AI chatbots are becoming a significant source of web traffic. When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews a question in your area, your site should be cited in the answer. AEO is the discipline of making that happen.
Search behaviour is changing. A growing proportion of informational queries — "what is the best X", "how do I fix Y", "what causes Z" — are being answered directly by AI tools without the user clicking through to any website. If your site is not being cited in those answers, you are invisible to that audience.
Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt. GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended must not be blocked. Check your robots.txt at yoursite.com/robots.txt and remove any disallow rules for these user agents.
AI systems prefer content that directly answers questions. FAQ schema, HowTo schema, and clear question-and-answer formatting help AI identify what your page answers. Use H2 headings phrased as questions.
Deploy a llms.txt file at your site root listing your key pages with descriptions. This gives AI crawlers a map of your most important content — similar to how a sitemap guides Googlebot.
AI systems favour content from recognised experts. Author bios with credentials, citations of sources, About pages with verifiable expertise, and backlinks from trusted industry sites all strengthen your credibility for AI citation.
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