ANSWER ENGINE OPTIMIZATION · GEO · AI SEARCH
AEO Services
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of making your content, website and reputation easy for AI assistants to find, trust and quote. Concept’s AEO services get B2B companies cited in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, and connect every AI-referred visit to pipeline in HubSpot or Salesforce.
We’ve been filling B2B pipelines since 2002. Our marketing team works next to our own sales development reps, so we build your AEO program around the questions your buyers actually ask.
Let’s Get Your Brand Into the AI Answer
Get an AI Visibility Audit-
HubSpot Diamond Partner
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Salesforce Partner
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Attio Partner
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LinkedIn Partner
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Google Partner
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130+ HubSpot Certifications
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Serving B2B Since 2002
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HubSpot Diamond Partner
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Salesforce Partner
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Attio Partner
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LinkedIn Partner
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Google Partner
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130+ HubSpot Certifications
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Serving B2B Since 2002
What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content, technical setup and off-site authority so that AI-powered answer engines select your brand as a source. Where SEO aims for a ranking on a results page, AEO aims for a citation or a recommendation inside the answer itself.
Answer engines pull from many pages at once, break them into passages, and assemble a single response. They favor content that answers a question directly, backs claims with specific facts, is easy to parse, and is corroborated by other trusted sites. AEO makes your content the passage they pick.
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is a closely related term, coined by researchers at Princeton, Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI and IIT Delhi in a 2023 paper (Aggarwal et al., GEO: Generative Engine Optimization). The study found that adding citations, quotations and statistics to content raised its visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40%. In practice, AEO and GEO describe the same discipline. We use both terms because buyers search for both.
Why it matters
Why B2B Companies Need AEO Now
Your buyers are building shortlists before they ever reach your website. A plant manager asks ChatGPT for “the best material handling equipment dealers in the Midwest.” A VP of Sales asks Perplexity “which HubSpot agencies specialize in manufacturing.” If your brand isn’t in that answer, you weren’t on the list.
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01
Search Behavior Is Moving into AI
Gartner predicted traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 as buyers shift to AI chatbots and virtual agents (Gartner, February 2024).
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Answers Replace Clicks
When Google shows an AI Overview, fewer people click through to the sources below it. Being the cited source is now worth more than ranking fourth.
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AI Shortlists Are Narrow
An AI answer typically names a handful of vendors, not ten pages of results. There is less room, and the brands that are cited compound their advantage.
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Industrial B2B Is Still Wide Open
Most manufacturers, distributors and equipment dealers haven’t started. Early movers in a vertical become the default answer.
Compare
AEO vs. GEO vs. SEO: What's the Difference?
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Search engine optimization | Answer engine optimization | Generative engine optimization |
| Goal | Rank pages in search results | Be the source an AI answer cites | Be included and recommended in AI-generated responses |
| Where it shows up | Google and Bing blue links | Featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice assistants, ChatGPT, Perplexity | ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode |
| Unit of success | A page ranking for a keyword | A passage quoted for a question | A brand mentioned for a prompt |
| Primary metric | Rankings, organic traffic | Citations, answer inclusion | Brand mentions, share of voice, sentiment |
| What moves it | Keywords, backlinks, technical health | Direct answers, structured data, clear formatting | Entity clarity, third-party corroboration, specific facts |
| Relationship | The foundation | Builds on SEO | Builds on SEO and AEO |
Bottom line: AEO doesn’t replace SEO. AI engines still retrieve from pages that search engines can crawl and trust, so strong SEO is the entry ticket. AEO and GEO decide whether you get quoted once you’re in the room. Concept runs all three as one program.
What we do
What Our AEO Services Include
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AI Visibility Audit
We test your brand across a defined set of buyer prompts in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. You see where you’re cited, where competitors are cited instead, and which sources the AI trusts in your category.
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Prompt Universe Mapping
We map the full range of questions, comparisons and problem statements where your brand should be recommended. We build it from your search data, competitor citations, and the real questions our sales team hears on calls.
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Technical AEO
AI crawler access in robots.txt, llms.txt, server-rendered content, page speed and Core Web Vitals. If an AI crawler can’t read your page, nothing else matters.
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Answer-First Content
We restructure your key pages and write new ones around direct answers, comparison tables, definitions, FAQs and specific numbers. That’s the format AI engines extract and cite.
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Structured Data & Entity Optimization
Organization, Service, FAQ, Article and Breadcrumb schema, plus consistent entity data across your site, LinkedIn, directories and partner listings, so AI knows exactly who you are.
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Off-Site Citation Building
AI engines cite third-party sources more than brand sites. We get you into the industry listicles, directories, review sites, Reddit threads and publications that AI pulls from.
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AI Visibility Tracking & CRM Attribution
Monthly tracking of visibility, citations and share of voice, plus AI-referred traffic, leads and deals reported inside HubSpot or Salesforce. You see revenue, not just a visibility score.
The Concept difference
AEO that Reports in Pipeline, Not Just Visibility
Most AEO agencies stop at a visibility score. That number matters, but your CFO won’t fund it for long.
Concept is a HubSpot Diamond Partner, a Salesforce Partner and an Attio Partner. We build CRMs for a living. So we set up your CRM to capture AI-referred sessions from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude, tag them as a distinct source, and follow them through to leads, opportunities and closed revenue.
- A clear ROI line. AI-sourced pipeline sits in the same dashboard as paid, organic and outbound.
- Better targeting. We see which prompts and pages produce leads, not just mentions, and put more effort there.
- One team, not three vendors. The people tracking your AI visibility also run your CRM, your SEO and, if you want, your outbound appointment setting.
Deals by original source
Last 90 days
- Organic search [X]
- Paid search [X]
- AI referral [X]
- Outbound [X]
HOW IT WORKS
Our AEO Process
Most companies see their first new AI citations within 4 to 8 weeks of technical and content fixes going live. Measurable share-of-voice gains typically take 3 to 6 months, because off-site authority builds over time.
- 4–8 wks to first new citations
- 3–6 mo to share-of-voice gains
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01
Benchmark your AI visibility.
We run your most important buyer questions across the major AI platforms and record mentions, citations, sentiment and competitor share of voice. This becomes your baseline.
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Build your prompt universe.
We define the 50 to 150 prompts that matter commercially: category questions, vendor comparisons, “best of” queries, and industry-specific problems. Each one is scored on volume, winnability and buying intent.
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Fix crawling and indexing.
We confirm AI crawlers can access and render your site, then fix blockers: robots.txt rules, JavaScript-only content, slow pages, missing sitemaps.
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Implement programmatic optimizations.
Schema markup, entity consistency, llms.txt, internal linking and page templates that make every page easier for AI to parse.
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Rewrite and create content.
We restructure priority pages into answer-first format and fill topic gaps with comparison pages, guides and FAQs built for citation.
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Build off-site authority.
Listicle inclusion, directory and review profiles, partner listings, digital PR and community participation where your buyers ask questions.
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Measure, report and iterate.
Monthly visibility tracking and CRM-based pipeline reporting, with a quarterly prompt-universe refresh.
WHY CONCEPT
Why B2B Companies Choose Concept for AEO
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B2B since 2002
More than two decades marketing to manufacturers, distributors, equipment dealers and technology companies. We know how your buyers talk.
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Prompts from Real Sales Calls
Our sales development team talks to B2B buyers every day. We feed those real questions into your prompt universe instead of guessing.
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CRM-Connected Reporting
HubSpot Diamond, Salesforce and Attio partner status means AI-sourced leads are tracked to revenue, not left in a separate dashboard.
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SEO, AEO and GEO in One Program
AI engines retrieve from pages search engines trust. We run all three together so they reinforce each other.
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Evidence Over Hype
Every recommendation comes with the prompt data behind it. No guaranteed rankings, no “secret AI hacks.”
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We Practice It Ourselves
Concept’s own content is built with the same AEO framework we use for clients.
AEO results
Within 90 days, we had an SQL who had eliminated other demos because of the information cited in ChatGPT.
Where we work
AEO for B2B Industries
AI engines like to categorize vendors by industry. When a buyer asks for “the best CRM partner for equipment dealers,” the answer goes to companies with clear, specific content about that vertical. We build that content for industries we already know.
- Manufacturing
- Capital Equipment
- Material Handling
- Construction Equipment
- Distribution & Wholesale
- Supply Chain & Logistics
- Professional Services
What is AEO?
AEO, or answer engine optimization, is the practice of optimizing content, technical setup and off-site reputation so AI assistants cite and recommend your brand. It targets ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. The goal is to be the source quoted inside the answer, not just a link on a results page.
What’s the difference between AEO, GEO and SEO?
SEO ranks your pages in search results. AEO makes your content the passage an AI answer cites. GEO gets your brand included and recommended in AI-generated responses. AEO and GEO build on SEO, and Concept runs all three as one program.
Does AEO replace SEO?
No. AI engines still retrieve from pages that search engines can crawl and trust, so strong SEO is the entry ticket. AEO and GEO decide whether you get quoted once you’re in the room.
How much do AEO services cost?
Most programs take one of three shapes: an AI visibility audit at $4,000–$6,500 one-time, an AEO foundations sprint at $7,000–$15,000 fixed scope, or an ongoing AEO program at $1,900–$3,700 per month. Price depends on the number of prompts and AI platforms tracked, how many pages need restructuring, how much off-site work your category needs, and whether CRM attribution is already in place.
How long does AEO take to work?
Most companies see their first new AI citations within 4 to 8 weeks of technical and content fixes going live. Measurable share-of-voice gains typically take 3 to 6 months, because off-site authority builds over time.
How do you measure AEO results?
We track AI visibility, citations and share of voice across a defined prompt set every month. Then we follow AI-referred sessions in HubSpot or Salesforce through to leads, opportunities and closed revenue, so AI sits in the same pipeline report as paid, organic and outbound.
Which AI platforms do you optimize for?
ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Microsoft Copilot.
What is an AI visibility audit?
A one- to two-week benchmark of how AI assistants answer your buyers’ questions. We build your prompt universe, test it across the major platforms, measure competitor share of voice, review technical crawlability, and hand you a prioritized roadmap.
Does schema markup help with AEO?
Yes. Organization, Service, FAQ, Article and Breadcrumb schema, together with consistent entity data across your site and listings, help AI engines understand exactly who you are and what you offer. Schema supports AEO; it doesn’t replace answer-first content or off-site authority.
What is llms.txt, and do I need one?
llms.txt is a plain-text file at the root of your site that points AI tools to your most important pages in a clean, readable format. It’s quick to add and we include it in technical AEO, but it works alongside crawler access, server-rendered content and strong pages rather than on its own.
How do I choose an AEO agency?
Look for an agency that shows you the prompt data behind its recommendations, avoids guaranteed rankings, runs SEO and AEO together, and can connect AI visibility to pipeline in your CRM. Experience in your industry matters too, because AI engines categorize vendors by vertical.
Is AEO worth it for manufacturers and industrial B2B companies?
Yes, and the timing helps. Most manufacturers, distributors and equipment dealers haven’t started, so early movers in a vertical can become the default answer when buyers ask AI for a shortlist.
Can you set up AEO tracking in HubSpot?
Yes. As a HubSpot Diamond Partner, we set up HubSpot to capture AI-referred sessions from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude, tag them as a distinct source, and report them alongside paid, organic and outbound. We do the same in Salesforce.
How do we get started?
Most clients start with an AI visibility audit. In a 30-minute call we’ll run your most important buyer questions through ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, show you who gets recommended instead, and outline what it would take to change that.