Key Takeaways
- Future: Answer engines are changing SEO. Therefore, you must consider Answer Engine Optimisation in your future SEO strategies.
- Clarity: Answer Engine Optimisation helps you do this by focusing on user questions and clear content
- Supplementary strategy: It’s not a replacement for SEO but works alongside it to get you discovered in more ways.
- Focus: Master AEO by understanding user intent, structuring content clearly, and using natural language.
Encyclopaedias on CD’s are thankfully a thing of the past
It’s 1995, and you feel like a genius. Your friend has just purchased all 32 volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. You laugh, making your Hypercolor t-shirt change colour. What a fool you think, as you hum “Boombastic” by Shaggy under your breath. You have a secret cheat code for future information.
It’s a revolutionary CD-ROM called Encarta, and it can answer all your questions in two hours—or maybe five. Well, who’s counting? It depends on what you are looking for.
Yet, fast-forward to today, and instead of waiting two hours, answer engines like ChatGPT can immediately answer any question you have. From a user perspective, they offer a great solution.
However, they are causing a problem for SEOs. While AI-powered answer engines are not replacing traditional search engines, they are changing where searches are made. Consequently, understanding Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is critical.
In this article, we explain what Answer Engine Optimisation is. Moreover, we explore what you need to do to prepare for the future of search.
What is an Answer Engine?
Answer engine is a broad term that covers many different platforms. It includes AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Gemini.
However, they all have one thing in common. Using natural language processing (NLP) they analyse user queries and provide direct answers. Rather than simple keyword matching they try to understand the question a user asks and aggregate a response. This response is based on various data inputs including website content.
In short, answer engines can tackle many questions across various fields, making them powerful research assistants.
What is Answer Engine Optimisation?
Answer engine optimisation focuses on optimising your website and content to be featured in the results of AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT. These differ from search engines like Google by directly providing answers to user queries, often eliminating the need to visit a website.
Imagine you have a website selling at-home testosterone tests. Traditionally, you’d use search engine optimisation (SEO) to rank high in search results for queries like “typical testosterone levels for men under 30.” However, with AEO, you’d also want your content to be the source answer engines pull information from.
Therefore, answer engine optimisation helps you get featured in these AI tools to ensure you get more search traffic.
How are answer engines going to impact SEO?
Over the next five years, answer engines will become more prominent. Consequently, search traffic via traditional search engines will decrease.
Moreover, as other AI search features emerge, the entire search landscape will become more complex. Instead of trusting Google to provide all queries, users will increasingly adopt multiple channels to make searches based on what they are looking for.
Therefore, answer engine optimisation must be understood alongside AI features like Google’s AI Overviews. As a result, SEO will also need to consider search generative experience and Entity SEO. While these tools and resultant optimisation techniques share similarities, they are different.
Moreover, answer engines may threaten the very fabric of search results and SEO. Since the launch of ChatGPT, interest in AI-generated content has rapidly increased by 317%. On face value, this may not appear problematic, but it jeopardises the fundamental principles of search engines – to provide better information.
After all, if you can use AI to create content, who will bother creating new content? And without new information, AI machines will not advance meaning information becomes stagnant. This is why ChatGPT’s business model and Perplexity have come under fire.
Thankfully, search engines like Google have started taking action by deindexing AI content, which can impact your search rankings.
What is the difference between Answer Engine Optimisation and SEO?
Imagine searching for information online. Traditionally, search engines (SEO) are like giant library catalogues, pointing you to relevant books (websites) that might have the answer. Answer engines (AEO), on the other hand, are like librarians who not only point you to the right books but can also summarise the key information you need.
From a high level, AEO content optimisation is focused on the various questions a user may have about a topic. For example, the best running shoes for beginners may lead a searcher to have queries such as “Which shoes protect my feet” or “Which will last longer.” As a result, AEO places greater emphasis on clear headings (follow-up queries) and appreciating NLP processes.
On the other hand, SEO content is more traditional. It focuses on answering a specific query. So, the best running shoes for beginners may lead to an SEO article outlining all the best shoes and why. SEO as a result places greater emphasis on keywords.
Therefore, Answer Engine Optimisation isn’t a replacement for SEO. They work together to ensure your website gets discovered across different channels. In return, this can drive traffic, and brand awareness, and establish you as a trusted source in your field.
What is the difference between Answer Engine Optimisation and SGE (AI Overviews)?
Search Generative Experience (SGE), now known as AI Overviews, is a specific feature within Google Search. It uses AI to analyse information from various sources and directly answer user queries at the top of the search results page. This is similar to Bing Co-pilot, where users get an immediate answer with the option to explore the sources for further details.
As a result, both Answer Engine Optimisation and SGE can sound strikingly similar. Indeed, many of the optimisation techniques for AI Overviews and Answer Engine Optimisation are identical, meaning optimising for one can benefit the other. However, some key distinctions include:
- Scope: Answer Engine Optimisation is a broader strategy that aims to get your website featured in various answer engines, not just Google AI Overviews.
- Focus: Answer Engine Optimisation optimises content for a wider range of answer engines, each potentially with different algorithms. AI Overviews focuses specifically on Google’s ranking factors and how your content aligns with them.
However, the overlap is significant. Many AEO best practices, like clear headings, structured content, and addressing user queries directly, will also benefit your performance in AI Overviews.
Answer Engine Optimisation principles you need to master
Answer Engine Optimisation requires a shift in focus. You must consider what people are asking rather than following the old SEO methods of identifying high-volume keywords. After all, 15% of all searches have never been made before. Therefore, focusing on various user questions can have a powerful impact on your Answer Engine Optimisation strategy.
For instance, imagine you are a start-up selling running wearables in the US. The keyword “running wearable” is searched over 12k times per month. This does not include branded searches such as Garmin. However, ranking for such a term is difficult, and it is unlikely that you will be featured in AI search engines because the competition is fierce.
However, optimising for a question like “running watch features every trail runner must consider” is unlikely to be searched at mass but is highly targeted and answers a specific query. The more questions you answer like this the more you can build your topical authority and form a key part of your Entity SEO strategy.
Therefore, when looking to optimise for AEO consider the following principles:
- Understand user intent: Identify what questions users in your niche typically ask.
- Content: Structure your content in a way that anticipates user questions. FAQs, bulleted lists, and clear headings are excellent. Moreover, use a conversational style, and aim for readability rather than technical jargon.
- Leverage NLP: Understanding how users naturally phrase their questions is crucial. Consider synonyms and related terms users might include in their queries.
The future of search optimisation
Answer Engine Optimisation will transform the next 10 years of SEO. Therefore, it is critical to start planning and optimising your website accordingly.
Moreover, anyone contemplating outsourcing their SEO to a digital agency must engage an agency that embraces these AI changes.
However, while many of the key principles of SEO remain, you must evolve your strategies. The ultimate goal of answer engines is to provide users with the information they need when they need it.
As a result, your Answer Engine Optimisation must embrace this change. By doing so, you’ll not only improve your AEO performance but also establish yourself as a trusted authority in your field.
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