AEO · Answer Engine Optimization

Get cited.

AI assistants, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, are eating organic CTR for informational queries. The businesses inside those answers win. The ones ranked beneath don't. We make you the cited one.

First citation
4–8 weeks typical
Engines tracked
6
Median lift
+38 cites/mo at 6 mo

What it is

The work most agencies still pretend isn't happening.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring web content so AI assistants, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, can extract and cite it cleanly. FPWS is a boutique full-service firm that handles AEO end to end: passage-level citability, llms.txt and AI-crawler accessibility, entity and schema work, and monthly citation monitoring across the major AI surfaces.

AI Overviews and chat-based search are eating organic CTR for informational queries. The businesses being cited inside those answers, not the ones ranked beneath them, are winning the attention economy from here on out. Doing AEO well now compounds for years; doing it later is buying ground that's already taken.

The four layers

How we do AEO.

01

Passage citability

Every H2 is followed within 200px by a self-contained 40–80 word answer block. The block names the entity, defines the concept, and stands alone, so when an AI extracts it, the citation makes sense.

  • Question-form H2s where appropriate (matches what users actually ask)
  • TL;DR block at the top of every long-form piece, engineered as the primary citable passage
  • FAQ blocks with FAQPage schema rendered server-side
  • Internal `data-citable` attribute for our own audit tooling
02

llms.txt + crawler access

A machine-readable site summary at /llms.txt that tells AI assistants what your business does, what URLs map to what intent, and how to cite you. Plus an explicit allow-list in robots.txt for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended, CCBot.

  • /llms.txt with site purpose, services, resources, citation guidance
  • robots.txt allow-list for all reputable AI crawlers
  • Per-page hints via meta tags where relevant
  • Server-side rendering, no JS-only content the AI can't reach
03

Entity & schema

AI models attach citations to entities (people, organizations, places, products). Strong entity definition via schema, sameAs links, and consistent naming makes you a citable entity, not a string of words.

  • Organization + Person + WebSite + Service schema with stable @id URIs
  • sameAs links to LinkedIn, GitHub, X, Crunchbase, Wikidata
  • Author bylines on every long-form piece, linked to Person schema
  • Cross-page entity references via @id, not redefined per page
04

Citation monitoring

Monthly tracking of where you're cited across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. We watch the queries that matter, score the citations, and engineer new content for emerging opportunities.

  • Monthly DataForSEO ChatGPT scraper run
  • Manual prompt panel across 50+ target queries
  • Citation diff: what's new this month vs. last
  • Sentiment + position scoring
  • Competitive AI-citation comparison

Engines we monitor

Cited where it counts.

Monthly snapshot of citations across the major AI surfaces. We don't just track presence, we score position and sentiment.

ChatGPT

OpenAI · GPTBot

Perplexity

PerplexityBot

Google AI Overviews

Google-Extended

Claude

ClaudeBot

Bing Copilot

Bingbot

Apple Intelligence

Applebot-Extended

Questions

What people ask first.

Read the full AEO guide

  • An AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) agency structures website content so AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can extract and cite it cleanly. Practical deliverables include passage-level citability, llms.txt files, AI-crawler accessibility, entity schema work, and ongoing citation monitoring across the major AI surfaces.

Get cited.

The window to compound is open right now. The agencies waking up to AEO in 2027 will be three years behind.

Talk to us about AEO