AEO: How to Get Your Business Named by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude
A practical guide to Answer Engine Optimization: how to make ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini cite your business in their answers.
Traditional SEO still matters. A lot. But there's a new playing field now, and it has a name: AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Gemini “who's the best Hispanic marketing agency in Miami?”, you want your business named in the answer. Here's how that actually happens.
1. What Is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization is the work of shaping your content so that LLMs (large language models) cite it when they answer a user's question. Traditional SEO chases a spot on the Google results page. AEO chases a spot inside the AI chat answer. Different target, different rules.
2. Why Does AEO Matter Right Now?
- A growing share of searches already runs through AI tools, not just Google
- ChatGPT reached a massive weekly user base
- Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini are growing fast
- Google is rolling AI Overviews straight into the results page
- People trust AI answers that cite their sources
3. How to Optimize for LLMs
Content structure
- Clear headings with natural keywords
- Lists and tables (LLMs read them cleanly)
- FAQs backed by FAQ Schema
- Plain definitions right at the top of each section
- Facts you can verify: numbers, dates, sources
llms.txt and llms-full.txt
A new standard is taking shape here. It's a file at the root of your site that tells LLMs which information matters most. Think robots.txt, but built for AI.
Robots.txt that lets the AI bots in
- GPTBot (OpenAI)
- ChatGPT-User (OpenAI browsing)
- OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI search)
- ClaudeBot (Anthropic)
- Claude-Web (Anthropic browsing)
- PerplexityBot
- Perplexity-User
- Google-Extended (Gemini training)
Full schema markup
- Organization with sameAs (your social profiles)
- Person Schema for your authors
- FAQPage for Q&A
- Service for each service you offer
- LocalBusiness for your location
- Review/AggregateRating where it fits
Authority signals
- Author bios with real credentials
- Citations to official sources
- Quantified data
- Cases someone can check
4. Measuring AEO
Measuring this directly is hard. Here are the proxies that actually help:
- Brand mentions in search (Google Trends)
- Direct traffic climbing (someone recommended you)
- Organic quotes and backlinks
- Manual testing: ask ChatGPT and Perplexity about your industry and see who they name
5. AEO + SEO = One Strategy
This isn't AEO versus SEO. It's AEO plus SEO. The content that ranks on Google is the same content LLMs pull from. Write for humans first. Machines (Google and the LLMs) come second.
Twenty years building brands: from Havana to New York, from New York to Las Vegas, and from Las Vegas to Miami, where he still is today. He leads a team across Miami and Barranquilla that shoots commercials on cinema cameras and runs proprietary AI infrastructure. He believes good Latino marketing is made from the inside — and that honesty, frowned upon by many agencies, is what separates partners from vendors.
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