SEO got you seen. GEO gets you recommended. AEO makes you the answer.

This guide explains how brands earn trust in AI-driven search — not by gaming rankings, but by becoming the source large language models choose to cite.

You’ll learn how AI systems evaluate authority, clarity, and credibility, and how to create content that earns confidence from tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.

Read the guide

What’s Inside

  1. How AI systems evaluate authority, consistency, and credibility — and why “well-optimized” content is increasingly ignored.

  2. How to structure and express expertise so it’s human-clear and machine-readable, without flattening your point of view.

  3. A practical framework to audit your content and see exactly why your brand isn’t being cited, trusted, or remembered.

AI systems don’t evaluate content randomly. They rely on a small set of consistent signals to decide which sources to recommend — and which single source to trust. This guide breaks those signals into four pillars.

Consistency

Do you sound like the same brand everywhere? AI cross-checks your voice across channels. Mixed messages kill citations. To stay consistent:

→Standardize your voice — website, social, email, video

→Make sure core messaging aligns everywhere

→Audit quarterly (voice drift happens fast)

Authority

Are you the expert worth quoting? AI looks for credible voices, not keyword spam. To build authority:

→Publish original research with quotable stats

→Feature experts with real credentials

→Turn insights into memorable soundbites

Humanity

Do you sound like a person or a press release? AI echoes your tone. Stiff content = stiff citations. To sound human:

→Write like you talk in meetings

→Use specific stories, not abstract concepts

→Let your personality show

Machine Signals

Can AI actually read your content? Brilliant ideas get ignored if engines can’t parse them. To be readable:

→Use clear headings that answer real questions

→Add schema markup and front-load key points

→Break dense text into scannable sections

  • "I love the way you’ve laid out in the white paper - SEO, GEO and AEO. It’s excellent, especially for people who are not experts and can simply get out high-level understanding of what each of these actually are and what it does and why it’s important. "

    —Chairman, Advisory Board, Parched Hospitality Group

  • "I shared this with [my boss] and he asked me to share with the broader team, including group manager, director, etc. I especially love the 4 things on page 13 and the checklist on page 14."

    — Demand Gen & Content Marketing Manager, Epson America

  • "This body of work perfectly captures why Program 11 is such an exceptional partner to brands—and exactly the kind of strategic thinking that sets you apart."

    —CEO, Grit & Glory

  • "This is really really wonderful…. This provocation: "How do we get quoted?” - is SUCH important advice these days."

    –Robert Rose, Chief Troublemaker, Seventh Bear