authority and clarity
Mentions across the web
How well your content aligns with common questions
Structured, clear explanations they can reference
If your website is confusing, thin, or unclear, AI engines are less likely to trust it.
If your brand is not mentioned often or your content does not match how people ask questions, you are ignored.
AEO helps you fix that.
Why traditional SEO is no longer enough
SEO helps you rank in search results.
AEO helps you rank in answers.
They require different approaches:
SEO focuses on:
Keywords
On-page optimisation
Backlinks
Crawlability
Page structure
AEO focuses on:
Questions people ask
Clear explanations
Conversational phrasing
Brand clarity
Topic authority
B2B brands that only optimise for Google risk becoming invisible in AI.
How Optise helps you optimise for AI engines
Until recently, you could not measure your AEO performance.
You had no idea:
Which questions AI engines answer about your industry
Whether you appear in those answers
How AI describes your brand
What competitors rank when you do not
Optise changes all of this.
Optise shows you:
If your brand appears in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini
Which questions trigger your brand to show up
Where competitors outrank you
How AI engines describe your value
What content you need to create to improve visibility
For the first time, B2B teams can treat AEO like a measurable, optimisable channel.
How to improve your AEO performance
Once you know which questions AI engines are answering, you can start improving your visibility.
Here’s how to get started:
Answer common industry questions clearly on your website
Use simple, conversational language AI models can understand
Strengthen your “about” and “what we do” explanations
Create pages that match real buyer questions
Publish authoritative, useful content
Use structured headers, Q&A sections, and simple formatting
Build consistent brand signals across your website
AEO is not about tricking AI.
It is about making your content clearer and more helpful.
AEO in action: what we learned from scoring zero
When we first built the AI Engine Rankings feature inside Optise, we checked our own visibility.
We found zero mentions. Not one.
But once we knew the questions buyers were asking and how AI engines were answering them, we improved:
Our content
Our clarity
Our authority
Our structure
Within weeks, we started ranking.
Our visibility increased because we finally saw what AI engines were seeing.
This is the power of AEO.
Optise POV
AEO is not a trend. It is the new way people discover brands.
B2B teams need to be present where buyers ask questions, not just where they search.
— Ómar, CEO
Conclusion
Answer engine optimisation is becoming essential for B2B visibility.
AI engines are shaping how buyers learn, compare, and choose solutions.
If your brand is not showing up in their answers, you are already behind.
With Optise, you can measure your AI visibility, discover the questions buyers ask, and take clear steps to appear inside the answers that matter.
Get your free website insight and start improving your AEO performance today.
FAQ
1. What is answer engine optimisation?
AEO is the process of improving your visibility inside AI-generated answers.
2. Why is AEO important for B2B companies?
Buyers now ask AI engines for recommendations, comparisons, and guidance.
3. How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO ranks web pages in Google. AEO ranks your brand inside AI answers.
4. How do I know if I am ranking on AI engines?
Optise shows you whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini mention your brand.
5. How can I improve my AEO performance?
Create clear, question-focused content that AI engines can easily understand.
6. Does AEO affect Google rankings?
Indirectly, yes. Better content often improves both SEO and AEO.
7. How long does AEO optimisation take?
Many brands see improvements within a few weeks of focused changes.
8. Can I see competitor AEO visibility?
Yes. Optise reveals where competitors appear in AI-generated answers.
9. Are AI questions real user intent?
Yes. They reflect how people naturally ask questions in conversation.
10. What is the best way to start?
Get your free website insight in Optise and see where you stand today.
