A proven, repeatable framework that transforms how AI assistants see your business. Each layer builds on the previous one to make you the recommendation.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of making your business the answer when people ask AI assistants for recommendations. The 7-layer system covers answer intent mapping, answer hub creation, brand facts pages, machine-readable data, schema markup, third-party citation building, and AI shopping optimization. Together, these layers make AI assistants discover, verify, and confidently recommend your business. Businesses implementing the full system typically go from 0-5 AI recommendations to 35-45 out of 50 within 90 days.
People are shifting from searching to asking. ChatGPT alone has over 5 billion monthly visits. Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot are growing fast. These AI assistants do not show ten blue links. They give one recommendation. Maybe three. If your brand is not the answer, your competitor is.
AI-referred customers convert at 4.4x the rate of Google organic traffic because they arrive pre-sold. The AI already did the comparison shopping for them. Less than 1% of businesses are currently optimizing for AI recommendations. The window to establish dominance in your category is open right now.
Each layer addresses a specific way that AI assistants discover, verify, and recommend businesses. They work together as a system, not in isolation.
Audit 50+ real questions people ask AI about your category. Map who gets recommended, what sources AI cites, and where your gaps are. This is your competitive intelligence baseline.
Build a dedicated page on your site designed specifically for AI to find, understand, and cite. This single page drives 60%+ of all AI recommendations for a brand.
A clean, Wikipedia-style page with every verifiable fact about your business. AI needs to verify facts before recommending you. This makes verification effortless.
A structured JSON file at a standard URL that AI agents can read directly. Clean, structured, trustworthy data served on a silver platter. No scraping needed.
Structured data that tells AI exactly what your content means. Organization, FAQPage, Product with GTINs, AggregateRating. This also gets you into ChatGPT Shopping results.
Get your brand mentioned on review sites, comparison pages, Wikidata, Reddit, and Quora. AI trusts external validation. This is what separates occasional mentions from consistent recommendations.
Optimize product identifiers, titles, images, and reviews for ChatGPT Shopping and Gemini Shopping. Products appear with star ratings and pricing in AI shopping results.
The 7-layer system is designed so each layer amplifies the others. No single layer works as well in isolation.
| Layer | What It Does | What It Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Answer Intent Mapping | Identifies the right queries to target | Informs content for Layers 2-7 |
| 2. Answer Hub | Creates the primary citable page | Gets cited by AI, feeds Layer 6 |
| 3. Brand Facts | Provides verification data | Supports all AI fact-checking |
| 4. Machine-Readable Data | Direct data feed for AI agents | Supplements Layers 2, 3, and 5 |
| 5. Schema Markup | Tells AI what your content means | Powers Layers 2, 3, and 7 |
| 6. Third-Party Citations | External validation | Reinforces Layers 2 and 3 |
| 7. AI Shopping | Product-level discovery | Converts Layers 1-6 into revenue |
We implement the full 7-layer system through a structured 5-step process. Most businesses start seeing AI recommendations within 60-90 days.
Layer 1: Test 20+ queries across AI platforms
Gap analysis and prioritized roadmap
Layers 2-5: Answer Hub, Brand Facts, Data, Schema
Layer 6: Third-party mentions and reviews
Layer 7 + ongoing monitoring and updates
Get a free audit showing exactly where you stand in AI recommendations today.
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