Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the discipline of getting your business recommended by AI assistants — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google’s AI Overviews. This page explains how it works in the Australian market and what a serious program looks like.
Why Australian businesses need AEO now
AI answers compress an entire results page into 3–5 recommendations. For competitive local categories — trades, clinics, restaurants, professional services — the businesses named in those answers collect demand invisibly, before a Google search ever happens. Early movers in each category are locking in citations that get harder to displace later.
The four pillars
- Entity: schema markup, llms.txt, consistent NAP across the web — so AI engines resolve your business as one clear entity
- Citations: directory listings, industry lists, local media — the third-party sources AI trusts
- Citable content: transparent pricing, honest comparisons, data-backed case studies — formats AI prefers to quote
- Reviews: Google rating volume and quality feed directly into AI recommendations (we also run a dedicated review management practice)
Serving all of Australia, bilingual
We run AEO programs for businesses in Melbourne, Sydney and nationally, in English and Chinese — the Chinese AI ecosystem (and Chinese-speaking customers asking AI in Chinese) is a blind spot for almost every other Australian agency.
FAQ
Is AEO different from SEO?
Yes. SEO earns ranked positions; AEO earns mentions inside AI-generated answers. They share foundations but AEO leans much harder on third-party citations and quotable content.
How do you measure AEO?
A fixed set of buyer questions run monthly across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, logged and compared. Plus referral traffic from AI assistants in GA4.
What does AEO cost in Australia?
Audits $800–$2,000; ongoing programs $500–$2,500/month depending on competition and languages covered.
Start with a free AI visibility snapshot for your category →