A / organic searchranked
- 01Competitor Aservice page
- 02Competitor Bcategory guide
- outYour businessrelevant, outside page one
/aeo AI search
Help buyers find and trust you in AI search.
questions / sources / evidence
We examine how your business appears when buyers use AI tools to research, compare and choose, then identify the gaps worth working on.
01 · what AEO means here
Understand the answer, then work on the evidence behind it.
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the work of improving how a business appears when AI tools answer a buyer's question. It shares foundations with SEO, but the answer and its sources need their own checks.
We define a set of buyer questions around comparisons, recommendations and purchase decisions. We record what appeared at the time of the check, which sources supported the answer and what the tools missed or misunderstood.
The work may include clearer service pages, stronger comparison content, corrected business facts, better profiles or relevant third-party coverage. The evidence and the growth priority decide what comes first.
02 · one buyer question
One question, two search surfaces.
This illustrative structure shows the useful distinction: who appears, who gets named and which sources support the answer. Each check records the question, date and tools used.
illustrative buyer question“Who supplies commercial acoustic flooring in Auckland?”
B / AI answernot named
“Businesses commonly considered include Competitor A and Competitor C…”
source 01 / industry directorysource 02 / comparison articlesource 03 / supplier profile
Plain-English reading
The two surfaces expose different gaps. Organic search reflects page relevance and competition, while an AI answer may also draw on directories, comparison sources and other public records. This is an example of how to interpret a check, not a client result.
03 · where the evidence sits
Your website matters. So does the web around it.
Your pages
Services, products, comparisons, proof and clear business facts.
Your records
Google Business Profile, directories, review sites and public listings.
Other sources
Industry sites, media, communities, lists and useful mentions.
next step
Give the search opportunity a clear direction.
The Search Growth Plan connects buyer questions, current visibility and the work worth doing next.