name

seo-and-aeo-strategy

description

SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO strategy for search engines and AI visibility. Use when working on "SEO audit," "technical SEO," "on-page SEO," "AI search optimization," "AEO," "GEO," "AI visibility," "optimize for ChatGPT," "optimize for Perplexity," "AI Overviews," "answer engine optimization," "generative engine optimization," "AI citations," "featured snippets," "meta tags," "schema markup," "search ranking," "content optimization," "E-E-A-T," "structured data," "search console," "SEO health check," "why am I not ranking," "AI search readiness," "backlink strategy," "link building," "domain authority," "programmatic SEO," "SEO at scale," "template-based SEO," "AEO monitoring," "AI search monitoring," "JSON-LD," "rich snippets," "schema.org," "SERP analysis," "search intent," "site architecture," "information architecture," "URL structure," "internal linking," or "navigation." For keyword research, see keyword-research-and-clustering.

SEO & AEO Strategy

Workspace Context

Read bootstrap context before asking questions: strategy/brand.md for brand, audience, offer, channels, tools, constraints, and metrics; about/me.md for personal voice; content/ideas.md and content/calendar.md for content planning. Use legacy product-marketing context files only as fallback. Save generated drafts to content/<platform>/drafts/YYYY-MM-DD_short-topic-slug.md, and route durable learnings back to strategy/brand.md, about/me.md, or content/ideas.md.

Operating Contract

This skill is self-contained for its frontmatter scope: use its local instructions, references, scripts, and assets as the playbook; ask only for missing task-specific inputs; hand off to adjacent skills instead of expanding scope; and return an actionable artifact, decision, plan, draft, or diagnostic.

Traditional SEO gets pages ranked. AI search optimization (AEO/GEO) gets content cited. This skill covers both.

SEO  → Rank in traditional search results (blue links)
AEO  → Appear in featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice answers
GEO  → Get cited in generative AI responses (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity)

2025 reality: AI Overviews appear in ~47% of Google searches. 58% of queries end without a click. Optimize for citation, not just ranking.

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Initial Assessment

Use the Workspace Context above first. Only ask for what is missing.

Before auditing, understand:

1. Site context — Type (SaaS, e-commerce, blog), primary SEO goal, priority keywords/topics
2. Current state — Known issues, organic traffic level, recent changes or migrations
3. AI visibility — Does the brand appear in AI-generated answers today? Checked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews?
4. Scope — Full site vs. specific pages? Technical + on-page + AI, or one focus area?

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Technical SEO

Crawlability

Check	What to Verify
robots.txt	No unintentional blocks, sitemap referenced, AI crawlers allowed
XML Sitemap	Exists, submitted to Search Console, canonical URLs only, < 50K URLs
Site architecture	Important pages within 3 clicks, logical hierarchy, no orphan pages
Crawl budget	Parameterized URLs controlled, faceted nav handled, no session IDs in URLs

Indexation

• site:domain.com check vs. Search Console coverage report
• Verify no noindex on important pages
• Check canonical tags (self-referencing on unique pages, HTTP→HTTPS, www consistency)
• Identify redirect chains/loops, soft 404s, duplicate content

Core Web Vitals & Speed

Metric	Target	Tool
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)	< 2.5s	PageSpeed Insights
INP (Interaction to Next Paint)	< 200ms	Chrome DevTools
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)	< 0.1	WebPageTest
TTFB (Time to First Byte)	< 800ms	Search Console

Mobile & Security

• Responsive design (not separate m. site), viewport configured, adequate tap targets (48px min)
• HTTPS across entire site, valid SSL, no mixed content, HSTS header

URL Structure

• Lowercase, hyphen-separated, < 75 characters
• Include target keywords naturally, avoid unnecessary parameters

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On-Page SEO

Title Tags

• 50–60 characters, primary keyword near beginning
• Unique per page, brand name at end (unless homepage)
• Compelling and click-worthy

Meta Descriptions

• 150–160 characters, include primary keyword
• Clear value proposition with call-to-action, unique per page

Heading Structure

• Single <h1> per page containing primary keyword
• Logical hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3), no skipped levels
• Descriptive headings (not generic), include keywords naturally

Image SEO

• Descriptive filenames with keywords, alt text on all images
• Compressed, modern formats (WebP/AVIF), lazy load below-fold
• Responsive images with width/height attributes

Internal Linking

• Descriptive anchor text with keywords (not "click here")
• Important pages well-linked, no broken internal links
• Breadcrumb navigation for hierarchy

Content Quality (E-E-A-T)

Signal	Implementation
Experience	First-hand accounts, case studies, original data
Expertise	Author credentials visible, accurate detailed information
Authoritativeness	Cited by others, industry credentials, recognized in space
Trustworthiness	Transparent sourcing, contact info, privacy policy, HTTPS

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AI Search Optimization (AEO/GEO)

How AI Search Platforms Select Sources

Platform	Source Selection	Key Factor
Google AI Overviews	Strong correlation with traditional rankings	Top 5 organic positions favored
ChatGPT	Wider range, not just top-ranked	Branded domain authority, recency
Perplexity	Always cites with links	Authoritative, recent, well-structured
Gemini	Google index + Knowledge Graph	E-E-A-T signals, structured data
Copilot	Bing index	Microsoft ecosystem (LinkedIn, GitHub)
Claude	Brave Search	Factual density, structural clarity

For detailed platform-specific ranking factors, see references/platform-ranking-factors.md and references/platform-algorithms.md.

The Three Pillars

1. Structure — Make content extractable

AI systems extract passages, not pages. Every key claim should work standalone.

• Lead every section with a direct answer (don't bury it)
• Keep key answer passages to 40–60 words (optimal for snippet extraction)
• Use H2/H3 headings that match how people phrase queries
• Tables beat prose for comparisons; numbered lists beat paragraphs for processes

Inverted pyramid pattern:

┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│  DIRECT ANSWER (1-2 sentences)   │ ← AI extracts this first
├──────────────────────────────────┤
│  KEY FACTS & CONTEXT             │ ← Supporting bullets/data
├──────────────────────────────────┤
│  DETAILED EXPLANATION            │ ← Background, examples
└──────────────────────────────────┘

2. Authority — Make content citable

The Princeton GEO research (KDD 2024) ranked 9 optimization methods:

Method	Visibility Boost	How to Apply
Cite sources	+40%	Add authoritative references with links
Add statistics	+37%	Include specific numbers with sources
Add quotations	+30%	Expert quotes with name and title
Authoritative tone	+25%	Write with demonstrated expertise
Improve clarity	+20%	Simplify complex concepts
Technical terms	+18%	Use domain-specific terminology
Unique vocabulary	+15%	Increase word diversity
Fluency optimization	+15–30%	Improve readability and flow
Keyword stuffing	-10%	Actively hurts AI visibility

Best combination: Fluency + Statistics = maximum boost. Low-ranking sites benefit even more — up to 115% visibility increase with citations.

For detailed GEO research, see references/geo-research.md.

3. Presence — Be where AI looks

AI systems cite where you appear, not just your site:

• Wikipedia mentions (7.8% of all ChatGPT citations)
• Reddit discussions, YouTube content, Quora answers
• Review sites (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius for B2B SaaS)
• Industry publications and guest posts

Semantic Triples (Key AEO Technique)

Compact, unambiguous facts AI can't misread. Pattern: [Subject] [specific verb] [concrete object].

✅ "HubSpot CRM syncs contact and company data."
✅ "Lead Scoring assigns priority based on engagement."
❌ "The system helps with various tasks."
❌ "It can do many things for users."

AI Crawler Configuration

Ensure robots.txt allows AI crawlers:

User-agent: GPTBot          # OpenAI
Allow: /
User-agent: ChatGPT-User    # ChatGPT browsing
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot   # Perplexity
Allow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot        # Anthropic
Allow: /
User-agent: Google-Extended  # Gemini/AI Overviews
Allow: /

See references/ai-crawlers.md for full configuration.

---

Structured Data for Search & AI

Schema markup improves AI visibility by 30–40%. Priority types:

Content Type	Schema	Citation Impact
FAQs	FAQPage	2.5x inclusion
Articles/Blog	Article + Author	2.2x citations
Organization	Organization	2.8x citations
How-to content	HowTo	Step extraction
Products	Product	Pricing/features
Reviews	AggregateRating	Trust signals
Breadcrumbs	BreadcrumbList	Navigation context

For full JSON-LD templates, see references/schema-templates.md and references/schema-for-ai.md.

Validate at Google Rich Results Test and Schema.org Validator.

---

Content Types That Get Cited Most

Content Type	AI Citation Share	Why AI Cites It
Comparison articles	~33%	Structured, balanced, high-intent
Definitive guides	~15%	Comprehensive, authoritative
Original research/data	~12%	Unique, citable statistics
Best-of/listicles	~10%	Clear structure, entity-rich
Product pages	~10%	Specific extractable details
How-to guides	~8%	Step-by-step structure

Underperformers: Generic blog posts without structure, thin product pages, gated content, undated content, PDF-only content.

For content templates and patterns, see references/content-patterns.md and references/content-templates.md.

---

AEO Measurement

Track these four metrics monthly:

1. AI Visibility

Test priority queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews. Target: Appear in 60%+ of priority queries.

2. AI Share of Voice

Share of Voice = (Your mentions / Total brand mentions) × 100. Target: Match or exceed traditional search market share.

3. AI Citations

How often YOUR WEBSITE is the source. Target: Cited in 30%+ of relevant queries.

4. Referral Demand

Traffic originating in AI but arriving later (brand search after AI mention). Track via post-purchase survey: "How did you first hear about us?"

Monitoring Tools

Tool	Coverage	Best For
Otterly AI	ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews	Share of AI voice
Peec AI	ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude	Multi-platform monitoring
ZipTie	AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity	Brand mention + sentiment
HubSpot AEO Grader	AI visibility audit	Free audit

Interpreting Results

Visibility	Share of Voice	Diagnosis
↓ Down	↓ Down	Platform algorithm change (industry-wide)
↓ Down	→ Stable	Your content quality declined
→ Stable	↓ Down	Competitors improved
↑ Up	↑ Up	Your AEO strategy is working

---

Audit Checklists

Critical (Fix Immediately)

• HTTPS enabled, valid SSL
• robots.txt allows crawling (including AI bots)
• No noindex on important pages
• Title tags present, unique, with primary keyword
• Single <h1> per page
• AI crawlers not blocked in robots.txt

High Priority

• Meta descriptions present and compelling
• XML sitemap submitted to Search Console
• Canonical URLs set correctly
• Mobile-responsive, Core Web Vitals passing
• FAQPage schema on FAQ/support pages
• Article schema with author on blog/guide pages
• "Last updated" date visible on content

Medium Priority

• Internal linking strategy implemented
• Image alt text on all images
• Descriptive URLs with keywords
• Breadcrumb navigation + schema
• Author bios with credentials
• Statistics cited with sources
• Content answers queries in first paragraph

Ongoing

• Fix crawl errors in Search Console
• Update sitemap when content changes
• Refresh content quarterly (competitive topics)
• Monitor AI visibility monthly (manual or tools)
• Check for broken links
• Track AI share of voice vs. competitors

For complete SEO checklist, see references/seo-checklist.md.

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Tools

Tool	Use
Google Search Console	Monitor indexing, fix issues, track queries
Google PageSpeed Insights	Performance + Core Web Vitals
Rich Results Test	Validate structured data
Lighthouse	Full SEO audit
Screaming Frog	Crawl analysis
Semrush / Ahrefs	AI Overview tracking, backlinks, content gaps

See references/tools-and-apis.md for API reference.

Scripts available in scripts/: SEO audit, keyword research, SERP analysis, backlink analysis, competitor gap analysis, autocomplete ideas. See script files for usage.

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References

• references/platform-ranking-factors.md — How each AI platform selects sources
• references/platform-algorithms.md — Detailed ranking factors per platform
• references/geo-research.md — Princeton GEO research (9 methods)
• references/content-patterns.md — AI-optimized content block templates
• references/content-templates.md — Page structure templates for AI
• references/schema-templates.md — JSON-LD schema templates
• references/schema-for-ai.md — Schema markup for AI visibility
• references/ai-crawlers.md — AI crawler robots.txt configuration
• references/seo-checklist.md — Complete SEO audit checklist
• references/aeo-geo-patterns.md — Content patterns for AI citation
• references/ai-writing-detection.md — AI writing patterns to avoid
• references/query-research.md — Query research methodology
• references/tools-and-apis.md — Tools and API reference
• references/google-docs-summary.md — Google documentation summary

Related Skills

• keyword-research-and-clustering — Keyword research, expansion, and topic clustering
• keyword-research-and-clustering — Keyword expansion and clustering before SEO page planning
• competitor-analysis — Comparison pages and competitor-backed search strategy
• content-strategy-and-planning — Turning SEO opportunities into an editorial roadmap
• content-strategy-and-planning — Planning what content to create
• data-and-funnel-analytics — Measuring SEO/AEO performance