How to build an AEO strategy, with a 90 day checklist

An AEO strategy is a plan for getting your business named and cited when buyers ask AI tools and search engines questions about your market. A workable one has five parts: choose the questions that matter to your buyers, make sure AI systems can reach your pages, rewrite the pages that should answer those questions so the answer comes first, get your brand onto the third-party sources AI engines already trust, and measure mentions and citations every month. Most small and mid-sized businesses can put the whole thing in place in about 90 days, then keep it running with a few hours a month.

If you are new to the term, start with our explainer on what answer engine optimization is. This post assumes you know the idea and want a plan.

What should an AEO strategy try to achieve?

Set the goal before the tactics. For most businesses it is one of these:

• Be named when buyers ask an AI assistant for providers in your category and area
• Be the cited source when buyers ask how something works in your field
• Have your company described accurately whenever an AI tool mentions you

Each goal points to different work. Being recommended depends heavily on reviews, directories and third-party mentions. Being cited for explanations depends on your own content. Accurate descriptions depend on consistency across every profile. Write down which goal matters most, because it decides where the first month goes.

Step 1: Which questions should you target?

Build a list of 20 to 50 questions in three groups.

1. Recommendation questions. "Best [service] for [type of business] in [city]", "who can help with [problem]".
2. Explanation questions. "What is [term]", "how does [process] work", "[option A] vs [option B]".
3. Decision questions. "How much does [service] cost", "how long does [project] take", "what should I ask a [provider] before hiring".

Sources for the list:

• Questions your sales team and support inbox hear every week
• Google's People Also Ask boxes and related searches for your main keywords
• Keyword research tools, filtered for question phrasing (see keyword research for B2B companies)
• Reddit and industry forums where your buyers talk

Keep the list in a spreadsheet. It becomes the backbone of both your content plan and your measurement.

Step 2: Can AI systems reach your pages?

Fix access before writing anything. Check:

• robots.txt and firewall or CDN bot settings, so search crawlers and AI search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are not blocked (our guide to AI crawlers and robots.txt explains which bots do what)
• That your key content appears in the page HTML, not only after JavaScript runs
• That important pages are indexed in Google and Bing, since many AI tools start from search results
• That Organization and LocalBusiness structured data is correct (see our schema markup guide)

This step is quick and often has the biggest effect for the least work. A page that cannot be fetched cannot be cited.

Step 3: Which pages should you rewrite first?

Map each question on your list to the page that should answer it. You will find three situations:

• A page exists and answers it well. Leave it, or tighten the opening.
• A page exists but buries the answer. Rewrite the first paragraph and the headings.
• No page answers it. Add it to the content plan.

For pages you rewrite or create:

• Answer the question in the first two or three sentences, in plain language
• Use headings phrased the way people ask, so each section can stand alone
• Add specific facts, steps and definitions, with named sources for any statistic
• Use tables for comparisons and numbered lists for steps
• Add an FAQ for the follow-up questions
• Keep prices, product names and regulations current, and show an updated date

Our guide to writing content AI engines quote has examples of each pattern. Start with the five to ten pages tied to your most valuable services.

Step 4: How do you get onto the sources AI engines trust?

For recommendation questions, your own site is only part of the picture. AI tools draw on review platforms, directories, industry publications, comparison articles, Reddit and YouTube.

Run your recommendation questions and list the sources that keep appearing. Then work through them:

• Claim and complete every relevant directory and review profile, with the same description everywhere
• Ask satisfied clients for reviews on the platforms that show up most
• Pitch useful commentary or data to the publications that cover your industry
• Take part honestly in communities where your buyers ask questions, without spamming links
• Fix any profile that describes you wrongly

Our post on why brand mentions matter for AI search explains the reasoning, and the sources AI engines trust goes source by source.

Step 5: How do you measure an AEO strategy?

Run your question list once a month across ChatGPT with search, Perplexity, Gemini and Google (noting AI Overviews). Record for each question:

• Whether you were mentioned or cited
• How you were described
• Which competitors appeared
• Which sources were cited

Add three numbers from your own systems: referral visits from AI tools in analytics, leads that mention AI tools in a "how did you hear about us" field, and Search Console impressions for the pages you rewrote. Our guides to measuring AI search traffic and AI visibility tools cover the options.

Judge the trend over months. A single answer proves little because answers vary between runs.

The 90 day AEO checklist

Days 1 to 30: foundation

1. Write the question list (20 to 50 questions).
2. Run a baseline check across the main AI tools and record the results.
3. Fix crawler access, indexing and structured data issues.
4. Write one standard company description and update your website, LinkedIn and top directory profiles to match.
5. Identify the five to ten pages to rewrite first.

Days 31 to 60: content

1. Rewrite the openings, headings and FAQs of the priority pages.
2. Publish new pages for the most important unanswered questions.
3. Add internal links between related pages so each topic has a clear hub (see internal linking strategy).
4. Request reviews from recent clients on the platforms AI tools cite.

Days 61 to 90: sources and measurement

1. Complete or correct every directory and review profile on your source list.
2. Pitch at least two industry publications or podcasts.
3. Run the second monthly check and compare with the baseline.
4. Decide which pages and sources to work on next quarter.

The same checklist works for GEO. The terms overlap almost completely in practice; see SEO vs AEO vs GEO.

What should you leave out of an AEO strategy?

• Tactics with little evidence, such as relying on an llms.txt file to get cited (see llms.txt explained)
• Mass-produced AI-written pages, which add little and risk Google's scaled content policies
• Fake reviews or planted forum posts
• Chasing a single AI answer screenshot instead of the trend

If you would like help building this plan, the AI search visibility page explains how Dravik works. You can also book a business audit: $199, fixed price, a 30 minute call plus a written plan that includes your AI visibility baseline, with a full refund if it is not worth it.