TL;DR
--- AI is like a know-it-all friend who answers whatever it's asked; your goal is to get onto its shortlist.
--- Content has to be readable, answerable and citable to AI. Those three things are the core of AEO.
--- Eight concrete moves: question-style headings with the answer up front, FAQ schema, listed facts with hard numbers, author and sources, topic clusters with internal links, brand mentions elsewhere, solid technical foundations, and regular measurement.
--- To see if it's working, measure your citation rate in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity with an AI visibility check, then fix what's missing.
--- This is the first article in the AEO sub-series; more to come on GEO, schema in practice and industry case studies.
In the last article we said today's customers don't always open Google; they just ask ChatGPT or Gemini, "Which company in Hong Kong is good for this?" That AI is like a know-it-all friend who answers whatever it's asked, and it only recommends the shops it remembers and trusts. Article 5 explained what AEO is; this one is about how to actually do it, so that know-it-all puts you on its shortlist. Every item on the checklist below is something you can start on today.
1. How do you actually do AEO? Start with three cores
For the know-it-all to recommend you, it first has to understand what you do, then be able to pull a clean answer out of your content, and finally trust you enough to cite you. Every AEO tactic really comes back to those three things: readable (clear structure), answerable (explicit facts) and citable (authority and trust). You're not writing a keyword pile for search rankings; you're helping AI turn "you" into an answer it's confident enough to say out loud. Keep that in mind and the eight moves below fall into place.
2. What are the eight concrete moves?
1. Question-style headings, with a short, direct answer up front. AI most easily extracts a clean question-and-answer structure. Use the questions your customers actually ask as headings, give the answer in the first sentence, then expand.
2. Add FAQ structured data (FAQPage schema). Structured data restates your key points in a format machines can read. Turn your common questions into FAQPage schema on the page so AI and search engines can cite you accurately.
3. List your facts and use hard numbers. The more specific the fact, the less AI has to guess. Spell out your service scope, area, price range and opening hours as lists and concrete numbers; don't let vague phrases like "years of experience" stand in for real figures.
4. Show the author, update date and credible sources. These are E-E-A-T trust signals that tell AI the page is owned, current and grounded. Attribute your articles, mark the update date clearly, and back key claims with reliable sources.
5. Build topic clusters and link them internally. Cover one topic deeply and fully and AI starts treating you as an authority on it. Write several related articles around one theme and tie them together with internal links to form a cluster.
6. Get mentioned elsewhere too. AI cross-references multiple sources, so your own site isn't enough. Build your brand presence on local directories, media coverage, social and industry platforms so other sites mention you.
7. Lay solid technical foundations so AI crawlers can read you. Great content is wasted if crawlers can't reach it. Make sure robots.txt doesn't block AI crawlers, add an llms.txt, and get your load speed and HTTPS in order so AI can crawl you cleanly.
8. Measure and update regularly. AI's answers keep shifting as new content appears, so this isn't a one-and-done job. Check your citation status periodically, keep content fresh and add new questions to stay in the answers long term.
3. How to know if it's working: an AI visibility check
Once you've done the eight moves, how do you know AI actually put you on the list? Rather than testing prompts one by one yourself, measure it directly. UD's AEO Auditor is built for exactly this: enter a URL and get your AI visibility score in 30 seconds, see whether you (and your rivals) are cited across ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and get a list of gaps to close. Measure the baseline first, then work down this checklist item by item, far more effective than guessing.
💡 Measure your AI visibility first. Use UD's free AI visibility check (AEO Auditor) to get your score and to-do list in 30 seconds, then work down this checklist.
About UD
UD has been rooted in Hong Kong since 1998. We are an HKIRC-accredited .hk domain registrar and, since 2012, a public cloud service provider accredited by the Hong Kong Government (OGCIO), serving over 20,000 corporate and institutional customers. From domains, web hosting and business email to AI-era website visibility, it's all on one platform.
FAQ
Q: How long does AEO take to show results?
Faster than traditional SEO, but not instant. After you fix your structure and schema, AI engines usually take a few weeks to a couple of months to re-crawl and update their answers. Sites that keep publishing see results sooner and hold them more steadily.
Q: Can I do AEO without a blog?
Yes. Even with just service pages and an FAQ page, clear answers, structured data and explicit facts are enough to get cited. A blog helps you cover more questions, but it isn't a requirement.
Q: Do I need to know how to code to do AEO?
Mostly no. Question-style headings, listed facts, and showing your author and sources are all writing tasks. Only the technical foundations like structured data and llms.txt need a little help. Hand those to your provider or generate them with a tool.
Q: Do AEO and SEO conflict?
No, they complement each other. Clear structure, explicit facts and credible sources all help your Google ranking too. AEO is an extra layer built on solid SEO; do both together for the best result.
Q: Is AEO a one-time job?
No. AI's answers keep updating as new information appears, and your rivals keep adding content. You need to measure your citations and keep updating to stay on AI's shortlist long term.
This is the first article in the AEO sub-series. More topics are coming: how GEO differs from AEO, how to implement structured data, and AEO case studies by industry. Nail this checklist and it becomes the foundation for every article that follows.
