How we design for AI answers, not just clicks

01 · What are GEO and AEO?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. Both refer to the same thing: making your content visible and citable in AI services such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overview.

SEO optimises for ten blue links. GEO/AEO optimises for being cited in a text answer, without the user necessarily clicking through.

02 · Why you should care now

The proportion of searches that end in an AI answer rather than a click is growing fast. For B2B services we already see that 20 to 40% of the most valuable enquiries start with an AI conversation ("who is good at X in Norway?") and end with an enquiry, without the user having been near Google.

If you are not mentioned in that conversation, you do not exist. That is the simplest argument for caring.

03 · Five concrete steps that work

Step 1: TL;DR at the top of every article

AI models read text and prioritise what is at the top. A two-to-three sentence summary with concrete facts gives the model a simple excerpt to cite.

Step 2: Q&A blocks

Write FAQ sections where the questions are phrased the way people ask. Mark them up with JSON-LD FAQPage schema.

Step 3: Explicit facts and sources

AI models prefer to cite content that has an author, a date, facts that can be verified, and links to sources. Anonymous, undocumented content is deprioritised.

Step 4: JSON-LD and Schema.org

Structured data in the head of the page is a direct instruction to AI about what the content is.

Step 5: llms.txt at the root of the domain

A simple text file that tells AI agents what is most important on the site.

04 · What we have learned from our own projects

We have tested GEO techniques on five of our own client projects over the past 12 months. Three things have consistently worked:

• TL;DR had the greatest impact. Pages with a clear summary at the top are markedly more often cited.
• FAQ blocks beat "rich context". AI loves a direct Q&A format.
• Author and date matter. Anonymous articles are almost never cited with a source reference.

05 · Three common mistakes

Mistake 1: Thinking GEO/AEO replaces SEO. It does not. They work together, and the same techniques often lift both.

Mistake 2: Hiding content behind JavaScript. AI agents (and Googlebot) read server-rendered HTML first.

Mistake 3: Forgetting structure in all articles except blog posts. Service pages, case studies and product pages need a TL;DR and FAQ at least as much.