AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
AEO
Optimising your content so AI tools and voice assistants read your answer out loud - or straight to the top of the page.
The Tradie Take
AEO is like training your apprentice to give a straight, one-sentence answer when a customer rings and asks "how much to fix a leaking tap?" instead of launching into a 10-minute ramble about pipe fittings. The apprentice who answers clearly and fast is the one the customer remembers and quotes. AI tools work the same way - they grab the clearest, most direct answer on the page, not the longest one.
Definition
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is writing and structuring your content so "answer engines" - Google's AI Overviews, voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant, and featured snippets - can pull it out and show it as a direct answer, instead of just linking to your site. For tradies, this means when someone asks "how much does it cost to rewire a house" or "how long does a hot water system last," you want your straight answer to be the one that gets read out or shown at the top - not buried three paragraphs into a competitor's blog post.
How It Works
- 1 Answer engines scan pages looking for a clear, direct answer to a specific question
- 2 Short, well-structured answers (a clear sentence, a numbered list, a table) get pulled out and featured
- 3 Format matters as much as content - questions as headings, answers right underneath, no fluff first
- 4 Schema markup (FAQ, HowTo) helps answer engines understand exactly what's being asked and answered
Tips for Tradies
- Add an FAQ section to your service pages - answer the exact questions customers type into Google
- Put the direct answer in the first sentence, then explain the detail afterwards
- Use FAQ schema markup so AI tools can clearly see the question-and-answer pairs on your page