Getting quoted by ChatGPT is the new page one.
Ranking #10 on Google used to mean nothing. Here's how AI answer engines like ChatGPT choose what to cite, and how to write pages they'll actually quote.
A growing share of your customers never see a results page. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews, get a paragraph, and act on it. That paragraph was assembled from pages the model could parse, trust, and quote — and most small business sites give it nothing quotable. Answer engine optimization, or AEO, is the practice of fixing that.
01 · Write answerable sentences
Answer engines lift complete, self-contained statements. "We service gas boilers across Leeds and reply to enquiries within one business day" can be quoted. "Quality you can count on" cannot.
- Put the question in a heading and the answer in the first sentence under it.
- Name places, prices, hours, and turnaround times explicitly.
- Avoid pronouns that only make sense after three paragraphs of context.
If a stranger can't copy one sentence off your page and use it, neither can a model.
02 · Be machine legible
Real headings, real text, real links. Content locked inside images, sliders, or scripts that only run after interaction is content the crawler never sees. Structured data for your business, services, and FAQs makes the same facts unambiguous.
03 · Be corroborated elsewhere
Models weight claims that appear in more than one place. Your Google Business Profile, directory listings, and review sites should agree with your site on name, address, hours, and services — down to the punctuation where you can manage it.
04 · How to check you're being cited
Ask the assistants the questions your customers ask, monthly, and write down who gets named. It's crude, it's manual, and it's still the most honest signal available. When you're not mentioned, read whoever is — usually they simply answered the question in plain words.
05 · Quick answers
- What is AEO? Answer engine optimization — writing so ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews can lift a clean, accurate sentence straight off your page.
- Does traditional SEO still matter? Yes — real headings, legible text and fast pages are the foundation both search crawlers and AI models rely on.
- How often should I check if I'm being cited? Monthly is enough for most small businesses — ask the questions your customers ask and note who gets named.
Site, blog posts, SEO plan, ad strategy and creative — live in seven days for a flat $499 plus $30 a month.
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