What is AEO?
Answer engine optimisation, explained. What counts as an answer engine, how Google AI Overviews pick their sources, and how AEO sits beside SEO and GEO.
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is the practice of structuring content so that search engines and AI assistants can lift a direct answer from it and present it as the response, with your page as the cited source. Featured snippets, People Also Ask, Google AI Overviews and voice results are all answer engines.
What counts as an answer engine
Any system that returns one answer instead of a list of links. On google.com.ph that is the AI Overview at the top of the page, the featured snippet, the People Also Ask box and Google AI Mode. Off Google it is Siri, Alexa and the short factual replies from ChatGPT or Gemini. The common thread: a single source wins, and everyone else is invisible.
How sources get picked
Answer engines favour pages that already rank well, open with a direct 40 to 60 word answer, match the question's wording closely, and mark the content up with schema (FAQPage, HowTo, Article). Pages with clean headings and short paragraphs are easier for a model to quote without mangling. Trust signals such as author, date and citations tip close calls.
AEO vs GEO vs SEO
| AEO | GEO | SEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question type | Factual, "how", "what", "cost" | Recommendation, "best", "which" | Any search with a results page |
| Winner takes | One answer slot | A mention in a list of brands | A rank among ten |
| Key tactic | Direct answer + schema | Entities + third-party citations | Technical, content, links |
| Metric | Snippet / AIO ownership | Share of answers | Rank, traffic |
AEO checklist for a page
- H1 phrased as the question people ask
- First paragraph answers it in 40 to 60 words
- FAQ block for the follow-up questions, with FAQPage schema
- Table or numbered list where the answer is a comparison or a process
- Author, date and sources visible on the page
- Fast, mobile-first, indexable, with AI crawlers allowed in robots.txt
AEO
FAQ
AEO vs SEO, which should I do first?+
SEO first. Answer engines mostly pick from pages already in the top ten. AEO is how you take the slot once you are close.
Do AI Overviews show in the Philippines?+
Yes, on google.com.ph in English and increasingly in Filipino, for most informational and many commercial queries.
Is AEO the same as GEO?+
They overlap but differ in target: AEO wants one answer slot, GEO wants a brand mention in a generated list. Read What is GEO?
Who does AEO in the Philippines?+
See AEO Agency Philippines for how GEOagency.ph runs it.
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