GEO glossary

Answer engine optimisation (AEO)

Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so that search engines, voice assistants and AI chatbots can lift a direct answer from it. The term is most associated with featured snippets and voice search, and now overlaps heavily with generative engine optimisation.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

How is AEO different from GEO?

The two terms are often used interchangeably, and many tools and agencies treat them as one discipline. Where a line is drawn, AEO is about the shape of the answer: a question, a direct reply and supporting detail that a system can extract. GEO is broader. It covers whether a brand is mentioned at all, which third-party sources shape the answer and how the brand is described.

How does AEO work in practice?

Google selects featured snippets automatically and says there is no markup that makes a page eligible for one. It says the same of AI Overviews and AI Mode: no special optimisation is needed. What a site does control is how easy its answers are to extract.

Use the question as the heading, in the words people search with
Answer it in the first one or two sentences, then add detail
Keep each answer self-contained so it reads correctly when quoted alone
Use lists and tables for steps, specifications and comparisons
Add structured data only where it matches the visible text

How to measure it

AEO was traditionally measured by featured snippet and People Also Ask ownership in rank trackers. For AI answers, the equivalent is whether a page's wording is used or cited, which needs prompt tracking across the platforms that matter to the audience.

Example

A page headed 'How long does a UK passport renewal take?' that opens with one sentence giving the current processing time and where that figure comes from gives an answer engine something to quote. A page that opens with background on the Passport Office does not. Each entry in this glossary follows the same pattern, starting with a definition written to be quoted on its own.