AEO — Answer Engine Optimization
Comment AISeen calcule le score AEO : schéma FAQ, qualité de réponse directe, signaux de fraîcheur et autorité sur Reddit, Wikipédia et HackerNews.
What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so that AI assistants (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude) cite your pages directly in their responses — not just list you in search results.
While SEO focuses on Google ranking signals and GEO covers technical crawlability for AI bots, AEO measures whether your content is actually quoted by AI engines. Think: featured snippets for the AI era.
What we check
Lead paragraph 40–220 chars suitable for a featured snippet
FAQPage structured data present and valid
Last-Modified header or <time datetime=> tag present
Domain discussed in Reddit threads (authority signal)
Domain referenced in Wikipedia articles
Domain discussed or submitted on HackerNews
Domain mentioned in AI engine responses for target keywords
H2/H3 headings contain questions (What/How/Why…) or end with ?
AEO Score breakdown
The AEO score (0–100) is composed of two parts:
Featured Answer Check
Evaluates direct answer quality, FAQ schema presence, freshness, and AI engine citation visibility for your target keywords. Produces actionable recommendations.
Third-party Mentions Score
Authority signal: how much third-party communities discuss your domain. Checked on Reddit, Wikipedia, and HackerNews.
Third-party mentions scoring
0 mentions → 0 pts · 1–2 → 15 pts · 3–9 → 25 pts · 10+ → 35 pts
Not referenced → 0 pts · Referenced → 35 pts
0 mentions → 0 pts · 1–4 → 20 pts · 5+ → 30 pts
Total capped at 100. AEO score feeds 5% of the composite leaderboard total.
Score ranges
60 – 100
Strong
Your content is well-structured for AI answers. FAQ schema, strong direct answers, and community authority are present.
25 – 59
Developing
Some AEO signals present. Add FAQ schema and question-led headings to improve AI citation chances.
0 – 24
Not Optimized
AI engines are unlikely to cite this page. Structured data, direct answers, and community presence are missing.
Common issues & fixes
❌ No direct answer / short meta description
→ Put a clear 1–2 sentence summary at the top of the page (40–220 chars). This becomes the featured snippet excerpt.
❌ No FAQPage JSON-LD
→ Add <script type="application/ld+json"> with FAQPage schema around your existing Q&A headings. AISeen auto-detects heading pairs and generates the code.
❌ No Q&A headings (question-led H2/H3)
→ Restructure content headings as questions: 'What is X?', 'How does Y work?'. AI engines look for explicit question-answer structure.
❌ Stale content (> 90 days old)
→ Update the page and add a <time datetime='…'> tag or ensure your server sends Last-Modified headers.
❌ No Reddit or HackerNews mentions
→ Engage authentically in relevant communities. Share expertise, not links. Community citations are the hardest AEO signal to fake.
❌ Not cited by AI engines
→ Improve content depth and FAQ coverage. AI engines cite authoritative, well-structured pages with clear direct answers.
FAQ JSON-LD example
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "What is [your product]?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A clear, concise answer AI engines can quote directly."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How does [feature] work?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Step-by-step explanation that stands alone without context."
}
}
]
}
</script>Place this in the <head> or at the end of <body>. AISeen auto-generates this JSON-LD from detected H2/H3 question headings.
Check your AEO Score
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