Answer engine optimization for small businesses
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is making sure that when someone asks an AI assistant about your business, or about the kind of work you do, the answer is accurate. We start by asking ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers ask, and reading what comes back.
What an answer engine is
An answer engine gives one answer instead of ten links. Voice assistants did it first, reading out a single result. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity do it now at length, and they name businesses when people ask who to call, who's open on Sunday, or whether a company does a particular job.
Most AEO work is unglamorous. The assistant says something about you, it got that from somewhere, and if it's wrong, that somewhere is what needs fixing.
In one year, consumer use of AI for local-business recommendations jumped 7.5× — from 6% to 45%.
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2026 — 1,002 U.S. adults.
How we do it
- We write down your facts: hours, services, the towns you cover, and what you don't do. Each one notes where it came from.
- We ask the questions your customers ask, worded the same way every time, so this month's answer can be compared with last month's.
- We keep every answer as it was written, with the pages it cited.
- We check each thing an assistant says against your facts. It matches, it contradicts them, or it's something your facts don't cover. "Can't tell" is never counted as wrong.
- A wrong answer gets traced to its source and corrected there, whether that's your website, your Google listing or a directory with old details. Then we ask again. It only counts as fixed when a later answer stops getting it wrong.
What we won't sell you
An AI visibility score. A guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend you. A number of citations by a date. Nobody controls what these assistants say.
Questions
What does AEO stand for?
Answer engine optimization. It covers AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, and the older voice assistants that read out a single answer.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO is about where your pages rank in a list of results. AEO is about what an assistant says when it answers directly. They share a lot: a clear website and an accurate Google listing are much of what assistants read.
AEO vs GEO vs SEOWhich AI assistants do you check?
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. We don't monitor Google's AI Overviews.
How much do AEO services cost?
We don't publish a price. We look at your business first, and you get a price before you agree to anything.
Can I see what AI says about my business first?
Yes. Check My Business includes what ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity say, and a person at Lehvel reviews the findings before they're sent. No credit card required.
Check My BusinessWant to discuss answer engine optimization?
Book a time with Lehvel and we’ll go through what your business actually needs.