Answer engine optimisation (AEO)
Answer engine optimisation: get Google to pick your site as the answer
More and more searches end without a click. Google shows the answer straight away, in a featured snippet, in the “People also ask” box or through a voice assistant. With AEO we prepare your pages so that the answer is yours, with your company’s name on it.
What's included
Real work, not promises
Every item comes with its own deadline and its own measure of success.
Question research
We collect the questions your customers really ask: from Google, Search Console, the enquiries you receive and the “People also ask” boxes.
Short answers
At the top of key pages we add a clear answer of 40 to 60 words, followed by the details, examples and steps.
Page structure
Questions as subheadings, lists and tables where Google likes to show them, and one clear topic per page.
Structured data
FAQPage, HowTo, Organization, Service and Product schema, checked in Google’s Rich Results Test.
Voice search
Answers written in natural language, the way people ask their phones: “where”, “how long does it take”, “which is better”.
Tracking
We track featured snippets, “People also ask” appearances and the clicks from those positions in a monthly report.
What is answer engine optimisation?
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is work on a website’s content so that Google and other search engines choose it as the direct answer to a question. That means the answer in the box at the top of the results (the featured snippet), an answer in the “People also ask” box, the answer Google Assistant or Siri reads aloud, and more and more often part of the answer in Google AI Overviews.
Classic SEO asks: “Where do we rank in the list?” AEO asks: “Is our text the one Google shows as the answer?” The difference matters, because users increasingly stop at the answer itself, above the first organic result.
AEO doesn’t replace SEO, it builds on it. Google mostly picks answers from pages that already rank on page one. That is why we do AEO on sites whose technical SEO is in order, or together with SEO work.
Why AEO matters for your business
Searches in every language now get direct answers more and more often: “how long does SEO take”, “how is VAT calculated for sole traders”, “which pool is best for a back garden”. In many markets, and especially in smaller languages, competition for those answers is still low, because most local sites have no clear, short answers and no FAQ schema. That is a rare opportunity in SEO: you can win the most prominent spot without having the strongest site in your industry.
- Brand visibility: your company’s name sits above all the other results, even when the user doesn’t click.
- Trust: a company whose answer Google shows comes across as the expert on the subject.
- Voice search: assistants usually read out a single answer. If it isn’t yours, you are out of the game.
- AI search: the same principles (a clear answer, structure, schema) help AI tools cite you too. More on that on the generative engine optimisation page.
How we do AEO, step by step
1. A map of questions
We collect the questions your customers ask before they buy. The sources are Search Console (searches phrased as questions), “People also ask” boxes, the questions you get by email and phone, and questions from comments on social media. Each question is tied to one page of the site, so topics don’t overlap.
2. A short answer at the top
At the top of the page we put an answer of 40 to 60 words that answers the question in its very first sentence. Below it come the explanation, examples, steps and exceptions. This “answer first, details after” pattern is what Google most often lifts into a featured snippet.
3. Formats Google likes to show
For “how to” questions we write numbered steps. For “what types” and “which is better” we build lists and comparison tables. For definitions we use one clear “X is…” sentence. Subheadings are written as questions, the way people type them.
4. Structured data
We add FAQPage schema for common questions, HowTo for guides, Service for services, Product for products and Organization for company details. Each one is checked in Google’s Rich Results Test and in Search Console.
5. Tracking and refining
We track which questions you hold a featured snippet for, which ones you have lost and who replaced you. When a competitor takes an answer, we compare the two texts and improve ours.
What a good AEO answer looks like
Question: “How long does SEO take?”
A weak answer: three paragraphs of introduction about the history of SEO, with the actual number only at the end. Google rarely picks it.
A good answer: “SEO is an ongoing process. The first ranking changes usually show after 2 to 3 months, and steady growth after 6 months, depending on the competition and the state of the site.” The details follow straight after: what it depends on, what happens month by month and how progress is measured.
We use this principle across the whole site: on service pages, webshop categories and in the blog. This page is an example too: every question at the bottom has a short answer and FAQ schema.
Who AEO is for
- Service businesses whose customers ask lots of questions before deciding: how long it takes, what’s included, how to prepare, which option is better.
- Online stores with products that need explaining: sizes, materials, care, model comparisons.
- Professional fields (health, law, finance, engineering) where trust is decisive and a featured answer builds authority.
- Companies with good SEO that are on page one but sit below a competitor’s featured snippet.
How we measure AEO
AEO is measured differently from classic SEO, because part of the value doesn’t come through a click. In the monthly report we track:
- the number of questions you hold a featured snippet for, and your appearances in “People also ask”;
- impressions and clicks in Search Console for searches phrased as questions;
- valid FAQ and other structured data items in Search Console;
- branded searches, which grow as people see you more often as the source of an answer;
- enquiries and calls from the pages we optimised.
For more theory and examples, see the detailed AEO guide on Optimizacija-Sajta.rs (in Serbian), our specialist SEO site.
Where direct answers appear
An “answer” in Google isn’t one place. Each format needs slightly different preparation:
| Format | What it looks like | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Featured snippet | A box with the answer above the normal results | A short, precise answer right below the question, a list or a table |
| “People also ask” | Questions that expand one after another | Coverage of related questions on the same page |
| AI Overviews | An AI summary with links to sources | Clear statements, structure, topical authority |
| Knowledge panel | A box with facts about a company or a term | Consistent brand data, a Google profile, schema |
| Voice assistants | An answer spoken aloud | An answer of one or two sentences, natural language |
Content formats Google picks most often
- Definition: a “What is…” question, answered in 40–60 words that start with the term itself.
- Steps: a “How to…” question, answered with a numbered list of steps with short titles.
- List: “What are the…”, “the best…”: a short list, then an explanation of each item.
- Table: comparisons, dimensions, timelines; Google is happy to show tables directly.
- Yes/no answer: a clear answer first, then the reasoning.
On all of our clients’ key pages we add a “Short answer” box at the top and a block of common questions at the bottom, because those are the parts that most often end up as the answer in search.
Structured data after the 2023 changes
Since 2023 Google shows expanded FAQ results only for a small number of authoritative sites, and it has dropped HowTo results. That doesn’t mean schema is worthless: structured data still helps Google and AI tools understand what is on a page, who wrote it and which question it answers.
So we use Organization and LocalBusiness for company details, Article with an author for guides, Service and Product for what you offer, BreadcrumbList for structure, and FAQPage where a page really does have questions and answers. We never add schema for content that isn’t on the page, because that breaks Google’s guidelines.
AEO in more than one language
Every language has its own search habits. In Serbian, for example, people type in both Latin and Cyrillic script and often leave out diacritics (“cena ciscenja”, “sta je seo”); in English and German, voice search uses long, natural questions. We research questions from several sources: “People also ask” boxes, Search Console queries, the questions your customers ask by phone and email, forums and groups. Content is written natively in each target language, so the answers sound like a person wrote them, not a translation tool.
The most common AEO mistakes
- the answer buried in the fifth paragraph instead of directly below the question;
- an FAQ block full of invented questions nobody asks;
- the same answer copied onto ten pages;
- an “answer” that is really an advert, with no concrete information;
- no author or date on topics where expertise and freshness matter.
How we work
Three steps to measurable growth
01 Analysis
A review of your website, your competitors and your keywords. You get a clear list of what is holding back growth.
02 Plan and delivery
Priorities ranked by their impact on sales. We handle the technical side, the content and the campaigns, with no wasted effort.
03 Measurement and growth
A monthly report with enquiries, rankings and spend. We double down on whatever brings in business.
Work
Where we have already done this
Extraform
A manufacturer’s website with a 3D configurator, ready for AI search
FAQ
Answer engine optimisation: questions and answers
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is optimising content so that search engines and assistants choose it as the direct answer: in a featured snippet, the “People also ask” box, voice search and AI answers.
SEO competes for a place in the list of results. AEO competes for your text to be shown as the answer above that list. AEO relies on good SEO: a page has to rank first before it can be chosen.
For simple questions it sometimes does, but your name is shown in the most prominent spot. For more complex questions the answer brings clicks from people who want more detail, and they are usually the better visitors.
On pages that already rank on page one, changes in featured snippets often show within a few weeks. New topics take longer, just as with SEO.
Either. Most often it is part of our SEO work, but we also do it on its own for companies that already have good SEO and want more featured answers.
It is a box with a short answer that Google shows above the normal results, with a link to the page the answer was taken from. You win it with a clear, concise answer to the question, most often as a definition, a list or a table.
It does, but in a different way than before. Google shows expanded FAQ results only for a small number of sites, but the schema still helps search engines and AI tools understand the questions and answers on a page.
With one- or two-sentence answers to questions asked in natural language, good local data and a fast mobile site. Voice assistants most often read the featured snippet or the details from your Google Business Profile.
It is the Google box of related questions that expand one after another. A page that covers several related questions has a better chance of appearing in it.
Write in the language your customers search in. If you sell in several countries, each language needs its own page written natively and linked with hreflang, rather than one page with mixed languages. Search engines then show each visitor the right version.
Further reading
More detail on Optimizacija-Sajta.rs (in Serbian)
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