Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the idea of optimizing content for engines that give answers directly (like Siri, Alexa, or ChatGPT) instead of a list of links.
The term’s been around, but it’s become more relevant now with AI. AEO overlaps with AI SEO: both are about making sure your brand shows up inside the answers themselves.
The key difference? AEO started with voice search. AI SEO goes further, ensuring your brand is cited in AI-generated text responses.
Think of AEO as the seed — AI SEO is the full-grown tree.