What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?

The Search Landscape Has Changed

When someone wants to find a business consultant in Auckland, they used to type it into Google. In 2026, they're just as likely to ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. And when they do, the rules of the game are completely different.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, 25% of organic search traffic will shift to AI chatbots and virtual assistants instead of traditional search clicks. Between January and May 2025 alone, AI-referred sessions jumped 527%. This isn't a future trend. It's happening now.

What is Answer Engine Optimisation?

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the creation and structuring of digital content so that it is more easily ingested by large language models. More specifically, AEO is the practice of optimising your digital presence to appear in AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and similar platforms that synthesise information rather than returning lists of links.

Instead of ranking #1 on a search results page, AEO aims to become the source AI engines cite when answering questions. On average, AI engines cite only 2-7 sources per response, not 10 like Google's search results. Getting cited means your business is one of the select few recommendations users see.

AEO vs Traditional SEO

Why AEO Matters in 2026

Companies that adapt to Answer Engine Optimisation now will capture market share from competitors still fighting yesterday's SEO wars. Those that don't will watch their organic traffic disappear as users migrate to AI search platforms.

The shift is already measurable. AI-referred sessions jumped 527% between January and May 2025. When users ask AI engines for business recommendations, they get 2-7 cited sources, not 10 blue links. If you're not one of those 2-7, you're invisible.

Share of Model: The New Visibility Metric

Traditional SEO tracked "share of voice". What percentage of search impressions did you capture? AEO introduces Share of Model, which measures how often AI assistants cite your business when answering relevant questions.

If 100 people ask ChatGPT "Who are the best AI consultants in Auckland?" and your business gets cited 40 times, you have a 40% Share of Model for that query. This metric tracks your visibility in AI-generated recommendations, which increasingly drives customer discovery.

The AEO/GEO Industry Has Arrived

This isn't theoretical. There's now an AEO Conf 2026, industry benchmarks tracking citation rates, and specialised agencies offering AEO services. The businesses that master this early will have compounding advantages as the practice matures.

How to Optimise for Answer Engines

1. Use Answer Capsules (The 72% Factor)

This is the single most important AEO tactic. Answer capsules are concise, self-contained answers of roughly 120-150 characters (about 20-25 words) placed directly after a question-based heading.

According to Search Engine Land's analysis of 8,000 AI citations, 72.4% of pages cited by ChatGPT had an answer capsule present. This makes it the strongest predictor of whether AI engines will cite your content.

How to Create Effective Answer Capsules:

• Question-based H2: Use headings that mirror how people actually ask questions
• Direct answer first: Give the complete answer in the first 20-25 words, no links, no references
• Self-contained: Someone should understand the answer without reading anything else on the page
• Expand below: After the capsule, provide context, examples, and deeper detail

2. Write Long-Form, Original Content

Length and depth directly correlate with higher citations. Short articles under 800 words average 3.2 citations from ChatGPT, while long-form pieces over 2,900 words earn 5.1 citations.

Original data, statistics, and research findings dramatically increase citation probability. Content featuring quotes, expert opinions, or proprietary data shows 30-40% higher visibility in AI-generated answers. If you have unique insights or data, feature them prominently.

3. Use Broad, Clear Titles (Not Keyword-Stuffed)

Research shows that broad titles and URLs that convey the main topic receive over 2x citations compared to highly keyword-optimised ones. AI models prioritise clarity and topic alignment over strict keyword matching.

Good: "What is Answer Engine Optimisation?" (clear, question-based)
Bad: "AEO SEO AI Optimization Strategies 2026 Guide Tips" (keyword-stuffed)

4. Build Authority Signals

Domains with profiles on platforms like Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, and Yelp have 3x higher chances to be chosen by ChatGPT as a source compared to sites without such presence. Third-party validation signals that your business is real, established, and trustworthy.

Google's E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) matters even more for AI citations:

• Named authors with credentials: Author pages with bios, LinkedIn profiles, expertise domains
• Quantified experience: "400+ businesses trained since 2023" is more citeable than "extensive experience"
• Third-party validation: Review sites, partner logos, industry affiliations
• Consistency across platforms: Your LinkedIn, website, and Google Business Profile should tell the same story

5. Implement Comprehensive Structured Data

Structured data is how AI engines parse your information. Without it, even great content might be skipped because the AI can't confidently extract key facts.

• Organisation schema: Business name, logo, location, contact info
• LocalBusiness schema: Operating hours, service areas, geographic coordinates
• Service schema: What you offer, who it's for, pricing structure
• Person schema: Founder/expert profiles with credentials
• FAQ schema: Common questions with direct answers
• Article schema: Thought leadership with author attribution

6. Optimise Technical Performance

AI engines prioritise fast, accessible content. Pages with Time to First Byte under 200ms and First Contentful Paint under 0.4 seconds average 6.7 citations, while slower pages (FCP over 1.13 seconds) drop to just 2.1 citations.

Core Web Vitals aren't just for Google anymore. They directly impact whether AI crawlers prioritise your content for citation.

7. Allow AI Bots in robots.txt

Your robots.txt file controls which bots can access your site. If you block AI crawlers, your content won't be cited. Configure your robots.txt to explicitly allow:

• User-agent: GPTBot (OpenAI's crawler for ChatGPT)
• User-agent: ClaudeBot (Anthropic's crawler for Claude)
• User-agent: PerplexityBot (Perplexity's crawler)
• User-agent: Google-Extended (Google's AI training crawler)

Blocking AI bots means your competitors' information gets used to answer users' questions instead of yours. Unless you have specific privacy concerns, allow these crawlers access.

Common AEO Mistakes to Avoid

Writing Without Answer Capsules

This is the #1 mistake. If 72.4% of cited pages have answer capsules and yours doesn't, you're competing with one hand tied behind your back. Every question-based H2 should be immediately followed by a concise, self-contained answer.

Blocking AI Crawlers

Some businesses block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot in their robots.txt, thinking they're protecting their content. In reality, they're making themselves invisible to AI-powered search. Your competitors' content gets cited instead.

Keyword-Stuffed Titles

Broad, clear titles get 2x more citations than keyword-optimised ones. "AI Consulting Auckland SEO Marketing Strategy 2026" looks spammy to AI engines. "What Makes Effective AI Consulting?" sounds human and gets cited.

Generic, Unsubstantiated Claims

AI engines reward specificity and verification. "We're the best AI consultants" is unciteable. "We've trained 400+ New Zealand businesses since 2023, with clients including X, Y, and Z" is citeable because it's specific, verifiable, and factual.

Measuring AEO Success

In 2026, you need to track visibility and citations in AI alongside traditional SEO metrics. Most businesses begin seeing citations from AI platforms within 4-8 weeks of implementing AEO best practices, though initial visibility typically appears first for branded queries and niche topics with lower competition.

What to Track:

• Citation frequency: Manually test relevant queries in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity. How often does your business appear? Track this weekly.
• Share of Model: Of all queries in your category, what percentage cite you? This is your visibility in AI-powered search.
• Referral traffic: Monitor traffic from perplexity.ai, chatgpt.com, and similar domains. While AI citations may not always drive clicks, some do.
• Brand search volume: When AI assistants cite you, users often search for your brand directly. Watch for spikes in branded search.
• Structured data validation: Use Google's Rich Results Test to ensure schemas are implemented correctly. Broken schema = missed citations.

Industry Benchmarks:

The 2026 AEO/GEO Benchmarks Report from Conductor provides industry averages you can compare against. If your citation rate is below industry average for your sector, your AEO implementation needs work.

Common AEO Questions (Demonstrating Answer Capsules)

Here's the answer capsule technique in action. Notice how each question gets a direct, self-contained answer first, then deeper detail:

How long does Answer Engine Optimisation take to work?

Most businesses see first AI citations within 2-4 weeks of implementing answer capsules, structured data, and allowing AI bots. Meaningful Share of Model improvement takes 3-6 months.

Quick wins (2-4 weeks): AI bots crawl your updated content, answer capsules start appearing in responses to niche queries. Medium-term (3-6 months): citation frequency increases, you appear for broader category searches, Share of Model becomes measurable. Long-term (6-12 months): competitive positioning solidifies, branded search volume increases from AI citations. The key: start now. Early movers gain compounding advantages as AI training data incorporates your content.

AEO vs SEO - do I need both?

Yes. AEO and SEO complement each other. Good SEO practices (quality content, structured data, authority building) also help AEO. But AEO requires additional tactics like answer capsules.

What stays the same: quality content, backlinks, technical SEO, E-E-A-T signals all benefit both. What's different for AEO: answer capsules (direct Q&A format), explicit AI bot allowance in robots.txt, question-based headings, self-contained paragraph answers. Don't abandon SEO. Instead, layer AEO tactics on top of your existing SEO foundation. The content that ranks well on Google often performs well with AI engines too, if formatted correctly with answer capsules.

The Bottom Line

Traditional SEO isn't dead. Google still drives enormous traffic. But the landscape is expanding, and fast. With AI-referred sessions up 527% in five months and Gartner predicting 25% of organic search shifting to AI by end of 2026, optimising for answer engines isn't optional anymore.

The businesses that win are the ones implementing answer capsules, allowing AI crawlers, and building citeable authority now, before "Share of Model" becomes as competitive as Google rankings. Answer Engine Optimisation isn't a replacement for SEO. It's the next evolution, and the migration is already underway.

Start with answer capsules (remember the 72.4% stat), allow AI bots in your robots.txt, and write long-form content with original insights. These three tactics alone will put you ahead of 80% of businesses still treating AI search as a future concern.