How to appear in ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity

In May 2025, ChatGPT introduced source citations in answers. A year later, Google AI Overviews are standard, Perplexity has become a serious search alternative, and Claude offers web search with citations too. Visibility is shifting from 10 blue links to cited sources under an AI answer.

What is AEO?

Answer Engine Optimisation prepares your content so AI engines find, understand and cite it. The mechanics differ from classical SEO: its not (just) about rankings, its about citation-worthiness.

How AI engines pick sources

Simplified: an AI engine searches for content directly answering the users question. It prefers:

• Clear, structured answers – not buried in marketing story
• Recency – content with clear date and "2026" in title/date
• Trust signals – author info, Schema.org markup, established domain
• Fact density – concrete numbers, definitions, lists not waffle
• Originality – own data, own experiences, original insights beat rephrased Wikipedia
• Crawlability for AI bots – not just Googlebot, but GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended

Step 1: Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt

Easiest yet most overlooked. Default robots.txt often doesnt explicitly allow AI crawlers – some sites even block them.

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

User-agent: Google-Extended
Allow: /

User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

User-agent: CCBot
Allow: /

Step 2: Phrase content as answers

Classical SEO texts are narrative. AI engines look for direct answers. Two-part structure helps:

1. TL;DR block right after hero – the answer in 1–3 sentences
2. Structured main body with clear H2/H3 mirroring user questions

Step 3: Structured data – more than just Schema.org

Schema.org markup is mandatory: Article, BlogPosting, FAQPage, HowTo, LocalBusiness, Organization, Product. 2026 also relevant:

• FAQPage markup for any page with FAQs
• HowTo schema for step-by-step guides
• Author schema with linked About page and sameAs profiles
• Speakable schema for audio/voice-capable content

Step 4: llms.txt as new standard

Analogous to robots.txt, the proposed llms.txt standard provides a curated overview of your most important content for AI crawlers. Already supported by Anthropic, Mintlify and others. Example:

# Skins4You
Web design, e-commerce and online marketing agency from Graz.

## Service pages
- [Web Design Graz](https://skins4you.de/en/web-design-graz.html)
- [SEO Agency Graz](https://skins4you.de/en/seo-agency-graz.html)

## Blog
- [EAA Checklist 2026](https://skins4you.de/en/blog/eaa-checklist-2026.html)
- [Local SEO Graz Guide](https://skins4you.de/en/blog/local-seo-graz-guide.html)

Step 5: E-E-A-T consistently

• Author bios with photo, CV, LinkedIn/Xing links
• "About" page with real people, images, history
• Sources for numbers and claims
• Own data, experiences, statistics over aggregations
• Update dates ("last updated on...") on every article

Step 6: Citation-worthy formats

Some formats get cited more often:

• Comparison tables with concrete values
• Definition boxes – "X is [clear definition]."
• Listicles with clearly numbered points
• Step-by-step guides with clear actions
• FAQ blocks with concrete questions and answers

What you cant control

AI engines are black boxes. You cant guarantee appearance in a specific answer. But you can massively raise the probability by making content easier to cite than competitors.

How to test if youre found

1. List 20–30 questions your audience asks
2. Query monthly in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overview
3. Note whether your domain appears as source
4. For gaps: optimise the relevant content specifically

Tools like Otterly.ai, Profound, Bluefish AI offer first AEO tracking, still early.

Bottom line

AEO isnt SEOs death – its its extension. Anyone doing only classical SEO in 2026 loses AI visibility. Anyone doing only AEO loses classical search visibility. The right measures overlap heavily: well-structured content, clear answers, Schema.org markup, trustworthy domain. Doing this well earns AEO as a bonus.