Key takeaways
- AEO (answer engine optimisation) means making your business easy for AI assistants to find, understand and recommend.
- It builds on good SEO. It does not replace it, and most of the work is plain, honest information.
- Nobody can guarantee a mention. Answers vary by person, by day and by tool.
- For most local businesses the first steps are cheap: clear pages, matching details and real reviews.
What AEO means
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation. SEO (search engine optimisation) is about showing up in Google’s list of results. AEO is about showing up in the answer: a customer asks an AI assistant “Who’s a good electrician on Brisbane’s north side?” and it writes a short reply that names a business or two.
The tools doing this are ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and the AI Overviews at the top of some Google searches. Some search the web as they answer and show the pages they used. Others lean more on what they learned in training. Either way, they work from information that already exists about your business, then summarise it.
That is the useful way to think about AEO. You can’t trick an assistant into recommending you. You can make sure the information it finds about you is clear, correct and easy to quote.
- 1Example Electricalexampleelectrical.com.au
- 2Sample Sparky Cosamplesparky.com.au
- 3Placeholder Powerplaceholderpower.com.au
- 4Your Businessyourbusiness.com.au
- 5Demo Electricsdemoelectrics.com.au
The customer scrolls, compares and clicks. The choice is theirs.
For an electrician on Brisbane’s north side, Your Business is worth a call. Its website lists the suburbs it covers, says it does emergency call-outs, and its recent reviews mention fast, tidy work. Example Electrical is another option for larger jobs.
The assistant does much of the choosing. Two or three names, not ten.
How AI assistants choose which businesses to mention
The companies behind these tools don’t publish exactly how they decide, and the tools change often. So treat what follows as sensible practice, not a formula. These are the things that tend to matter, because they are the things an assistant can actually check.
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Signal 1
Clear facts on your website
What you do, where you do it and who it’s for, written in plain sentences. “We repair hot water systems in Logan and Redland, including after hours” gives an assistant something to quote. “Quality service for all your needs” doesn’t.
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Signal 2
Consistent business details
The same name, address, phone number and opening hours on your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook and directories. When they disagree, an assistant can’t tell which one is right.
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Signal 3
Real reviews
Recent, genuine reviews that mention the job and the suburb are evidence that you exist, you’re active and you do the work well. Both people and machines read them.
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Signal 4
Mentions on other sites
Your industry association, your suppliers, the local chamber, community sites and directories. When several independent sources say the same thing about you, it’s easier to trust.
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Signal 5
Structured data
Code behind the page that labels the facts: business name, address, hours, services, common questions. It won’t lift you on its own. It makes sure nothing is ambiguous.
Does your business need it?
Probably, in a small way. If customers could plausibly ask an assistant to find what you sell, it’s worth getting your information in order. For most local businesses that is not a separate, expensive project. It’s good SEO plus a few extra habits.
Worth doing soon if
- People ask for recommendations in your field: “best”, “who”, “near me”, “which one”.
- You serve a defined area, like certain suburbs or a region, or a specialist niche.
- You rely on enquiries from your website or Google profile.
Lower priority if
- Nearly all your work comes through tenders, repeat contracts or a handful of known customers.
- Your website is out of date, slow or hard to read on a phone. Fix that first: it helps with Google and AI.
- You want a guaranteed result. Nobody can offer one.
Five things to do this month
None of these needs a big budget. Tick them off as you go.
0 of 5 done
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Make sure each main service has its own page that names the service, the suburbs you cover and how it works. Add five to eight questions customers really ask, each answered in two or three sentences. If your site supports it, have structured data added to match.
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Compare your name, address, phone number and hours on your website, Google Business Profile, Facebook and any directories. Fix the odd ones out.
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After a good job, ask the customer for a Google review, and mention that it helps if they say what you did and where. Never write your own or pay for them. It breaks Google’s rules, and it shows.
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List your business with the associations, suppliers and local directories that matter in your industry and area. A handful of real mentions beats a hundred bought ones.
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Open ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google. Ask what a customer would ask, for example “best electrician in Chermside”. Write down who gets named and which sites are cited. Repeat next month.
All five done. Ask the assistants again next month and see what has changed.
Your ticks stay on this device only.
How we check it
For our clients we ask the assistants the questions customers really ask, in the way customers ask them, and record which businesses are named and which pages are cited. Answers vary, so we look for patterns over time rather than one lucky or unlucky reply. Then we tell you in plain English what we found and what is worth changing. That is often a page that needs rewriting, a detail that doesn’t match across sites, or a source that’s missing.
If you would like to see what the assistants say about your business today, send us your website for a free check.