## Introduction to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the process of optimizing your content to appear in rich snippets, featured snippets, and other answer-based formats on search engine results pages (SERPs). It's about providing direct answers to users' questions. ## Core Components of AEO ### 1. Structured Data Markup Implementing schema markup (like `FAQPage`, `HowTo`, and `Article` schema) helps search engines understand the content and context of your page. ### 2. Content for Featured Snippets Create content that directly answers common questions in your niche. Use clear headings, lists, and tables to make it easy for search engines to pull your content into a featured snippet. ### 3. Voice Search Optimization Optimize for conversational, long-tail keywords that match how people ask questions when using voice search. ## Advanced AEO Strategies * **Leverage AI for Topic Clusters**: Use AI tools to identify related topics and subtopics to create comprehensive content clusters. * **Optimize for "People Also Ask"**: Analyze the "People Also Ask" boxes on Google to find more question-based keywords to target. * **Create a Knowledge Graph**: Build out your own internal knowledge graph to connect entities and topics on your website.