Not for the foundations. Google’s own documentation says optimising for AI answers is still SEO, with no extra technical requirements and no special markup. What can be worth paying for is the extra work AI answers reward: content that answers questions directly, and a business that is talked about consistently across the web. Be wary of paying twice for the same groundwork, and warier still of paying for gimmicks Google says do nothing.
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation: making your business the answer AI tools give. It has become the newest line on agency quotes, sometimes as a separate monthly fee next to SEO. Before agreeing to it, it is worth knowing what Google says, because Google is unusually clear on this one. Classic search engine optimisation already covers most of the groundwork; the question is what AI-powered search genuinely adds.
Google’s guidance for site owners states that the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI features in search results, and that there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimisations necessary. 1
In 2026 Google went further, publishing a guide to optimising for generative AI features that addresses the terminology directly. It defines AEO (answer engine optimisation) and GEO (generative engine optimisation), then says that, from Google Search’s perspective, optimising for generative AI search is optimising for the search experience, and is therefore still SEO. 2 As Search Engine Journal’s coverage put it, Google calls AEO and GEO “still SEO”. 3
The same guide has a mythbusting section naming tactics it says you can ignore for Google Search. You do not need an llms.txt file or other special AI markup: Google ignores them. You do not need to break content into tiny chunks for AI systems. You do not need to rewrite your content in a special way for AI, because the systems understand synonyms and general meaning. 2
No, and this is where an honest answer matters more than a comfortable one. The foundations genuinely are the same job: a technically healthy site, helpful content, and a business Google can trust. But AI answers shift the emphasis in places. Being cited as the answer rewards content that answers real customer questions directly, in plain language, on pages that are easy to quote. It rewards a business whose name, services and reputation are consistent across its website, its Google Business Profile, reviews and the wider web, because AI tools assemble answers from what the whole web says about you, not only from your own pages.
That work is real. Our guide to getting your business recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT covers what it involves in practice. 4 The label is not the issue. The question is what the quote actually buys.
If an agency proposes AEO work, ask what it includes beyond sound SEO. A good answer names concrete work. A bad answer names files and jargon. The same direct, quotable answers that help with AI Overviews have fed featured snippets for years; the craft is not new.
| Worth paying for | Safe to question |
|---|---|
| Content that answers the real questions your customers ask, written so it can be quoted directly | Creating an llms.txt file or other “AI-readable” files; Google Search ignores them 2 |
| Consistent business details and services across your site, Google Business Profile, reviews and directories | “Chunking” your content into tiny pieces; Google says there is no requirement for it 2 |
| Earning genuine mentions and reviews around the web, because AI tools draw on what others say about you | Rewriting every page “for AI” or chasing special AI schema markup sold as a requirement |
| A technical audit of the site, and checking what AI tools currently say about your business while measuring change over time | Guaranteed placement in ChatGPT or AI Overview answers; nobody can promise that honestly |
Mostly, it is the same budget doing the same job. Technical health, helpful content and authority are the bulk of both. If your current SEO work already covers question-focused content, a well-maintained Google Business Profile and steady reviews, you are already doing most of what AI answers reward. If someone then quotes a separate AEO fee for those same foundations, you are being asked to pay twice.
The fair test is one question: what does this add beyond my existing SEO work? If the answer is concrete, extra work, judge it on its merits the way you would any quote. If the answer is the same work with a new acronym, you have your answer. And if you are weighing up the underlying SEO spend itself, our article on whether SEO is still worth paying for now Google shows AI Overviews covers that side of the decision. 5
Ask the AI assistants your customers use – ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode – the questions they actually ask: the services you sell, in the places you serve. Note whether your business is mentioned, whose is, and which sources the answers lean on. Then read your own key pages and your Google Business Profile, and ask whether each answers its question plainly enough to be quoted. That costs nothing and tells you more than any sales pitch.
Largely, yes. Google’s published guidance says optimising for AI answers carries no additional requirements beyond good SEO, and describes AEO and GEO as “still SEO”. The emphasis shifts towards directly answering real questions and being consistently represented across the web, but the foundations are the same job.
No. Google’s guidance says it ignores llms.txt files and similar special markup for search, including its AI features. Creating one neither helps nor harms your visibility in Google Search. 2
No. Nobody controls what ChatGPT, Gemini or Google’s AI features say on a given day, and honest practitioners do not claim to. What can be improved is the material those tools draw on: clear answers on your own site and a consistent, well-reviewed presence elsewhere.
There is no honest fixed figure, because the legitimate work overlaps with SEO you may already fund. Treat a separate AEO fee like any quote: ask what it buys that you are not already getting, and compare that concrete work against the price. Paying a second monthly fee for relabelled foundations is the outcome to avoid.
It is the practice of making your business the one AI tools cite when people ask them questions. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI for a recommendation or an answer in your field, AEO describes the work of making your business the answer they give. The useful parts of it are good SEO habits applied to a new way people search.
[1] Google Search Central, “AI features and your website” (2025, checked 20 October 2026). https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
[2] Google Search Central, “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search” (2026, checked 20 October 2026). https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
[3] Search Engine Journal, “Google’s New AI Search Guide Calls AEO And GEO ‘Still SEO'” (15 May 2026). https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-new-ai-search-guide-calls-aeo-and-geo-still-seo/575026/
[4] Bamsh Knowledge Centre, “How do I get my business recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT?” https://bamsh.co.uk/how-do-i-get-my-business-recommended-by-ai-tools-like-chatgpt/
[5] Bamsh Knowledge Centre, “Is SEO still worth paying for now Google shows AI Overviews?” https://bamsh.co.uk/is-seo-still-worth-paying-for-now-google-shows-ai-overviews/
