How to Do AEO: The Step-by-Step Playbook

This is the step-by-step AEO playbook we use to take a business from invisible in AI answers to consistently recommended. Work it in order — each step compounds on the last.

Step 1 — Baseline your AI visibility

Before you change anything, find out where you stand. Ask the real buyer questions in your category across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews and note: Do they name you? Is what they say accurate? Who do they name instead? A free AI Visibility Scan does this automatically and scores you on the four dimensions. This is your before-picture.

Step 2 — Map the buyer questions

List the 10–20 questions your customers actually ask an AI on the path to buying — “best [category] in [city]”, “[you] vs [competitor]”, “how much does [service] cost”, “is [product] worth it”. These questions become your content and measurement targets.

Step 3 — Make your facts consistent everywhere

Audit your name, address, phone, category, hours and core offer across your site, Google Business Profile, and every directory and review site. Fix every inconsistency. Ambiguity is the #1 reason AI engines hedge or omit a business.

Step 4 — Make your site machine-readable

• Add the right schema markup: Organization/LocalBusiness on every page, plus FAQ, Product, HowTo, Service or MedicalOrganization as relevant.
• Confirm AI crawlers aren’t blocked in robots.txt (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended).
• Consider an llms.txt file mapping your key pages.

Step 5 — Write question-first, extractable content

For each priority question, publish (or rework) a page that: uses the question as the H1, answers it clearly in the first 2–3 sentences, then supports the answer with lists, tables, data and sources. This is the format AI engines lift into answers.

Step 6 — Build off-site presence & trust

Get accurately listed on the directories and review platforms your engines cite. Earn recent, detailed reviews. Pursue mentions in editorial, Reddit and industry roundups. Show real expertise: named authors, credentials, original data.

Step 7 — Re-scan, track and iterate

AEO isn’t one-and-done — models and the web change weekly. Re-run your scan on a schedule, watch your recommendation rate trend, and keep closing gaps. The businesses that track monthly compound their lead.

The shortcut

You can run this whole loop by hand, or let an agent do it. The AI Visibility Tracker scans every engine, scores you, generates the prioritized fix plan, and re-scans on a schedule so you always know your standing — for $49/mo.

Frequently asked questions