Best practices for answer engine optimization (AEO) marketing teams can't ignore

By rsukhraj@hubspot.com (Ramona Sukhraj)

A few months back, I was having a bit of a professional identity crisis. And it’s all thanks to answer engine optimization (AEO) and AEO best practices.

Before 2024, I spent the better part of a decade focused on topping search engine result pages — and, frankly, I was great at it. I knew the ins and outs of keywords, schema, and even technical SEO aspects like site speed.

But with the rise of AI, those skills were slowly becoming less urgent, for lack of a better word. (Cue marketer existential panic.)

Search and consumer behavior have changed dramatically. While traditional search engines still dominate, people increasingly turn to AI tools like ChatGPT to answer their questions. Heck, with 79% of those who already use AI for search believing it offers a better experience than traditional search engines, even Google has introduced AI overviews to stay competitive.

But what about all my SEO glory? This shift demands a new approach. Unfortunately, AEO is generally a mystery to businesses and marketers alike. HubSpot is no exception, but we’re finding our way.

We’ve been researching and experimenting with how we produce and format content for AI and loop marketing for almost a year. In this article, I’ll share some of the most critical AEO best practices we’ve uncovered.

Table of Contents

TLDR
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
Why Answer Engine Optimization Matters Now More Than Ever
Best practices for Answer Engine Optimization
How does Loop Marketing fit into AEO?
Technical AEO Checklist
Common AI Engine Optimization Challenges
Frequently Asked Questions About AEO Best Practices

TLDR

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the process of making your content easy for AI-powered systems — like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT — to find, understand, and cite. Unlike traditional SEO, AEO focuses on direct answers, structured data, and authority signals that help your brand appear in zero-click results and AI summaries.

To get started, map user questions, structure content for quick answers, add the right schema markup for AEO, and track your visibility with tools like HubSpot’s AI Search Grader. Ready to see where you stand? Check it for free.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

At its core, answer engine optimization is the strategic practice of structuring your content so AI-powered systems can easily extract, understand, and present it as authoritative answers.

Many in the industry also refer to related terms like generative engine optimization (GEO) or large language model optimization (LLMO), but “AEO” emphasizes the answer.

When someone asks ChatGPT for marketing advice, queries Google for a quick definition, or speaks to Alexa about local services, AEO determines whether your brand is cited in the response.