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Website AEO optimisation: a practical guide for your own site

By the SEOCells team, OmCells R&D Labs LLP · Published

Website AEO optimisation is making your own pages easy for AI answers to read, trust and quote. In practice: question headings with a 40–60 word answer underneath, one H1, titles that match the question, accurate structured data, visible dates, named experts, primary sources, fact-rich paragraphs, consistent business details and separate measurement of AI visits.

Key points

  • AEO builds on SEO; it does not replace it. A page that cannot be found in search is unlikely to be cited.
  • Put a short, plain answer directly under each question heading.
  • Structured data should describe what is visibly on the page, nothing more.
  • Show who wrote or checked the page, when it was updated, and where the facts come from.
  • Measure AI visits separately so you can see whether anything is changing.

What is website AEO optimisation?

AEO stands for answer engine optimisation. “Website AEO” just means the part you control directly: your own pages. Other parts, such as reviews and press, live elsewhere. On your site, the aim is simple to state: when an AI engine reads your page, it should find a clear answer to the question, see who stands behind it, and be able to quote it without getting it wrong.

Google says there are no special requirements for its AI features beyond sound SEO. So treat everything below as good SEO with extra care for how a single passage reads when lifted out of the page.

How should a page be structured?

  • One H1 that states the page's main topic or question.
  • H2 headings phrased as the questions customers ask, in their words.
  • Under each heading, a 40–60 word passage that answers the question on its own, before any detail.
  • Then the detail: steps, conditions, examples, a short table if it compares things.
  • One topic per page. A page that tries to answer everything answers nothing clearly.

Here is an example from a fictional dental clinic. Heading: “How much does a dental implant cost in Leeds?” First passage: “A single dental implant at Example Dental costs £2,000 to £2,800 in 2026, including the crown. The price depends on whether you need a bone graft. A consultation costs £60, deducted from treatment.” That passage makes sense even if it is the only thing an AI reads.

What should the title and description say?

Match the question. If people ask “how much does a dental implant cost in Leeds”, a title like “Dental Implant Cost in Leeds (2026 Prices)” is clearer to readers and engines than “Smile Solutions”. Google explains which parts of a page it uses for title links; a descriptive, unique title per page is the starting point. Keep the meta description to a plain summary of the answer.

Which structured data helps?

Structured data worth having on a typical business site
TypeWhereNotes
Organization or LocalBusinessHome page or about pageName, logo, address, phone, links to your official profiles
ArticleGuides and blog postsHeadline, author, date published and modified
FAQPagePages with a visible question-and-answer sectionOnly for questions shown on the page; rich results are now limited, but the markup still describes the page
ProductProduct pagesInclude the properties Google lists as required, such as name and an offer, review or rating; keep prices in sync
BreadcrumbListMost pagesShows where the page sits on the site

The rule that matters most: markup must match what people see. Ratings, prices or authors that appear only in the markup are misleading and can cost you rich-result eligibility.

How do you show the page can be trusted?

  • Show a visible published date and, when you change something material, an updated date. Do not bump dates without changes.
  • Name the person who wrote or checked the page, with their role or qualification, and link to a short profile.
  • Cite primary sources: regulations, official guidance, manufacturers' specifications, your own data.
  • Write fact-rich paragraphs: names, prices or price ranges, dates, places and measurable details.
  • Keep your business name, address and phone identical across the site, the markup and every external profile.

What is the best way to combine AEO and SEO on one website?

Do not run them as two projects. The same fundamentals serve both: crawlable pages with content in the HTML, fast loading, helpful pages written for people, and a business others vouch for. The AEO layer is mostly about format and precision: answer first, one claim per passage, everything checkable. If you are choosing where to start, fix access and indexing first, then the pages that answer your most valuable customer questions.

How do you measure whether it is working?

Set up a separate view in your analytics for visits referred by AI assistants, using their referrer domains, so they are not lost among other referrals. Google Analytics explorations make this straightforward. Alongside that, ask your customers' questions in the assistants they use, several times, and record who is cited. Expect movement to be slow and noisy; compare over weeks, not days.

The free SEOCells AEO Score checks one page against the points in this guide and tells you which ones are missing.

Questions answered

What is website AEO optimisation?

It is the work of making your own web pages easy for AI answers to read, trust and quote: answer-first structure, clear titles, accurate structured data, visible dates and authors, sources and consistent business details.

Is AEO different from SEO for a website?

It builds on SEO. Google says its AI features need no special optimisation beyond SEO best practice. AEO adds attention to short, self-contained, checkable passages.

How long should an answer passage be?

Around 40–60 words is a practical length: long enough to answer properly, short enough to be quoted whole.

Do I still need FAQ structured data?

FAQ rich results are now limited in Google, but marking up a visible question-and-answer section still describes the page accurately. Only mark up questions that are shown on the page.

What is the best AEO and SEO setup for a small website?

Readable pages, one clear topic per page, question headings with short answers, accurate Organization and page markup, consistent business details, and a few trusted sites that mention you.

Sources

  1. Google Search Central — AI features and your website
  2. Google Search Central — SEO Starter Guide
  3. Google Search Central — Influencing your title links in search results
  4. Google Search Central — Introduction to structured data
  5. Google Search Central — Organization structured data
  6. Google Search Central — Article structured data
  7. Google Search Central — Introduction to Product structured data
  8. Google Search Central Blog — Changes to HowTo and FAQ rich results (August 2023)
  9. Google Search Central — Influencing byline dates in Google Search
  10. Google Analytics Help — Get started with Explorations

Search engines and AI assistants change often; check the linked documentation for the latest details. Nothing in this post is a promise of rankings, citations or results.

Check one page against this guide — the first AEO Score is free.

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