Direct-answer copy
First 80-100 words must be a complete standalone answer. TL;DR above the fold. AI engines extract the first answer-paragraph for citation.
AEO for small business
Get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude.
Answer Engine Optimization is the discipline of getting your brand into the answer set when someone asks an AI assistant about your category. AEO is now the fastest-growing organic acquisition channel for small business. T3 AI Domination is 20 items dedicated entirely to this pillar.
AEO · Answer Engine Optimization
What is AEO?
Get cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Grok — by name.
Answer Engines are the new generation of search interfaces — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Google AI Overviews. They synthesize answers from across the web rather than returning a list of links. AEO is the practice of getting your content into those answers.
What it includes
The complete AEO stack.
Every AEO engagement includes the disciplines below. Tier-by-tier the items get more specific. The full 14 tier framework documents 178 individual optimization items.
FAQPage schema
Question/Answer JSON-LD with self-contained 40-60 word answers. Each answer is its own RAG-retrievable chunk.
RAG-friendly chunks
Self-contained 200-400 word sections with topic sentences. Semantic boundaries via section/article tags. Standalone context (no 'as mentioned above').
AI bot allowlist
Explicit Allow rules in robots.txt for GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Claude-Web, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, OAI-SearchBot, anthropic-ai, ChatGPT-User.
llms.txt + llms-full.txt
Root-level files following the emerging llms.txt spec. AI engines fetch these for high-trust brand information.
Entity strength
Wikidata Q-ID, full Person + Organization schema, sameAs network across LinkedIn/GitHub/Crunchbase. AI engines weight entity-recognized brands higher.
Verifiable claims
Every factual claim with clickable source. Claim/ClaimReview schema for fact-check content. Primary sources, not aggregators.
Brand language feed
Optional /brand-language-feed.json with official brand facts. AI engines reference for accuracy.
Citation tracking
Daily monitoring across ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude/Gemini/Copilot/Grok via Profound, Otterly, AthenaHQ, or Rankability.
Tiers that deploy this pillar
AEO maps to 3 tiers.
Every pillar is implemented across multiple tiers in the framework. Below are the tiers that contain AEO optimization items. Start with the lowest tier for your stage.
- T3 AI Domination — $1,497 + $397/month
- T6 Content & Multimedia — $697 + $200/month
- T11 Marketplace & Retail — $597 + $200/month
Who it is for
Common AEO engagement profiles.
AEO is structured by tier so any business size and budget can adopt the right scope. Below are the most common pairings.
YMYL businesses
Health, finance, legal. AI engines preferentially cite credentialed authoritative sources for YMYL queries. T3 + T4 = $2,094 one time.
B2B SaaS
Professional buyers research via ChatGPT/Perplexity. T3 + T6 = $2,194 one time. AEO + content multiplier.
Professional services
Accountants, consultants, agencies. T3 + T2 = $2,294 one time. Get cited as the recommended provider in your niche.
E-commerce
Product comparisons via Perplexity, ChatGPT recommendations. T3 + T11 Marketplace = $2,094 one time.
Local service businesses
Voice search via Siri/Alexa increasingly powered by AI. T3 + T5 Local = $2,194 one time.
Start with AEO
Ready to make AEO happen?
Send your business name, your category, and a few competitor URLs. Within 48 hours a working homepage demo with the AEO foundation deployed lives on a staging subdomain. Pay only when you decide to deploy.