The answer they cite
is yours.
A growing share of commercial research never reaches a list of blue links. It happens inside an AI assistant that reads the web and hands back one answer. Answer engine optimisation is the discipline of being the source that answer is built from.
At a glance
Answer Engine Optimisation at a glance
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini cite it as a source in their answers. It rewards clear direct-answer formatting, citation-ready schema, specific named entities, and dated, verifiable claims. Involve Digital engineers client content for citation and tracks share of AI citations as a first-class metric, not an afterthought.
The discipline
What Answer Engine Optimisation involves
Citation is the new ranking
When a buyer asks an assistant which provider to shortlist, there is no page two. There is one answer, assembled from a handful of sources the model decided to trust. Being one of those sources is the whole game, and it is decided by signals most SEO programmes never optimise for.
What the models actually reward
AI answer engines favour content that states a clear answer up front, backs it with specific and dated evidence, names real entities such as clients, places, numbers and products, and carries machine-readable structure. Vague, hedged, undated content gets passed over even when it ranks well classically.
The brands that win citations are the ones that read as authoritative to a model: specific, verifiable, and structured.
Engineering content for citation
We restructure key pages around direct-answer blocks, add the schema that tells a model exactly what each entity is, tighten claims so every number is specific and sourced, and build the named-entity density that signals genuine expertise. The same work makes the content better for human skim-readers, not worse.
Measuring AI citations
You cannot improve what you do not watch. We monitor how often, and how accurately, the major assistants cite your brand for the prompts that matter to your pipeline, and we treat that share of citation as a headline metric alongside classical rankings.
How we run it
How we run an AEO programme
01
Citation audit
We test the prompts your buyers actually use across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini, and map where you are cited, where a competitor is, and where the answer is simply wrong.
02
Answer-first restructure
Priority pages are rebuilt around clear direct-answer blocks, so a model can lift a clean, correct statement without ambiguity.
03
Schema and entities
Citation-ready structured data and named-entity density that tell the models exactly who you are, what you do, and why you are credible.
04
Evidence and dating
Every claim tightened to a specific, dated, verifiable form, because models trust specificity and discard hedges.
05
Track share of citation
Ongoing monitoring of how the assistants answer your category, with citation share reported alongside pipeline.
Proof
Our Search Experience
The search engagements behind the discipline. Every metric is on the books and tied to a named client. Click any card for the full engagement detail.
Keep exploring
The other three pillars.
01
Classical SEO
Technical foundation, indexability, schema, topical depth, link equity. The non-negotiable base layer Google still rewards. Lighthouse 95+ on every page we ship.
Explore SEO03
Generative Engine Optimisation
Brand surface design for the AI-powered SERP: Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, Perplexity. Rank for the question, not just the keyword.
Explore GEO04
Paid Search
Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, retargeting. Tightly tracked, attributed to pipeline, run by a senior account lead, not a junior on a spreadsheet.
Explore Paid SearchFAQ
Questions worth answering.
How is AEO different from classical SEO?
Classical SEO optimises to rank in a list of links on Google and Bing. AEO optimises to be cited as a source inside an AI assistant answer. The signals overlap on a clean technical base, but AEO leans much harder on direct-answer structure, named entities, dated evidence and citation-ready schema.
Can you really influence what ChatGPT or Claude say?
You cannot dictate a model output, but you can materially change the source material it reads. Assistants assemble answers from content they can find, parse and trust. Making your content the clearest, most specific and most structured source for your category measurably increases how often you are the one cited.
Is it worth it while AI search is still small?
It is small the way mobile was small in 2008. The share of commercial research running through assistants is climbing fast, the brands establishing citation authority now will be the defaults when it is the majority, and the work doubles as stronger classical SEO in the meantime.
Start
Ten minutes with the strategist.
Tell the strategist what you're trying to grow. By the end of the conversation you'll have a plan, a quote and a senior strategist on the line.