Answer engine optimization (AEO)

Definition

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring a web presence so that AI-powered answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, and similar systems) include your business or property in their generated responses to relevant queries.

The term distinguishes from traditional search engine optimization (SEO), which focuses on ranking in lists of links. AEO focuses on being the direct answer.

AEO vs. SEO

SEO and AEO overlap significantly in practice, but have different targets:

SEO target: appear in the top 10 results for a search query, and earn clicks to your website.

AEO target: be named by the AI in a conversational response to a query, before the user clicks anything.

The difference is consequential: a user who receives a hotel recommendation from ChatGPT may search that hotel by name or visit the hotel website directly, bypassing traditional search entirely. SEO measures clicks from search results. AEO measures being named in responses that may never generate a direct click.

AEO for hospitality

For hotels and rental properties, AEO requires:

Entity consistency (same name, address, category everywhere)
Schema.org markup on the hotel website
An llms.txt file
Attribute-rich property descriptions
Review profile with specific language
Google Business Profile completeness