Welcome to Answer Engine Optimization
June 1, 2026 · SeenandCited
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of making your site readable, trustworthy, and citable by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and DeepSeek.
Unlike classic SEO — which optimizes for a ranked list of blue links — AEO optimizes for being chosen as the source the assistant quotes in its answer. The economics are different: one citation in an AI answer can be worth dozens of organic clicks because it arrives at the moment the user is deciding.
Why it matters now
AI search traffic is growing fast, but the rules are still being written. Sites that publish clean, structured, well-cited content today are building durable authority that AI engines will continue to reward.
What to read next
More articles will appear here covering crawler rules, schema, citations, and content briefs that win answers.