Answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) are the new labels for getting your brand mentioned and cited in AI answers from Google, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. In May 2026 Google published its own guide to AI search, and its main message is blunt: AI search is still search. Here is what that means in practice.
What Google tells site owners to do
Google says the most important factor for appearing in its generative AI features is valuable, unique, non-commodity content. It also asks owners to keep content current, update or remove outdated pages, and confirm with the URL Inspection tool that Google sees pages as users do.
Structured data still matters for rich result eligibility, but Google does not describe a special markup or file that unlocks AI Overviews.
What Google says not to do
Google warns against assuming AEO or GEO require fundamentally new optimisation approaches, and says much AEO and GEO advice is inaccurate. Keyword stuffing remains a spam policy violation, and there is no magic word count.
It also states that E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor in itself. It is a framework for thinking about helpful content, not a score.
Where other AI assistants differ
ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity run their own crawlers and indexes. If robots.txt or a CDN rule blocks OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot or PerplexityBot, those assistants cannot cite your pages however good they are.
They also read raw HTML more often than a full browser render, so content that only appears after JavaScript runs is a bigger risk for AI visibility than for Google.
A practical plan
Most of the work is classic SEO done well, plus a few AI-specific checks.
- Answer the questions buyers actually ask, in plain sentences near the top of the page
- Publish original data, prices, comparisons and examples others cannot copy
- Keep company facts consistent: what you do, for whom, where
- Allow the AI search crawlers you want to be cited by
- Put main content in the HTML, not only in JavaScript
- Track mentions and citations over time, not single prompts
How to measure it
Google includes AI Overviews and AI Mode activity in Search Console's overall web performance data rather than a separate report, so watch impressions and clicks on the pages and queries you care about. For other assistants, look for their referral traffic in analytics and their user agents in server logs.
XDQ xAgents' AI Visibility agent checks whether AI assistants can read your site, keeps a history of each audit and, on the Scale plan, compares you with competitors and audits your key pages.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
They are overlapping labels. AEO usually means optimising to be the answer in AI and voice search, and GEO means being cited in generative AI responses. In practice both rely on the same SEO fundamentals plus AI crawler access.
Do I need llms.txt to appear in AI answers?
No. Google's AI search guide does not mention it, and no major assistant has said it is required. It is a cheap extra, not a requirement.
Can I see AI Overviews traffic in Search Console?
AI Overviews and AI Mode appearances are counted within Search Console's web search performance data. There is no separate filter for them.
How do I get cited by ChatGPT?
Allow OAI-SearchBot, make sure your main content is in the HTML, and publish clear, specific, original answers to the questions your buyers ask.
Sources
- Google's new guide for AI search: what SEO really needs now, PPC Land, 2026
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central, 2026
- Overview of OpenAI crawlers, OpenAI, 2026
- Anthropic clarifies what its three web crawlers do, PPC Land, 2026
