AEO services: answer engine optimization
More searches now end on the results page itself: a featured snippet, a People Also Ask box, an AI Overview or a voice assistant reading one answer aloud. AEO is the work that makes your page the one Google lifts that answer from. Questions your buyers actually type, answered in the first sentence; pages built so the answer is easy to find and safe to quote; structured data that matches what is on the page; and measurement from Search Console of which questions you now own.
Start with what keeps you up at night.
Everything, handled.
- ✓Question research from Search Console, People Also Ask and your own sales calls
- ✓One page per question that matters, answered in the first two sentences
- ✓Existing pages restructured: headings as real questions, short direct answers, lists and tables
- ✓FAQPage and Article markup that matches the visible text
- ✓Featured-snippet and People Also Ask tracking for the questions you target
- ✓AI Overview checks for your main questions, with the sources it cites
- ✓Internal links from every answer to the page that sells
- ✓A monthly list of questions won, lost and next
How answer engine optimization works, step by step.
Google now answers many questions on the results page itself: a featured snippet at the top, a People Also Ask box under it, an AI Overview above both, a voice assistant reading one answer aloud. Each of those answers is lifted from a web page Google already trusts for the question. AEO is the work of making that page yours: finding the questions your buyers ask, answering them plainly where Google looks, and proving with Search Console data which ones you now own.
1. Find the questions that come before a sale
We start from your own Search Console data: every search that showed your site and reads as a question. We add the People Also Ask questions Google shows for your main services, and the questions your sales team hears on the phone. The list is cut to the questions a buyer asks before choosing a supplier, not trivia that brings visits and no enquiries.
2. Check whether your pages answer them
For each question we find the page that should answer it and read it the way an answer engine does. Is the answer in the first two sentences under a heading that asks the question? Or is it buried in paragraph six, behind an introduction about the company? Questions with no page at all are listed separately.
3. Rewrite for a direct answer
Existing pages are restructured: headings become the real questions, each answered in one or two plain sentences, followed by the detail, a list or a table where the answer has steps or options. Questions with no page get one, if the question matters enough to deserve a page; smaller ones join the FAQ of the page that sells.
4. Mark up what is on the page, and only that
FAQPage and Article structured data are added where they match the visible text word for word. Markup that describes text a reader cannot see breaks Google's guidelines, so we never add it. Every answer links to the service page it supports, so a reader who gets the answer can also get the service.
5. Track, win, lose, adjust
Each month we check which target questions show your page in a featured snippet, a People Also Ask box or an AI Overview, and which do not. You get the list of questions won, lost and next. Answers are lost as well as won: a competitor rewrites their page, Google changes its choice, and the page is updated in response.
What an answer-ready paragraph looks like (an illustration)
At Smith & Co, we have been helping businesses with their accounting needs for many years. Our experienced team understands that every client is different, which is why we take the time to understand your situation. When it comes to VAT registration, there are many factors to consider...
You must register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes the threshold set by HMRC in any rolling 12-month period, or if you expect it to pass the threshold in the next 30 days alone. You can register voluntarily below it. Here is how to check your turnover, and when registering early pays off.
The first version is about the firm; the second answers the question in its first sentence, which is the sentence an answer engine can lift. The detail, the firm's experience and the call to action follow underneath. Same page, same facts, a different order.
What we will not do
- Promise a featured snippet or an AI Overview mention. Google chooses its answer, and anyone guaranteeing one is guessing.
- Add HowTo markup. Google stopped showing HowTo rich results in 2023, and FAQ rich results now appear only for well-known government and health sites; the markup we add is for engines that read it, not for a dropdown.
- Mark up text that is not on the page, or write pages that exist only to catch a question and sell nothing.
- Publish machine-written filler. Every answer is checked against the facts you have given us and the page it sits on.
How you will know it works
Impressions, clicks and average position for each target question, read from your own Search Console property every month. A question you start to own shows up there first.
Featured snippets, People Also Ask and AI Overviews are checked for each target question in your market, with the sources the AI Overview cites, because no report from Google lists them.
Many answers are read without a click. What counts is whether the people who do click go on to call, email or fill in the form, so the pages that answer questions are tracked through to enquiries.
Answer Engine Optimization, answered.
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO earns a place in the list of results. AEO earns the answer above the list: the featured snippet, the People Also Ask box, the AI Overview or the sentence a voice assistant reads out. The two share most of the groundwork, but AEO is judged on whether a page answers one question cleanly in the first two sentences, not on how well it ranks overall.
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO is about Google's own answer boxes and AI Overviews, where your page is quoted with a link. GEO is about assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity naming your business when someone asks them for a recommendation. They overlap, and most clients take both, but they are measured differently: AEO in Search Console, GEO by asking the assistants.
Which questions do you target?
The ones your buyers type before they buy, taken from Search Console, from the People Also Ask boxes on your main searches, and from what your sales team hears on calls. Questions that bring readers but never customers are left out, however much traffic they promise.
Do you write new pages or change existing ones?
Both. Most of the early wins come from existing pages: a heading turned into the question people actually ask, a direct answer moved to the top, a list or table where a paragraph was, and markup that matches the text. New pages are written for questions no page of yours answers yet.
Can you guarantee a featured snippet?
No one can. Google chooses the snippet, and it changes its choice often. What we can show you is the list of questions where your page now appears in the answer box or the People Also Ask results, month by month, from your own Search Console data.
What do you need from us to start?
Access to your analytics, ad accounts and website, one point of contact, and 45 minutes for a discovery call. We handle the rest.
Is there a minimum contract?
No. Engagements run month to month. 98% of our clients stay because the numbers work.
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