AI search tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend businesses whose websites answer customer questions clearly and consistently. This practice is called answer engine optimization, or AEO. Start by checking whether AI tools name you when a customer asks for your service in your area. Then fix the site structure, service pages and question-led content that point those tools somewhere else.
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
SEO decides where you show up when someone types a search into Google. AEO covers the newer layer, where someone asks an AI tool a question and gets back a short list of recommended businesses. If your site doesn't answer the questions your customers ask, the AI tool names a competitor whose site does.
Why might AI search tools recommend a competitor instead of you?
Most owners have never checked. In one audit I ran over lunch for a local service owner, the problems surfaced in minutes. The way his site had been set up sent some of his traffic toward someone else instead of keeping it on his own pages, and nobody had told him. A nearby competitor also came up ahead of him when you asked an AI tool for his service. He had been paying for marketing that worked against him.
You can't see these problems from inside your own business. They show up only when someone runs the check.
How do you check where your business stands in AI search?
Ask an AI tool the question your customer would ask, with your service and your area, and see who comes back. Then look at your own site. Does each service have its own page? Do your pages answer the questions buyers ask in plain words? Does your marketing setup send visitors to your pages and your phone number? Our free AI Shortlist scan runs this check for you.
Why does showing a prototype work better than explaining AI?
When I describe what I build, many owners give me a polite nod and change the subject. They aren't skeptical. The idea doesn't connect to a problem they know they have. Showing them a real result on their own business closes that gap. In the lunch above, the audit changed the conversation, and the owner spent the rest of it listing what he wanted fixed.
What can a service business build once it sees the gap?
That owner's list included a field inspection app shaped around how his crews work, a personal assistant for documents, calendar and tasks, an agent to fix and maintain his SEO and AEO, and a voice receptionist so calls get answered while his team is on a job. Each item replaces generic software he had been bending his business to fit. Turning what an owner knows into systems like these is what we call Encoded Expertise, and the phone piece ties to speed to lead.
FAQ
What is the difference between SEO and AEO? SEO aims to rank your pages in search results. AEO aims to get your business named in the answer when someone asks an AI tool such as ChatGPT or Perplexity for a recommendation.
How do I know if ChatGPT recommends my business? Ask it the question a customer would ask, including your service and your area, and see which businesses it names. The free AI Shortlist scan runs this check for you.
Can my marketing agency hurt my AI search visibility? It can. Site structure, links and listings set up by any vendor can send visitors or AI tools somewhere other than your own pages. Ask for an audit that shows where your traffic and recommendations go.
What should I fix first to show up in AI answers? Give each service its own clear page, answer the questions buyers ask in plain language, and make sure your site sends visitors to your own contact details.
Does AI recommend your business?
Run the free AI Shortlist scan to see where you stand.
Adapted from Built, Not Bought. Get each issue by email.