How to Improve Your AEO Score: A Practical Guide
Actionable steps to improve your AEO score across all four dimensions. From quick wins like adding llms.txt to advanced entity definition strategies.
Why your AEO score matters right now
AI search engines are answering more queries every month. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews pull answers from websites they can understand and trust. If your AEO score is low, these platforms skip your content entirely. The good news: unlike traditional SEO that takes months, many AEO improvements show results in weeks.
Quick wins: improvements you can make today
Start with the highest-impact, lowest-effort changes. Add an llms.txt file to your site root that describes your business, services, and how to cite you. Check your robots.txt for AI bot directives and make sure GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot are not blocked. Verify your XML sitemap is accessible and properly structured. These three changes alone can add 5-10 points to your AI Crawlability score.
Implement JSON-LD structured data
Structured data is how you speak the language of AI. Start with Organization schema on your homepage (include name, URL, logo, sameAs links, and description). Add FAQPage schema to any page with Q&A content. Implement Product or Service schemas for your offerings. Add BreadcrumbList for navigation structure. Each schema type helps AI search engines extract and cite specific types of information from your site.
Structure content for extractability
AI search engines extract answers from content that follows clear patterns. Use question-based H2 headings that match how people ask questions to AI. Put the direct answer in the first 1-2 sentences after each heading. Use a logical heading hierarchy (H1 to H2 to H3, never skip levels). Write meta descriptions that summarize the page as a complete, citable statement. Add depth through supporting details after the direct answer.
Define your entities clearly
Entity definition is about making sure AI knows who you are. Your business name should be consistent across all structured data, content, and meta tags. Add Person schemas for founders, team members, and content authors. Define your services and products as distinct entities with clear descriptions. Consistency across your website, social profiles, and business listings reinforces entity recognition.
Monitor and iterate weekly
AEO optimization is not a one-time project. AI search engines update their models regularly, competitors improve their scores, and new citation opportunities emerge. Run your AEO score check weekly to track progress. Focus on one dimension per week for targeted improvement. The automated weekly cycle (Analyze, Recommend, Curate, Execute, Validate, Report) is how our clients sustain and compound their gains.