Answer Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring your content so AI systems — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Google AI Overviews — can find it, understand it, and quote it.
When AI can't read your site, your buyers can't find you.
More than 60% of searches now end without a click. If AI doesn't surface your site in its answer, the user never gets to yours.
AI models favor pages with clean metadata, clear hierarchy, and authoritative sources. Bad structure doesn't get penalized. It gets skipped.
Most B2B sites are missing the basic signals AI needs to cite them. A few targeted fixes move you from invisible to quotable.
Every scan ends with a prioritized list. The fixes below are the ones we see most often — and the ones that move scores fastest.
Your scan will tell you which apply to your site, where you stand today, and how much each one is worth.
AI crawlers look for a dedicated index of what your site is and what it covers. Without one, they guess. With one, you control the framing.
Many sites quietly block GPTBot, Google-Extended, and PerplexityBot. If they can't crawl you, they can't quote you. Audit and allow.
AI extracts the first useful sentence. Make sure yours defines the concept, names the category, and could stand alone as an answer.
Structured data tells AI exactly what to pull. FAQ schema on definition pages and Article schema on insights is the highest-leverage markup pair.
AI engines favor pages a human can scan and an engine can quote. Aim for a Flesch grade under 12. Short sentences quote better.
Pages that cite other authoritative sources get cited back. Reference reports, regulators, and named researchers — and link out.