There’s always been a bit of a moving target when it comes to SEO. What worked five years ago isn’t quite enough now, and what’s working now might shift again next month. Lately, it’s not just search engines crawling your site; it’s AI tools reading and rewriting bits of it for their own answers.
So even if your content is ticking all the usual SEO boxes, it might still be getting missed by the tools people are actually using to find answers.
If you’ve noticed a rise in traffic from strange sources, or someone quoting your site in a chatbot response you didn’t know existed, you’re not imagining it. Your content’s already out there; the question is whether it’s being picked up in the right way.
That’s where answer engine optimisation comes in.
Wait, what’s answer engine optimisation?
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is about making your content more visible to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Perplexity and Google's SGE. These aren’t just search engines; they’re systems designed to answer questions directly, without necessarily sending users to your website.
If you want your content to show up in those answers, it needs to be readable, scannable and clear enough to be pulled into a summary box or quoted directly.
It’s not a full-on replacement for SEO. Think of it more like a new layer on top of it.
AI is already reading your site
Chances are, you’ve already had traffic from AI tools without knowing. Bots like GPTBot and ClaudeBot regularly crawl websites, pulling in information that helps train AI models or generate live answers.
It’s not always obvious when that’s happening, but you might spot it in your logs or notice:
- New queries showing up in Search Console
- A bump in impressions without any clear change in rankings
- Referrals from tools like Perplexity or other AI-based platforms
It’s a bit murky, but it’s worth paying attention to. These tools are becoming the way a lot of people search, especially for questions, how-tos and comparisons.
How to make your content AI-friendly
(without rewriting everything)
This doesn’t mean you need to change everything on your site. But a few small changes can help make sure your content is more likely to be used, and credited as AI-generated answers.
Write clearly, structure it well
AI tools work best with content that’s clean, well-structured and easy to follow.
- Use clear headings (H2s and H3s) to organise your content
- Answer specific questions directly
- Keep paragraphs short and readable
- Use bullet points or numbered steps for instructions
(See what I did there)
If you’ve already got an FAQ page or a service page that explains what you do in simple terms, you’re probably most of the way there.
Add schema
(we know, but it helps)
Structured data like schema markup is a useful way to give machines a bit of extra context. It’s especially helpful for things like:
- FAQs
- How-to guides
- Articles and blogs
- Product or service pages
If you’re on WordPress or Drupal, you can usually add this with plugins or modules. And no, you don’t have to tag every paragraph. Just give search engines and AI tools enough to work with.
If you want help figuring out where schema makes sense (and where it doesn’t), we can do that too.
Check your logs
(and your analytics)
Your server logs can show you if AI tools are crawling your site. Keep an eye out for:
- GPTBot (OpenAI)
- ClaudeBot (Anthropic)
- CCBot (Common Crawl)
- ChatGPT-User (used when users fetch a live link in ChatGPT)
If they’re showing up, your content is probably being read, and possibly used, by AI tools. That doesn’t always translate to traffic, but it does mean your site is part of the mix.
It’s also worth checking Google Analytics (GA4) for any unusual spikes or new traffic sources. If you’re seeing referrals from tools like Perplexity, or changes in engagement without a clear cause, you might already be benefiting from AEO (even if you didn’t plan to).
Track what you can, guess what you can’t
Right now, there’s no perfect way to track AEO. You’ll need to read between the lines.
Look for:
- Increases in impressions or visibility without a clear cause
- Higher engagement on certain topics
- More long-tail, natural-language queries
- Mentions or citations in tools you’ve never submitted content to
As new tools roll out, we expect this will get a bit clearer, but for now, it’s a bit of an educated guess.
What we’re doing about it
We’ve already started building AEO thinking into our SEO services and digital roadmap planning. It’s not a complete shift, but it’s enough to make sure your content doesn’t get left behind.
This isn’t about jumping on a bandwagon. It’s about staying visible while search keeps shifting.
If you're not sure how visible your content is right now, or where to focus next, we can help. Whether it’s a full content review, some quick schema fixes, or just a chat about what’s worth doing, we’re here when you need us.