What's the difference between SEO and AEO?

SEO aims for ranking in search results. AEO aims for citation in AI-generated answers. They work together: well-ranked content is more likely to be read by answer engines.

Do I need an llms.txt file?

Google says no special file is required for its AI features. Other engines do read this kind of file; it costs almost nothing to add and doesn't hurt.

How long before AEO shows results?

There's no guaranteed timeline: it depends on your sector, competition and presence beyond your own site. We track it by regularly testing the same questions in AI assistants.

blurism ← All articles

Behind the blur23 September 20267 min read

AEO: how to get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI answer engines

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) means making a website understandable and citable by AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews. In practice: direct answers, sourced facts, a clear structure, structured data, and AI crawlers allowed in.

What is AEO?

Classic SEO aims to be ranked in a list of links. AEO aims to be cited in a generated answer. When an executive asks an assistant "which consulting firm for a market study in Oran?", the assistant reads pages, extracts passages and cites its sources. AEO makes your pages easy to read, extract and cite.

Why it matters for businesses in France or Algeria

Because decision-makers already use it. On ABC Strategy & Management's site, several of the 13 qualified opportunities generated since launch came through AI search. In markets where few businesses structure their content, being the clear source of an answer is a real edge.

What the research says

An academic study on generative engine optimization (Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", KDD 2024 ↗) measured how several methods affect visibility in AI answers. The most effective: citing sources, adding statistics and quotations. Keyword stuffing, on the other hand, reduced visibility.

Google, for its part, says its AI features rely on its usual ranking systems: helpful, reliable content written for people remains the foundation (Google's guide ↗).

The method in 6 steps

01Answer first. Every important page opens with a direct answer to the question it covers, in a few sentences.
02Headings as questions. Subheadings follow the way people actually ask.
03Facts, not adjectives. Real, dated numbers with their source. "13 qualified opportunities" is citable; "exceptional results" isn't.
04Structured data. schema.org markup (organization, article, FAQ) so machines understand who you are and what you do.
05Let AI crawlers in. Check that robots.txt doesn't block GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot or Google-Extended.
06Be present elsewhere. AI also cites third-party sources: business directories, press, platforms. Your site is only part of the answer.

What we applied on ABC's site

An editorial platform of sector analyses answering real questions about the Algerian market.
An FAQ and structured service pages, in French and English.
Structured data on key pages.
A fast site that reads without heavy JavaScript, so crawlers see the content.

What AEO doesn't do

AEO doesn't replace a good product or a good reputation. An AI recommends what the whole web says about you, not just what your site claims. It multiplies visibility; it isn't a shortcut.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between SEO and AEO?: SEO aims for ranking in search results. AEO aims for citation in AI-generated answers. They work together: well-ranked content is more likely to be read by answer engines.
Do I need an llms.txt file?: Google says no special file is required for its AI features. Other engines do read this kind of file; it costs almost nothing to add and doesn't hurt.
How long before AEO shows results?: There's no guaranteed timeline: it depends on your sector, competition and presence beyond your own site. We track it by regularly testing the same questions in AI assistants.