Fundamentals
What is Answer Engine Optimization?
AEO is the practice of making your brand and expertise easy for AI answer engines to retrieve, cite, and represent correctly—when the product is an answer, not a SERP.
AEO vs SEO vs GEO
Related disciplines with different optimization targets. Orb focuses on AEO without discarding what SEO still does well.
| Lens | Primary surface | Success looks like | Orb emphasis |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search results pages | Rankings, clicks, organic traffic | Foundation: crawlable, clear sites |
| AEO | AI answers & chat | Found · cited · correct | Core practice |
| GEO | Generative engines broadly | Visibility inside generated content | Overlaps with AEO; we stay citation-honest |
Retrieval vs generation
Answer engines typically retrieve candidate passages or documents, then generate a synthesized response. If you only optimize for generation (clever wording) without retrieval (finding you at all), you stay out of the candidate set. If you only optimize for retrieval without citability and factual clarity, you may be used poorly—or paraphrased without credit.
Orb designs for both sides of that loop: entities and pages that can be found, and claims that are easy to quote accurately.
Content principles for AEO
- Answer-first HTML. Lead with the clear answer in server-rendered markup. Enhancements (animations, islands) must not hide the claim from crawlers.
- Question-shaped sections. Mirror how people ask; keep headings and paragraphs aligned with real prompts.
- Entity clarity. Consistent brand, product, and people names; structured data that matches visible text.
- Evidence & attribution. Support claims with sources; make it easy to cite you rather than invent you.
- Corroboration off-site. Mentions and references elsewhere reinforce what on-site pages assert.
- Honest measurement. Track found / cited / correct with a prompt panel—no vanity metrics or invented market share.
What AEO is not
AEO is not a guarantee that every model will recommend you. It is not prompt injection theater, and it is not a replacement for product quality or classic technical SEO. Orb will not invent statistics to sell urgency.