A New Form of SEO: Optimizing for AI Search Engines

On April 14th, I built a custom AEO setup for origamiagents.com.

At that point: 0 visitors from ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews.

By April 24th: we had traffic from all three.

That wasn't a coincidence. We didn't run ads. We didn't rank for new keywords.

We just made our site easier for LLMs to crawl, understand, and surface as a legit answer.

This guide is everything I've learned—and how to set this up for your own site in under 48 hours.

AEO is SEO for AI

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is about becoming the source an AI pulls from when someone asks a question. Not just ranking for keywords, but being the answer.

It's just getting started, brands built their GTM channels around SEO. This is like SEO is the early 2000's.

With AI search ramping up fast (90% of Google searches now include an AI overview, ChatGPT gets over a billion queries a day), if you're not AEO-optimized, you're invisible in the places people are starting to look.

And no, SEO alone won't cut it anymore.

How These AIs Actually Pull Answers

ChatGPT pulls from its training data and sometimes live web data. It favors big brands and content that's been seen a lot. If your site isn't in the training cut or isn't visible via Bing, you won't show up.

Perplexity uses Bing to crawl real-time pages and summarizes from those. It cites sources. It's a great test—if Perplexity starts citing you, your AEO is working.

Google AI Overviews pull content from indexed pages. Structure, schema, and clarity matter. Google has confirmed it uses structured data as a signal in AI summaries.

Bottom line: if your site's messy, vague, or missing markup, you won't get picked. These tools scan, parse, and pick.

AEO in 48 Hours: What To Do

Here's your game plan:

1. Write the Answers

List out the top 5-10 questions your customer would ask an AI about your space.

Turn each one into a page or section that answers it directly.

Use the question as the headline. Give the answer in the first 1-2 sentences.

Keep it short and useful. If the AI only reads two lines, did it get what it needed?

Helpful Tip:

Use Perplexity or Google's "People Also Ask" box to find real questions. Then answer better and faster than what's already out there.

2. Add Structure

Use FAQ or HowTo schema depending on the content.
Wrap your question/answer pairs in JSON-LD.
Validate it with Google's Rich Results Test.

Helpful Tip:

Use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to speed this up.

Extra Visibility Move:

Submit a pull request to llms-txt.site to feature your site and your LLM-friendly content. LLMs scan and use this type of index.

3. Push It Live and Get It Indexed

Add the content to your site.
Update your sitemap. Submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Use IndexNow if you can (Bing supports it).

Helpful Tip:

Make sure your robots.txt isn't blocking anything dumb. Crawlers need to see it all. Fast-loading, public, and minimal JS reliance helps too.

4. Format for AI Readability

Break up the page. Use headings, bullets, and short paragraphs.
Bold the answer up top. Don't bury it halfway down the page.
Make sure each Q&A stands on its own.

Helpful Tip:

Paste your article into a plain-text editor. Does it still make sense? That's how an LLM sees it.

Bonus Move:

Add a summary at the bottom of each answer page that rephrases the solution. Some AIs will quote that if it's clearer.

5. Test and Tweak

Ask your target question on Perplexity. See who it cites.
Run your brand through Profound, Goodie, or HubSpot's AI Search Grader.
If you're not showing up, tighten the answer. Resubmit. Try again. It might take a few tries, even weeks.

You're an LLM—how would you find this answer?

Write for that context, not a human scanning your homepage.

Tool Stack

Profound — visibility dashboard that shows AI mentions
Goodie AI — great for formatting, tracking, and visibility alerts
HubSpot AI Search Grader — free and simple performance score
Google Structured Data Helper — build your schema fast
llms-txt.site — optional but useful for surfacing to LLM indexes

What AEO Doesn't Fix

Big brands get default trust, you'll need to be sharper and faster to get picked up.
No guaranteed traffic, your answer might get quoted with no click. That's fine. Presence matters.
SEO still matters, AEO is layered on top of it. Don't neglect page speed, links, or technical basics.
Tracking's fuzzy, AEO wins don't always show up in Google Analytics. Look for indirect signs: more branded queries, more direct, higher perception.

Final Note

I built this and it worked. Not based on theory, actual AI citations.

If you want help doing this for your brand, DM me or shoot me an email. I'll either walk you through it or handle the hard parts for you.

Or just comment "AEO" and I'll send over a cleaned-up version of this guide.

If you're reading this, you're ahead. Let's keep it that way.

— Sam

On April 14th, I built a custom AEO setup for origamiagents.com.

At that point: 0 visitors from ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews.

By April 24th: we had traffic from all three.

That wasn't a coincidence. We didn't run ads. We didn't rank for new keywords.

We just made our site easier for LLMs to crawl, understand, and surface as a legit answer.

This guide is everything I've learned—and how to set this up for your own site in under 48 hours.

AEO is SEO for AI

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is about becoming the source an AI pulls from when someone asks a question. Not just ranking for keywords, but being the answer.

It's just getting started, brands built their GTM channels around SEO. This is like SEO is the early 2000's.

And no, SEO alone won't cut it anymore.

How These AIs Actually Pull Answers

Perplexity uses Bing to crawl real-time pages and summarizes from those. It cites sources. It's a great test—if Perplexity starts citing you, your AEO is working.

Google AI Overviews pull content from indexed pages. Structure, schema, and clarity matter. Google has confirmed it uses structured data as a signal in AI summaries.

Bottom line: if your site's messy, vague, or missing markup, you won't get picked. These tools scan, parse, and pick.

AEO in 48 Hours: What To Do

Here's your game plan:

1. Write the Answers

List out the top 5-10 questions your customer would ask an AI about your space.

Turn each one into a page or section that answers it directly.

Use the question as the headline. Give the answer in the first 1-2 sentences.

Keep it short and useful. If the AI only reads two lines, did it get what it needed?

Helpful Tip:

Use Perplexity or Google's "People Also Ask" box to find real questions. Then answer better and faster than what's already out there.

2. Add Structure

Use FAQ or HowTo schema depending on the content.
Wrap your question/answer pairs in JSON-LD.
Validate it with Google's Rich Results Test.

Helpful Tip:

Use Google's Structured Data Markup Helper to speed this up.

Extra Visibility Move:

Submit a pull request to llms-txt.site to feature your site and your LLM-friendly content. LLMs scan and use this type of index.

3. Push It Live and Get It Indexed

Add the content to your site.
Update your sitemap. Submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
Use IndexNow if you can (Bing supports it).

Helpful Tip:

Make sure your robots.txt isn't blocking anything dumb. Crawlers need to see it all. Fast-loading, public, and minimal JS reliance helps too.

4. Format for AI Readability

Break up the page. Use headings, bullets, and short paragraphs.
Bold the answer up top. Don't bury it halfway down the page.
Make sure each Q&A stands on its own.

Helpful Tip:

Paste your article into a plain-text editor. Does it still make sense? That's how an LLM sees it.

Bonus Move:

Add a summary at the bottom of each answer page that rephrases the solution. Some AIs will quote that if it's clearer.

5. Test and Tweak

Ask your target question on Perplexity. See who it cites.
Run your brand through Profound, Goodie, or HubSpot's AI Search Grader.
If you're not showing up, tighten the answer. Resubmit. Try again. It might take a few tries, even weeks.

You're an LLM—how would you find this answer?

Write for that context, not a human scanning your homepage.

Tool Stack

Profound — visibility dashboard that shows AI mentions
Goodie AI — great for formatting, tracking, and visibility alerts
HubSpot AI Search Grader — free and simple performance score
Google Structured Data Helper — build your schema fast
llms-txt.site — optional but useful for surfacing to LLM indexes

What AEO Doesn't Fix

Big brands get default trust, you'll need to be sharper and faster to get picked up.
No guaranteed traffic, your answer might get quoted with no click. That's fine. Presence matters.
SEO still matters, AEO is layered on top of it. Don't neglect page speed, links, or technical basics.
Tracking's fuzzy, AEO wins don't always show up in Google Analytics. Look for indirect signs: more branded queries, more direct, higher perception.

Final Note

I built this and it worked. Not based on theory, actual AI citations.

If you want help doing this for your brand, DM me or shoot me an email. I'll either walk you through it or handle the hard parts for you.

Or just comment "AEO" and I'll send over a cleaned-up version of this guide.

If you're reading this, you're ahead. Let's keep it that way.

— Sam