---
title: "What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?"
description: "AEO (answer engine optimization) is writing and structuring your pages so search engines can lift your answer literally into the answer box: the question as a heading, the complete answer in 40 to 60 words directly beneath it, wrapped in FAQ markup. Whoever gets quoted wins the click before the list of links even starts."
url: https://vanborg.com/en/explained/aeo
locale: en
type: page
updated: 2026-08-06
author: "Nicolaas Sterenborg"
---

# What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?

AEO (answer engine optimization) is writing and structuring your pages so search engines can lift your answer literally into the answer box: the question as a heading, the complete answer in 40 to 60 words directly beneath it, wrapped in FAQ markup. Whoever gets quoted wins the click before the list of links even starts.

## Why answer-first writing works

An answer engine isn't looking for a nice introduction but for an independently quotable block: one paragraph that fully answers the question without needing surrounding context. On an AEO-optimized page that block sits directly under the question heading, followed by the nuance. People prefer reading it too — nobody enjoys scrolling past three paragraphs of run-up — so what's built for the machine reads better for the visitor.

## How AEO fits into Findability optimisation

AEO isn't a separate monthly price with us, but one of the three things the Findability optimisation (one-off €395) covers: we rewrite your core pages in question-and-answer form, put FAQ and HowTo markup on the right blocks, and rebuild the heading structure into a table of contents a machine can follow. It works on top of SEO — a page that isn't found doesn't get quoted either — and alongside GEO, which targets the AI search engines. New content that keeps feeding AEO afterwards comes from the Findability retainer.

## How you measure whether AEO works

You measure AEO differently from SEO: it's not about your position in the list but about how often your text makes the answer box. In Search Console that shows as impressions on question queries ('what does it cost', 'how long does', 'what is') and clicks from positions that used to yield nothing. Also visible: visitors landing on a page and getting the right answer immediately stop asking that question by phone. Fewer repeat questions on the phone is an odd but real AEO success signal — and exactly the kind of effect we track for you monthly.

## See also

- [AEO as a module on your website](https://vanborg.com/en/services/websites)
- [What Findability costs](https://vanborg.com/en/pricing)