Date: 04/01/2024

Author: Ryan Walsh

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) simply helps display a direct answer in the SERPs or perhaps through audio via, say, Google AI assistant.
This means that there is now a totally new way of displaying an answer to a customer, and we think that AI-powered answers are only going to become more common.

That’s because chatbots and AI-powered assistants are simply becoming more widely used. In 2025, we think we will see more of the SERPs taken by AI-powered answers.

So, Answer Engine Optimisation, or AEO for short, provides a very tailored and precise answer to a shopper’s questions in the SERPs on Google or through audio, for example, using Google Assistant.

 

This article will cover the following:

• How Answer Engine Optimisation works, why Google and other search engines now provide direct answers to a user’s query.
• We will talk about why keyword research is still important
• We will discuss why structured language is needed using structured data markup to increase the chances of your content marketing being used in a featured snippet or an AEO.
• We will discuss why using your business’s content marketing as an AEO can help draw in more organic traffic and potentially more customers

 

What Is Answer Engine Optimisation?

So, what exactly is answer engine optimisation?

So, answer engine optimisation, or AEO for short, is radically changing how businesses do online marketing.

It used to be that a business could appear only on Google AdWords, local map listings, or organic listings.

Featured snippets are generally considered part of the organic results, and so are AEO answers; however, there is a distinct difference.

If you now ask Google a question, such as “How old is the clock tower? That’s Big Ben,” you’ll get a straightforward answer.

An answer that stands out in the SERPs is, therefore, one that a shopper or visitor is likely to select over all the other results.

This means that there is now a rise in what SEO agencies call “zero-click searches,” meaning that shoppers’ questions are answered directly in the SERPs, and therefore, the shopper has their question answered and does not need to visit any company website.

Of course, some shoppers and visitors will want more details, so, for example, the answer to “How old is Big Ben?” might have come from content marketing, such as a blog post from a website that offers guided tours around Westminster.

So, by having the content marketing appear as an AEO, the business might obtain a lot more organic traffic, more visitors, and potentially more bookings for people who want guided tours of the city.

 

Concise answers

Arguably, our attention spans are decreasing; that’s when we want to purchase a product or service online.

This means that, arguably, people don’t want to read a lot of text to get to the answer they want because they don’t have the time.
Sure, there is going to be a place for “long-form content marketing,” such as what you are reading here. That’s when someone is deeply interested in learning more about the product or service.

For example, if you’re about to embark on a divorce, you won’t select a company in less than five minutes.

You’re likely to want to read more; read extensively about the process.

Therefore, there’s now more work than ever for SEO agencies; they need to write long-form content marketing, such as this, to satisfy shoppers who want more detailed answers.

However, people in a hurry don’t want to read thousands of words. They often want a very direct answer, a quick answer that’s right in front of them. That’s what AEO can offer.

 

Content marketing must now be well-structured

So, we would encourage good on-page SEO to be used.

You should write well-structured content, which means clear headings and the use of bullet points where possible.

Don’t use large chunks of text in terms of large paragraphs, as this doesn’t work.

Instead, write the content marketing clearly and concisely.

Think about the work’s readability in terms of writing it in a way that’s clear and to the point; use H1- to H6 tags to split up the content marketing. This will help Googlebot and Google algorithm to understand better what content marketing is all about.

 

How exactly is AEO different from organic search engine optimisation?

So traditional SEO, by that we mean organic search engine optimisation, is all about selecting keywords and improving their visibility so that you obtain more shoppers and, ultimately, the business can make more sales.

AEO is different. It’s about providing a quick answer, and Google will have selected your content marketing and extracted often a paragraph or just a line of text to answer the user’s questions.

However, Googlebot has millions of pages from which it can lift an answer, so you have to wonder why Google would use your answer as an AEO.

We believe that the reason is often the page’s very high Google E-EAT score.

Often, the page is written by a well-known author who is an expert on what they are writing about.

Also, often, the page has many quality links from well-known websites, such as the Guardian Newspaper.

Then Google’s AI and Google’s algorithm extract a line or a paragraph of text to cite; however, the page itself and the on-page SEO must be superb.

Because if it’s not Google’s algorithms, I won’t know which line to use as an AEO answer. Therefore, the text has to be very well written; it has to be written in a very concise and precise way; also, again, the page must have a very high Google E-EAT score.

 

So, what type of Answer Engines are people using?

Most of our clients want us to optimise their websites, which improves their SEO solely for Google.

We would say that the two main answer engines used globally, not just here in the United Kingdom, are by Google Assistant, which is also within the Google Android operating system. The most significant answer engine, we would say, is Alexa.
Amazon owns Alexa.

Both answer engines use NLP, natural language processing, to understand what we humans are asking.
They use what we think is also a combination of algorithms and AI; these answer engines can offer a relevant answer.

 

Company websites must, therefore, be optimised for voice search

You may have seen many blog posts with page titles, similar to how someone would ask a question to a business.

For example, “How can I get the perfect smile”?

Now, this would be a question you would ask a local dentist. However, it might be asked via voice search. Therefore, if a dental practice writes an excellent piece of content marketing, the answer might be used in the SERP’s and AEO.

Therefore, SEO businesses such as ours have to think about writing our content marketing in a conversational way. By that, we mean it’s written as if you’re talking to a real person.

The advice has to be spot-on, accurate, and well-written for AI-powered voice search assistants who want to use content marketing as an AEO.

 

Keyword research

Keyword research is still an essential part of SEO.

You might think the services or products you sell can only be described in a few ways.

Therefore, you might think that you can skip the keyword research stage. However, we recommend that your business conduct keyword research extensively, as it’s an essential part of SEO.

It also provides tips and suggestions on what your content marketing should be about.

For example, many marketing agencies use keyword research tools, such as Google’s Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Moz Pro.

These are brilliant SEO tools. They will tell you which keywords to optimise your website for.

Then, you can create a content calendar; this allows you to set out what you will be writing about, what topics, and which SEO keywords you target.

Therefore, many SEO agencies globally set out a content calendar for, say, the next 12 months; it allows copywriters to know what they should be writing about.

Then, what it allows is, let’s say you have over 100 keywords for which you want to improve your organic SEO; it allows you to spread your effort and time across many different keywords.

So that you don’t focus too much time and energy on just a few keywords, you could ensure that you are putting effort into improving the organic SEO for a broad range of keywords instead.

It boils down to writing high-quality content marketing.

So, in order to improve a business’s organic search engine optimisation and increase the chances of a business appearing as a featured snippet or being read as an AEO, the content marketing must be top quality.

The content marketing should, therefore, have a very high Google E-EAT score.

Therefore, the author will need to be an expert on what they are writing about; if the copywriter is not an expert on the subject, they will need to partner with an expert on that product or service to use their knowledge when writing the content marketing.

That’s because this is the only way that content marketing will have a high Google E-EAT score if you can show in the text that you are an expert on what you are talking about.

Do add structured data mark-up

It’s important to add schema markup that is structured data; your marketing company should be able to help you do that.
So it’s important to add structured data, such as Schema, as this helps Google, plus the other search engines, to better understand what that page is about.

Think about optimising your website for voice search

A conversational tone and good on-page SEO

You should write content marketing using a conversational tone; what we mean by that is, imagine a customer or client is in the room with you, and you are offering your advice to them in person.

You may wish to split the content marketing, such as a blog post up into many different sections, using page titles.

Using a conversational tone means that you should explain what you are writing about clearly and to the point.

If you were to go off on a ramble and talk about too many different topics in one blog post, for example, it could be very confusing to Google’s algorithms what the blog post is about.

So, keep the answer to the point, and offer a detailed answer, but don’t try to go off topic too much, as this will confuse Google as to what products or services you are selling.

 

Use SEO tools to improve pages.

So, for example, pages with high bounce rate, plus low time on site, should be improved.

This will help to improve the organic SEO. However, if the page offers better U.X, has a lower bounce rate, and is able to hold a shopper’s interest for longer, Google AI and Google’s algorithms are much more likely to use that page as an AEO answer.

Because quite simply, you have demonstrated that you are able to hold a shopper’s interest in terms of the average reader may well be spending over, let’s say, 7 minutes reading the work, it shows that there is strong engagement, that customers are interested in reading the work for a relatively long period.

Because the blog post is holding the reader’s interest and has perhaps a low bounce rate, it’s much more likely, therefore, to appear as an AEO answer.

In conclusion

The overall aim, therefore, of getting your business to appear as an AEO answer is that you can receive more organic visitors to your company website if they click through to visit your website.

We are an established and respected SEO agency here in Cardiff. If you would like a free, plus also no obligation quotation, please contact us today.