Three years ago, "getting found" meant ranking on Google. Today, a growing share of buying decisions starts with a question to ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google AI: *"who builds custom platforms?"*, *"how much does an app cost?"* If the AI doesn't know your company, you don't show up in that answer — and you never even learn you lost the client.
Optimizing for that is called AEO: Answer Engine Optimization. It doesn't replace SEO; it extends it.
SEO vs. AEO in one sentence
- SEO optimizes so a person finds you in a list of results and clicks.
- AEO optimizes so an AI understands you, trusts your content, and cites you inside its answer.
The key difference: in SEO you compete for a click; in AEO you compete to be the source the AI uses to answer. When ChatGPT recommends your company by name, that client shows up already sold.
Why it matters now (not "someday")
AI assistants are already a real acquisition channel. Blocking their crawlers — or simply having no content they can cite — is self-sabotage. We see it firsthand: at XX Disruptive Minds several new clients arrive saying "ChatGPT recommended you" or "I found you by asking Perplexity."
How AEO is actually done (what really moves the needle)
It's not magic. It's concrete layers:
1. Let the AI bots in
In robots.txt, explicitly allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, and the rest. If you block them, they can't read you or cite you.
2. Structured data (schema)
Mark up your content with schema.org: Organization, FAQPage, BlogPosting, BreadcrumbList. You hand the AI the facts spelled out — what you are, what you charge, what you answer — instead of making it guess.
3. An llms.txt
A file built for models: a clear summary of who you are, what you do, pricing, and differentiators. It's the "read me" for AIs.
4. Content that answers real questions
AIs cite whoever answers the question best and most directly. An FAQ page with concrete answers and a blog that tackles real doubts are worth more than a thousand marketing adjectives. (That's why this blog exists.)
5. Consistency and evidence
Consistent name, details, and figures across the entire site; verifiable claims (not superlatives). AI, like any sensible human, trusts what can be checked.
The house standard
We apply AEO on every project: robots with AI bots allowed, 40+ schema blocks, an llms.txt, pages that answer questions with real pricing. It isn't an extra we bill separately — it's part of building a site right in 2026. A Website starts at $9,000, a custom platform or MVP at $24,000, and our entry products run $1,500–$6,000 — every one of them ships AEO-ready by default. You can see it in our own cases and on the FAQ page.
Does your site show up when someone asks an AI for what you do? If you're not sure, reach out: a quick audit tells you how visible you are to search engines and to AI assistants.