What exactly is Answer Engine Optimisation?
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the practice of structuring your website, content, and brand presence so that AI assistants — including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity — are likely to cite, recommend, and reference your brand when answering relevant questions. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on ranking in a list of links, AEO focuses on being included in a natural language answer.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO optimises for rankings in link-based search results. AEO optimises for citation in conversational AI responses. The technical signals are different, the content requirements are different, and the competitive dynamics are different. That said, strong SEO is often a foundation for strong AEO — they are complementary, not competing, disciplines.
What AI systems does Optimizer Pro help with?
Optimizer Pro analyses the signals that drive citation across all major AI platforms, including ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Claude (Anthropic), and Perplexity. Our AI Visibility Likelihood ratings provide platform-specific assessments for each of these four systems.
How accurate is the scoring?
AEO Pulse (Optimizer Pro) runs dual parallel analyses through Gemini 2.5 Flash and averages the results to reduce variance. Our scoring is calibrated against a consistent rubric that accounts for content quality, technical compliance, entity strength, and competitive position.
Can I audit a competitor's website?
Yes. You can enter any publicly accessible URL, including competitors. The Competitor Comparison feature allows you to run your URL and a competitor URL simultaneously for a side-by-side analysis across all eight signals.
What is a robots.txt block?
Your robots.txt file tells web crawlers which parts of your site they're allowed to access. AI companies like OpenAI run specific crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot). If your robots.txt blocks these, those AI systems literally cannot read your content, which drastically reduces your chances of being cited.
What is an llms.txt file?
The llms.txt specification is an emerging standard that allows website owners to communicate directly with AI systems about their content. A well-structured llms.txt file tells AI crawlers who you are, what your site is about, and which pages are most important.