Guides to AI search

Written companions to our reference videos on answer engines, AI citations and the crawlers behind them. Each one marks what was measured, what is an estimate, and where the evidence runs out.

• What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
  AEO means getting your pages quoted inside AI answers, not just ranked under them. How it differs from SEO, what earns a citation, and what nobody can promise.
• What's the Difference Between GEO and AEO?
  GEO and AEO name nearly the same work. Where each term came from, how to measure each one, and the AI settings where the difference matters.
• What Does AI Visibility Mean for a Business?
  AI visibility is four results, not one score: being named, cited, recommended and described accurately. How to check each, and what ads can't buy.
• What Is AI SEO, and How Is It Different From Traditional SEO?
  AI SEO is SEO with one more target: the answers AI engines write. What carries over, what's new, and nine popular tactics rated against the evidence.
• How Do I Know If ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews Are Citing My Site?
  Google and Bing now report when their AI answers show your site. ChatGPT and Perplexity don't. How to read the reports and check the rest by hand.
• Should I Block AI Crawlers in Robots.txt?
  Robots.txt can turn away most AI crawlers by name, but each company runs several agents for different jobs. Blocking the wrong one can cost you citations.
• How Do Google's AI Overviews Decide What to Cite?
  Google's AI Overviews can turn one question into several searches, which helps explain why the pages they cite often don't rank for the question you typed.
• Does Schema Markup Help You Get Cited by AI?
  Schema tells machines who you are. A 1,885-page study found it didn't lift AI citations. What markup still earns its place, and which advice has expired.

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