Answer engine optimization, explained and measured
How AI assistants decide which local business to name, what you can do about it, and what we find when we measure it. Each post says when its figures were collected and which AI assistants they came from.
What is answer engine optimization?
When a customer asks an AI assistant who to hire, it names a few businesses. Answer engine optimization is the work of getting your business named among them.
Who AI assistants recommend for local services
We asked three AI assistants who to hire in ten industries in Dallas, Nashville and Boise: who they named, how often that changed, and what they cited.
How to get listed where AI assistants look
How to get onto the directories, review sites and roundups AI assistants cite, and what to publish on your own site.
How AI assistants choose which business to recommend
What AI assistants read before they name a local business, why the answer changes each time you ask and from city to city, and what you can do about it.
Ways to measure AI visibility, and what each one misses
Asking once, asking nationally, folding every AI assistant into one score: each way of measuring AI visibility answers a different question.