Answer Engine Optimization: Addresses All Your Queries on AEO

You must have come across the AI overview section right after searching for something on Google in the last few weeks. As a business owner, you probably wondered how it’d affect your business or your URL ranking. The question that popped into your mind is, will users even read your blog overlooking the ready-made direct answers crafted by AI?

This blog will answer all your questions on this new search engine feature, and help you get your content featured there via Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

Let’s jump right to it.

What is AEO (Answer/Ask Engine Optimization)

Answer engine optimization or ask engine optimization (AEO) is the process of tailoring your content to come up directly in search results when users ask questions on search engines, voice assistants, etc.

Search engines introduced a new feature: they present an AI answer box containing direct answers to searchers’ queries. 

Google has an answer box named AI overview (AIO) in position 0, which links the relevant source URL from which it derives the answer. The average number of sources in the AIO is 6.

Microsoft Bing has the answer box in one of the top positions of the first SERPs, if not in position 0. The AI-provided answer links to 2 to 3 sources on average.

Yahoo search also has AI summary boxes against many search queries on the first result page. Most AI summaries are in numbered lists, and many don’t link to the sources. 

DuckDuckGo introduced the beta version of Duck Assist. The Duck Assist result is optional; it appears when a searcher clicks on it to reveal the answer. Duck Assist usually provides the summary from 1 or 2 sources and adds links to their URL. The AI summary often appears automatically when someone asks a question in a full sentence. 

Answer Engine Optimization is the measure you take so part of your content appears in those AI summary boxes, and your brand gets recognition as the source URL is linked to the summaries.

Types of Answer Engines

When talking about answer engine optimization, two primary types of answer engines currently serve day-to-day users the most.

1. Generative AI bots

Generative AI bots are advanced AI technologies that can understand natural language, are able to make conversations, have deductive capabilities, able to generate essays and poems, etc. Basically, they generate human-like texts in response to prompts or questions. Examples of generative AI are ChatGPT, Gemini, Poe, etc.

2. AI-powered voice assistants

AI voice assistants are already popular household gadgets. People are relying more and more on Siri, Alexa, and Google voice assistant. Their ability to deliver relevant answers unfailingly is resulting in this increasing popularity.

These smart assistants integrate AI and NLP to understand spoken queries accurately, process them, and reply in the shortest time. Users can find solutions without wasting time via mobile devices and smart home environments.

SEO vs AEO

Formerly, when someone typed in a keyword, search engines provided pages and pages of search results. Users had to find out the reliable source to get information from on their own. They would mostly choose from the domains that appeared at the top and scan or read the content to find what they were looking for. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps companies rank their content higher in the search results. This way they’d appear more times in the SERPs which would ultimately increase their website views. 

With time, users are getting inclined towards voice searches and asking questions in full sentences as opposed to typing in keywords. The voice-activated AI assistants pick up on the query and try to provide the users with relevant answers thanks to the advancement in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Why should you optimize for the ask engine

With AI overviews and answer boxes being placed in “Position 0” of the search engine results, your chances of getting discovered are higher if your site gets listed as a source for the results showcased by AI. 

Most AI overviews show 5 to 6 links in the source box all of which are organic. Some results show around 10 links and very few display around 2 links. This is definitely a plus for your business. You can provide value to viewers more easily and precisely.

Microsoft Bing features around 2 to 3 sources on average in the AI answer boxes. And when users like an answer they can visit the link to explore the content elaborately. 

Since the integration of AI answers at the top of the search results, searchers mostly look for their solutions in the AI snippets. If they’re happy with the answer, they don’t need to browse further down. Therefore, if one of those AI answer snippets isn’t from your content, you might lose discovery. 

Fortunately, to be featured in the AI answer boxes, you don’t necessarily have to rank on the first page for that keyword. Google AI overviews often display snippets of content from other result pages.  Therefore, chances are you can still be cited as a source if you can provide a neat answer despite not appearing on the first page.

Does AEO help bring traffic to your website

Answer Engine Optimization helps you get featured as a source for the answer provided by AI in “position 0” of the search results. 

Now, the question remains, does it help you win traffic to your website?

Well, the answer is yes and no. 

First of all, only parts of your content come up in the answer box as a direct answer to the visitor’s queries. It’s like a snippet that AI deems appropriate as the answer to a searcher’s question. The link to your post is attached to that snippet,  so they can view the full content.  

If the snippet AI picks are intriguing enough for the viewers, they’ll click the link and visit your site. 

However, if the snippet already meets their search intent, they will most likely avoid clicking. Even so, they might notice your brand and recognize you as an industry expert. 

Moreover, the inclusion of AI overviews deducts the need for featured snippets that formerly adorned the top position in search results. They both serve the same purpose and AI overviews can link to multiple relevant sources as opposed to one link that came with a featured snippet. 

With multiple sources in the answer box, more brands gain visibility. Visitors go to the link they deem more helpful. With featured snippets, they wouldn’t have that flexibility. They would either like the snippet and click on the link, or scroll down to browse further.

If anything, I feel like through AI overviews, when you give people context, yes, there are times all people want is a quick answer and they bounce back. But overall, when we look at user journeys, when you give the context, it also exposes people to jumping-off points, and so they engage more. Actually, this is what drives growth over time

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on AI-powered search and the future of the web (Source)

Top 5 AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) tactics

Up until now, Google hasn’t had an answer box for every search query. In most cases, the AI overview box appears against the informational or educational queries. Therefore, you can already stay ahead of the crowd by creating fresh informational content that brings in new perspectives.

1. Identify common questions

Research your niche to find out what your audience is looking for. Identify the common questions they are asking. Analyze their problems thoroughly and carefully.

There are several ways to do this.  For example,  you can check out the “People also ask” section, the related search section, or the autofill section when you start typing something in the search bar.

Single out the questions for which you want to provide answers. Put your finger on their search intent. 

Answer the questions in a manner that meets their search intent.  Keep your answers conversational and easy to extract information from.

2. Use structured data

No one wants to waste their time by browsing through unnecessary bushes. For that reason, when a searcher asks something, AI tries to offer them a direct answer. This way, the searcher finds the necessary information in the shortest time.

To take advantage of this tactic, try creating content answering specific questions like how-tos. Add schema markup to your website’s HTML code. Tagging information this way makes it easy for search engines to crawl, understand, and display your content in rich snippets. If you’re not a developer, there are different tools and plugins for this purpose. 

If your content contains that direct answer it is more likely to be displayed in the AI answer box. Provide organized information that’s easy to process. Make it a schema; infographics or structured data that’s easy to scan and understand.

3. Optimize for voice search

With the advancement of AI technology, people are more inclined to ask direct questions to their AI assistants instead of typing in keywords.

Try to answer those questions the way you would if someone asked you those questions face to face. It’s easier to perceive if you keep the tone of your answer conversational. Therefore those smart assistants will most likely deliver your content as the answer to the users’ queries.

4. Develop FAQ pages

Include more pages with Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Show your expertise in the answers. Keep the answers brief, relevant, and insightful. If the searchers find your answer helpful, Google Gemini will likely quote it directly referring to your page’s URL as the source. 

Since people are more inclined to ask direct questions, answering them neatly puts your content on Google’s radar as a reliable and expert answer. As more people find your answer interesting, AI lists your content snippet in the AI overview box for others to find it easily.

5. Create quality content and update them

Meeting user intent is the key to creating great content. Your audience has to be able to find what they’re looking for easily. If they do, your content gains authority and has a higher chance of being quoted in the AI summary boxes. 

Offer unique insight and new findings in your content. Provide accurate information and reliable sources. Moreover, regularly update your content to keep it up to date. 

Moreover, try covering a topic in depth over targeting random keywords. Google deems a domain authoritative when it covers a topic from all angles. Try writing on the related topics to cover a wide range of subjects on any topic.

Does AI-generated content perform better in ask engine results

There’s speculation that well-crafted AI-generated content can provide informative and easy-to-digest concise summaries. So there’s a possibility these will perform well in AI summary boxes. However, some argue that AI-generated content often lacks depth, creativity, or sometimes accuracy. 

Ultimately, the performance of AI-generated content in search result boxes depends on several basic factors. Those may include the quality of the AI model used to generate the content, the relevance and accuracy of the information, meeting users’ specific needs and preferences, etc.

Luckily for you, answer boxes, like search results, are impartial to your content production method. Search engines are constantly evolving and experimenting to integrate new technologies including AI for an improved user experience. The priority is to recognize the value you’re providing through your content over how it was produced.

However, no one wants to read another AI-generated content that’s merely a summary of 5 other content. They want fresh insight, your unique expertise, and experience on a subject matter. And you perform better by providing them what they want, something that isn’t in 10 other content.

Aside from that, check out the Google Search Essentials (formerly webmaster guidelines) to learn the dos, don’ts, and best practices of creating content. These guidelines along with fresh content are your golden ticket to ranking on top of the search results.

How does optimizing for the ask engine help human users

You might ask, if some content is optimized to appear in the AI answer boxes, can it actually help human visitors? How does optimizing to get noticed by an artificial intelligence provide enough value to humans?

Well, the AI assistants are programmed to help human visitors the best they can. The algorithm picks up on which content the user finds most valuable and relatable. 

When users scan through content, and pause somewhere to read, or spend time on parts of content, AI features those parts as snippets in the overviews or answer boxes. 

As a result, the next readers don’t have to go through the trouble of finding out the answer from a sea of texts on their own. They simply ask their query and are presented with the most relatable, neat results from across the web.

Is AEO sustainable or just a trend

It’s still too early to give a straight answer to that question. However, the odds are in favor of AI answer boxes for several reasons. 

AI summaries are aligned with user intent and focus on providing direct answers to user queries. Through successful AI summaries, search engines are improving user experience.

When users click on a source URL from the answer boxes, they spend time there. This also drops the bounce rate. These are signs that search engines are being more helpful with AI-generated answer summaries. 

Moreover, Search engines are constantly improving and evolving the integrated AI to refine their performance, make them more reliable, and provide even better user experience. This only indicates you might have to adjust your Answer Engine Optimization strategies with time and if AEO is a trend, it’s only going forward.

Key takeaways

While specific tactics and techniques may change over time, the basics of AEO are likely to remain relevant for the foreseeable future. 

By creating high-quality, informative, and user-centric content, and following the strategies here, you can build a sustainable AEO strategy that will help your business thrive in this age of AI. When your content is linked as a source to the AI summary, your brand gains recognition and authority while helping users at the same time.

One interesting point though, AI can’t access the content that requires submitting an email address. If AI cannot read it, how will snippets of the exclusive content appear in the AI summary box?

Let us know your thoughts on Answer Engine Optimization and don’t hesitate to share your AEO strategies and insights with us!

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