In plain terms
People used to type keywords; now they ask full questions and expect one answer back. AEO is the craft of being that answer: stating the question the way people ask it, answering it in the first sentence, and making the page easy for a machine to lift a clean passage from.
Why it matters
When a system gives one answer, second place is worth much less than it was on a page of ten links. For questions where your expertise should be the reference, such as definitions, how-tos and comparisons, AEO decides whether your wording or a competitor's reaches the customer.
Example
A payroll provider rewrites its help articles. Each now opens with the question as a heading, a two-sentence direct answer, then the detail. Within a quarter its answers begin to appear word for word in voice-assistant replies and AI summaries for questions about payroll deadlines.
Most often confused with
AEO vs. GEO
AEO is the older and narrower term: it grew out of featured snippets and voice search, and focuses on question-and-answer formatting. GEO is broader and covers how generative models choose, cite and characterise sources, including reputation off your own site. In practice the two overlap heavily and many teams use the terms interchangeably.
Under the hood
Core techniques: question-form headings matched to real queries, a concise answer directly below (roughly 40 to 60 words), then supporting depth; lists and tables for steps and comparisons; FAQ and how-to structured data; one clear answer per page section; visible authorship and dates. Sources for the questions: search-console queries, “people also ask” boxes, support tickets and sales calls. Limits: an answer shown without a click yields no visit, so the value has to be counted as visibility and trust, and it is harder to attribute.