When a buyer asks AI which software to buy, is your product the name it recommends?
Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude for the best tool for a job — "best CRM for a small sales team", "what should I use instead of a rival" — and the engine answers with a short list of products. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the work of making your software one of those names, instead of a competitor that gives the model clearer signals.
Anmol Talwar, founder of The AEO Loop
The shortlist is written before you hear from the buyer
Software research increasingly starts with an AI assistant, not a browser tab. The products it names get the demo, the trial and the deal — and the ones it leaves out rarely learn they were ever in the running.
The shortlist starts in the chat
Before they visit your site or book a demo, buyers ask an assistant "what's the best tool for this" — and treat the products it names as a vetted shortlist worth trialling.
Miss the list, miss the pipeline
In SaaS the whole funnel hangs on being considered. If the model names competitors and not you, you lose the deal before the demo — no form fill, no trial, no chance to win it back.
Great software, invisible to the model
Engines recommend the products that give them clear, extractable signals — structured pages on your use cases and integrations, plus citations in the review sites and comparisons AI trusts. Without those, a strong product simply goes unnamed.
Ranking gets you found. AEO gets you recommended.
Ranking on Google gets your page found. AEO gets your product recommended. Most of the SEO and content you already pay for is built for the first — it earns the click, but does little to make the assistant name you when a buyer asks what to use.
| SEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | Rank your website in a list of links | Be the business AI names and recommends |
| Where you show up | The Google results page | Inside a ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity answer |
| What it optimises | Keywords, backlinks, page speed | Entity clarity, extractable content, cited authority |
| How it's measured | Keyword rankings and traffic | Whether engines recommend you, by written rule |
| Winning looks like | A blue link on page one | Your name in the answer, ahead of competitors |
Being indexed by Google is not the same as being recommended by ChatGPT — most marketing only does the first.
See how a Gap Report works.
Our sample report is an actual, redacted diagnosis — a practice that scored 21/100 and was excluded from three of four engines. It's a plastic-surgery example, but the four-engine method and the 11-section report read exactly the same for SaaS & B2B.
AEO for SaaS & B2B — answered.
Why does ChatGPT recommend other software instead of ours?
Usually because those competitors give AI engines clearer signals to work with — structured, extractable content about their features, use cases and integrations, plus citations in the review sites, directories and comparison pages engines trust. When your product lacks those signals, the model confidently names a rival for "the best tool for the job" and never mentions you, even if your software is the better fit.
How is this different from the SEO and content marketing we already pay for?
SEO and content aim to rank your pages so a human clicks through. AEO aims to make AI assistants name and recommend your product inside their answer — often with no click at all. The two overlap, but ranking well doesn't guarantee the model cites you. AEO focuses on the signals engines actually read and repeat when a buyer asks what to use.
How do I find out where our product stands with AI right now?
Run our free scan. It asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude the buying-intent questions your prospects actually type — "best tool for this use case", "what to use instead of a rival" — and records whether your product is named. Within 1–2 business days you get a founder-reviewed Gap Report showing where you appear, where competitors win, and the signals to fix first.
Can AEO help when buyers ask AI what to use instead of a competitor?
Yes — "what should I use instead of a competitor" is one of the highest-intent questions in software, and the answer is a live opportunity to be named. We work to make sure your product shows up in those comparisons with clear, accurate signals about where you fit and who you serve, so the engine can offer you as a credible alternative rather than skipping straight to the incumbent.
What does the work actually involve, and how soon do things change?
It starts with the Foundation Build — structuring your site so engines can read your use cases, features and proof, and earning citations in the review sites and comparisons they trust. From there a retainer keeps the signals fresh as models and competitors move. AI answers shift as engines recrawl and reindex, so improvement is gradual — we track your named-mention rate and report on it.
How AEO works — and who else we help.
What is Answer Engine Optimization? →
The plain-English explainer of how AI answer engines decide who to name and recommend.
The AEO Loop method →
The repeatable observe, diagnose, optimize system we run on a cadence.
Every industry we serve →
See all the practice types we help get named inside AI answers.
Related industries: AEO for Home Services · AEO for Plastic Surgeons · AEO for Med Spas
See what AI says when a buyer asks for the best tool
Run the free scan and we'll ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude the questions your buyers are already asking. Within 1–2 business days you'll have a founder-reviewed Gap Report — where your product is named, where competitors win, and the fastest signals to fix. No cost, no obligation.