What stays the same
Crawlability, speed, helpful content, internal links and authority still matter for both.
What AEO adds
Answer engines pull short, self-contained passages.
- A direct answer in the first 40–60 words
- Question-shaped headings
- FAQ, Article, Person and Service schema
- An llms.txt file describing the site
- Identical facts across your site and profiles
How to measure it
Track referral traffic from AI assistants in GA4 and periodically ask the assistants your core questions to see who they cite.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO dead because of AI?
No. AI answers still rely on crawled, trusted web pages — good SEO is the entry ticket for AEO.
What is llms.txt?
A plain-text file at the site root that summarises the site for AI systems, similar in spirit to robots.txt.
Sources and evidence
Written by
Freelance Performance Marketing & AI Automation Consultant
- 6+ years in performance marketing; ₹1.2Cr+ ad spend managed at 4.6x blended ROAS
- Former Digital Marketing Manager at Vidyavriti, leading a 7-member team
- B.Tech Civil Engineering + MBA Marketing & Finance, Gautam Buddha University
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