AEO Beginner's Guide: How to Get Your Brand Cited by AI Engines

What is AEO?

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring your content, schema markup, and brand presence so that AI engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and others — cite your brand when answering questions from your target buyers.

Where SEO is about ranking #1 on Google, AEO is about being the recommended answer when a buyer asks an AI assistant which product, service, or brand to use.

Why AEO Matters in 2026

The buyer journey has fundamentally changed:

• ▸43% of B2B buyers now use AI to research software before visiting a vendor website
• ▸0% MentionShare is the reality for most B2B brands today — they simply do not appear in AI answers
• ▸AI engines like Perplexity are growing faster than any search engine in history
• ▸Brands with high MentionShare scores are winning deals before competitors even get a meeting

If your brand is not in the AI answer, you are not in the buyer's consideration set.

How AI Engines Decide What to Cite

AI engines use several signals to decide which brands to recommend:

1. 1.Structured content — FAQ blocks, schema markup, and direct answers that AI can extract and quote
2. 2.Third-party authority — reviews on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot that validate your credibility
3. 3.Topical authority — depth of content coverage on your category topic
4. 4.Citation worthiness — content that is factual, specific, and free of promotional language
5. 5.Real-time web presence — for engines like Perplexity that use live web search

Step 1: Measure Your Current AI Visibility

Before you can improve your AEO, you need to know where you stand. Run an AI visibility audit with TrueCite:

1. 1.Sign up for a [free TrueCite trial](/sign-up)
2. 2.Enter your brand name and website
3. 3.Select buyer-intent prompts in your category
4. 4.Run scans across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini
5. 5.Review your MentionShare score and see exactly where you appear — and where you don't

Step 2: Identify Your Target Prompts

Target prompts are the questions your buyers are asking AI engines. Examples:

• ▸"What is the best [category] tool for [use case]?"
• ▸"Which [category] platform is best for [company type]?"
• ▸"How do I [solve problem] with [category] software?"

Build a list of 10-20 buyer-intent prompts specific to your category. These become your AEO keyword targets.

Step 3: Audit Your Content Gaps

Compare your current content against your target prompts. For each prompt where you are not being cited, ask:

• ▸Do we have a page that directly answers this question?
• ▸Do we have FAQPage JSON-LD schema on that page?
• ▸Are we cited on G2, Capterra, or other high-authority platforms for this use case?

Step 4: Create FAQ Blocks

FAQ blocks are the core of AEO content. Each FAQ block should:

• ▸Target one specific buyer-intent prompt
• ▸Answer the question directly in the first sentence
• ▸Be 75-150 words per answer
• ▸Use factual, specific language (not promotional)
• ▸Include FAQPage JSON-LD schema markup

TrueCite's [Fix Generator](/features/fix-generator) creates optimized FAQ blocks automatically based on your missed AI prompts.

Step 5: Add JSON-LD Schema Markup

Schema markup tells AI engines what your content is about and who you are. Add these schema types to your website:

• ▸Organization — on your homepage
• ▸SoftwareApplication — on your product pages
• ▸FAQPage — on every page with Q&A content
• ▸BreadcrumbList — on every page

Use TrueCite's [Schema Audit](/dashboard/schema) to check your current schema coverage and identify gaps.

Step 6: Build Third-Party Citations

AI engines heavily weight third-party sources. Priority platforms for B2B SaaS:

1. 1.G2 — highest weight for software recommendations
2. 2.Capterra — strong signal for business software
3. 3.Trustpilot — general trust signal
4. 4.Product Hunt — tech community authority
5. 5.Industry publications — TechCrunch, Forbes, category blogs

Step 7: Track Your MentionShare

MentionShare is the metric that tells you if your AEO efforts are working. It measures how often your brand appears in AI answers across all your target prompts and all AI engines.

Track it monthly with TrueCite to:

• ▸See your trend over time
• ▸Identify which content changes drove improvements
• ▸Catch any drops before they affect pipeline
• ▸Benchmark against competitors

The AEO Beginner's Checklist

• ▸✅ Run AI visibility audit with TrueCite
• ▸✅ Build list of 10-20 buyer-intent prompts
• ▸✅ Publish FAQ blocks for top missed prompts
• ▸✅ Add FAQPage JSON-LD schema
• ▸✅ Add Organization + SoftwareApplication schema
• ▸✅ Create or claim G2 listing
• ▸✅ Collect 10+ reviews on G2 and Capterra
• ▸✅ Publish 5+ in-depth articles on your core topic
• ▸✅ Set up monthly MentionShare tracking

[Start your free AEO audit with TrueCite →](/sign-up)