Get found in ChatGPT, Claude,
Perplexity and Gemini
Search engine optimisation won a click. Answer engine optimization wins a recommendation. When an assistant gives one answer instead of ten links, there is no second place — you are named, or you do not exist.
From €1,450 excl. VAT · baseline and monthly tracking included
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — also called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) or LLM SEO — is the set of techniques that get a business named and correctly described in the answers of AI assistants and AI summaries in search engines. Where SEO targets position in a result list, AEO targets inclusion in the answer itself.
Why AEO is a different craft from SEO
A search engine picks ten pages and lets the human decide. An answer engine decides itself, and to do that it must do something a search engine never did: understand what is written, summarise it, and put its own name behind it. That changes what a good page is.
Models select sources that are three things at once: unambiguous (it says exactly what you mean, without marketing fog), structured (facts exist as facts, not buried in a sentence or an image) and consistent (what your site says, other sources say too). A beautiful, vaguely written page ranking first in Google can be ignored entirely by an assistant.
| Aspect | Classic SEO | Answer engine optimization |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Position in the result list | Being named in the answer |
| Unit | The page | The passage and the fact |
| Winner | Strongest authority and links | Clearest, best structured source |
| Writing style | Persuasive, promotional | Explicit, quotable, factual |
| Technique | Speed, links, keywords | Schema.org, entities, llms.txt, consistency |
| Measurement | Rankings and clicks | Mention rate per question, per assistant |
| Cost of “nearly right” | Slightly less traffic | Zero visibility |
Five blocks that compound
Not one trick, but a stack that is hard to copy.
Question analysis instead of keywords
People no longer type keywords into an assistant, they ask full sentences with context: budget, location, hesitation, exception. I map which questions your customers actually ask and which of them a competitor is answering today.
Building quotable content
Pages a model can confidently reuse: clear definitions, explicit figures, comparison tables, questions answered literally. Short where possible, complete where necessary — and always with one ambiguity less.
Structured data and entity building
Schema.org for your organisation, services, prices, locations and questions. Plus the link between your business and a recognisable person with demonstrable expertise — models weigh that, and it is the hardest part to fake.
Consistency across every source
Your data must say the same thing everywhere: your own site, Google Business Profile, directories, social media, industry platforms, review sites. Contradictions are the fastest way to make a model uncertain, and an uncertain model does not name you.
Measure and adjust
A fixed set of customer questions, fired monthly at the major assistants, recording who gets named. Plus traffic and enquiries demonstrably coming from AI sources. So you know it works instead of hoping.
What AEO is not
A lot of nonsense is being sold around this topic, so let me name the other side.
- It is not a switch. There is no setting, plugin or submission form that puts you in ChatGPT. Anyone selling that is selling air.
- It is not keyword stuffing 2.0. Cramming text with terms backfires: models penalise noise because they select on comprehensibility.
- It does not replace SEO. Classic findability remains one of the sources models draw on. AEO builds on top; it replaces nothing.
- It is not a one-off. Models are retrained, their sources shift, competitors move. This is maintenance, not a project with an end date.
Price
An AEO engagement starts from €1,450 excluding VAT for a defined business with one location and one language, including baseline measurement, content architecture, structured data and the first tracking round. Multiple locations, languages or service lines increase the price; you get that in writing beforehand.
Frequently asked questions about AEO and LLM SEO
What does AEO stand for?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: optimising your business and content so AI assistants name you in their answer. It is also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or LLM SEO; in practice the terms cover the same ground.
How do I get into ChatGPT?
There is no submission process. Assistants draw on their training data and, increasingly, on live web sources. So you get in by being present, clear and consistent across the sources they consult: your own site with correct structured data, your Google profile, industry platforms, directories and review sites — and by publishing pages that answer the question literally.
How long before I see results?
Technical improvements to structured data and content are picked up within weeks by assistants that consult the live web. The picture a model holds from its training data changes more slowly — expect months there. That is why I measure each assistant separately: one moves far faster than another.
Does this work for a local business?
Especially for local businesses it often works quickly. For questions like “a good plumber in Ghent” the competition inside AI answers is far thinner today than in Google, while consistency of name, address and hours is exactly the kind of signal models weigh heavily. Putting that in order stands out faster than in classic local SEO.
What if AI just takes my content without crediting me?
It happens and it is a real concern. The countermeasure is not blocking but being distinctive on what cannot be summarised away: your own figures, methods and cases, and an offer an agent has to refer onward because only you can deliver it. For publishers the trade-off differs — there, blocking can be the right call.
See where you stand first
I put five customer questions to four AI assistants and send you the literal answers — including who gets recommended instead of you. Free, within 48 hours.