Free AEO Checker

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your content so that AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews can find, understand, and cite it when answering user questions. While traditional SEO focuses on ranking in a list of blue links, AEO focuses on being the source that AI systems reference in their responses.

The shift matters because more people are getting answers directly from AI. When someone asks ChatGPT "what is the best way to validate emails in Laravel?" or Perplexity "how do I add schema markup to my site?", AI platforms pull from indexed web content to form their answers. If your content is well-structured, authoritative, and easy for machines to parse, you are more likely to be cited. For a deeper dive, read our full guide on what Answer Engine Optimization is and how it works.

How AEO differs from SEO

SEO and AEO are complementary, not competing. Good SEO practices (clear headings, fast load times, quality content) help with AEO too. But AEO adds new requirements:

• Structured data (JSON-LD): Schema markup helps AI systems categorize your content. FAQ schemas, HowTo schemas, and Article schemas give AI explicit signals about what your content covers.
• Direct answers: AI platforms prefer content that answers questions concisely. Write clear, factual statements that can be extracted as standalone answers rather than burying information in long paragraphs.
• AI accessibility files: Formats like llms.txt and llms-ctx.txt tell AI crawlers what your site is about and where to find key content. Think of them as robots.txt for AI platforms.
• E-E-A-T signals: AI platforms weigh expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness when deciding which sources to cite. Author bios, publishing dates, citations, and domain authority all contribute.

What makes a good AEO score?

Use an AEO score checker to benchmark where you stand. A score of 80 or above means your content is well-positioned for AI citations. Scores between 60 and 79 indicate a solid foundation with room for improvement. Below 60, there are significant gaps that likely prevent AI platforms from understanding or recommending your content.

The most common issues we see are missing schema markup (especially FAQ and Article schemas), lack of llms.txt files, poor heading structure, and content that talks around topics without giving direct answers. All of these are fixable, and most take under an hour to implement. Run this AEO rankings checker regularly to track your progress as you make changes.

Who needs AEO?

Any website that relies on organic discovery should care about AEO. SaaS companies, content publishers, documentation sites, e-commerce brands, and professional services firms all benefit from AI visibility. If people in your industry are using ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Claude to research products and solutions, your content needs to be optimized for those platforms.

This is still early. Most websites have not started optimizing for AI search, which means the opportunity for early movers is significant. The companies that invest in AEO now will have a compounding advantage as AI-driven search continues to grow. Our State of AI Brand Visibility 2026 report shows just how concentrated AI recommendations are, and why acting now matters.

Most websites score between 30 and 55 on their first AEO check. Here is a prioritized action plan to improve your score, ordered by impact and effort.

1. Add JSON-LD schema markup (biggest quick win)

Schema markup is the single highest-impact change for AEO. AI platforms use structured data to understand what your page is about, verify claims, and extract information confidently. Without it, AI has to infer your content's meaning from raw HTML.

Start with these schema types:

• Organization schema on your homepage: tells AI who you are, what you do, and your official URLs
• Article or BlogPosting schema on content pages: provides author, date, headline, and topic signals
• FAQ schema on pages with Q&A content: AI models frequently extract FAQ content for direct answers
• Product schema on product/pricing pages: helps AI understand features, pricing, and comparisons
• HowTo schema on tutorial content: gives AI a structured sequence it can present as step-by-step guidance

Use our free JSON-LD Generator to create schema markup for any page in minutes.

2. Create an llms.txt file

An llms.txt file tells AI crawlers how your site is structured and which pages matter most. Think of it as a table of contents for AI. Place it at yourdomain.com/llms.txt and AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity will use it to prioritize their crawling.

Pair it with an llms-ctx.txt file that provides background context about your company, product, and target audience. Together, these files give AI a complete picture of who you are and what you offer.

3. Structure your content for direct answers

AI models extract and cite content that directly answers questions. The difference between content that gets cited and content that gets ignored often comes down to formatting:

• Lead with the answer. Start sections with a clear, factual statement that answers the heading's implied question. Do not bury the answer in the third paragraph.
• Use clear heading hierarchy. H1 for the page title, H2 for main sections, H3 for subsections. AI uses heading structure to understand topic relationships.
• Write in statements, not questions. "JSON-LD is a structured data format that uses JavaScript Object Notation" is extractable. "Have you ever wondered what JSON-LD is?" is not.
• Include specific data. Numbers, percentages, dates, and named entities give AI confidence to cite your content. "Improved conversion by 40% in 90 days" is more citable than "significantly improved conversion."

4. Strengthen E-E-A-T signals

AI platforms weigh expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness when deciding which sources to cite. Practical ways to strengthen these signals:

• Author bios with credentials: Include author names, roles, and relevant expertise on every piece of content
• Publication and update dates: Show when content was published and last updated. AI prefers recent, maintained content.
• Citations and sources: Link to primary sources, studies, and authoritative references. AI trusts content that cites its sources.
• Third-party mentions: Being referenced on review sites (G2, Capterra), industry publications, and authoritative blogs builds the external authority that AI models check when deciding whether to recommend you

5. Ensure AI crawlers can access your content

Check your robots.txt to make sure you are not blocking AI crawlers. The most common AI user agents to allow are:

• GPTBot (OpenAI/ChatGPT)
• ClaudeBot (Anthropic/Claude)
• PerplexityBot (Perplexity)
• Google-Extended (Gemini/AI Overviews)

Also check that your important content is not gated behind login walls, JavaScript-only rendering, or dynamically loaded tabs that crawlers cannot see. If your content requires a click to reveal, AI crawlers will not find it.

6. Monitor and iterate

AEO is not a one-time fix. AI models retrain and recrawl on varying schedules. Content that scores well today may need updates as competitors improve their own AEO. Re-check your score monthly, track which recommendations you have implemented, and prioritize any new issues that appear.

For ongoing monitoring, Orbilo's paid plans offer automated AEO scoring on a schedule, brand mention tracking across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok, and alerts when your AI visibility changes.