An AEO audit is a structured check of whether AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews mention, cite and recommend your brand when your buyers ask questions, and what is stopping them if they don't.
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It's the AI-answer version of an SEO audit. Instead of only asking "where do we rank?", you ask "when someone asks an AI who to hire or what to buy, do we show up, and why or why not?"
If you'd rather have someone walk through this with you, get a free SEO strategy session. Julian's team will look at where you stand in Google and AI answers and map out a plan with you on the call.
Below is the full 8-part framework I use, a table you can audit against, and how to decide between doing it yourself or getting help. If you want to learn AEO with others working on the same thing, the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo) is where I teach it.
What an AEO Audit Actually Checks
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation. It's about getting your brand cited and recommended inside AI answers. GEO, generative engine optimisation, is the same goal under a different name. The term comes from a 2023 research paper on optimising for generative search engines. People use the two interchangeably. If you want the full breakdown of how this fits with classic search, read AEO vs SEO.
Here's the thing most people miss. Classic SEO still sits underneath all of this. AI engines pull from pages that are indexable, trusted and clearly written. So a good AEO audit doesn't replace your SEO work. It adds a layer on top that looks at what the AI layer is actually doing with your brand.
Most businesses I talk to have never checked. They assume that because they rank in Google, they're in ChatGPT too. Sometimes they are. Often a competitor with weaker rankings gets named instead, because that competitor shows up on the sources the AI trusts.
The 8-Part AEO Audit Framework
Work through these in order. Each one builds on the last.
1. Prompts
Start with the questions your buyers actually ask. Not keywords. Prompts. "Who's the best accountant for small businesses in Leeds?" "What's a good alternative to X?" "How do I fix Y?"
List 20 to 30 of them. Mix in "best X" prompts, comparison prompts, problem prompts and brand prompts. This list is the backbone of the whole audit. If you get the prompts wrong, everything after it measures the wrong thing.
2. AI Mentions
Run every prompt in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode). Write down who gets mentioned. Are you named? Are you recommended, or just listed? Which competitors keep coming up?
Record it in a spreadsheet: prompt, engine, brands mentioned, your position. That gives you a mention rate you can track.
3. Cited Sources
This is where the real insight is. Engines like Perplexity and Google's AI features show the URLs they pulled from. Write those down. You'll start to see patterns: the same review sites, the same directories, the same "best of" lists, the same forums.
Then ask: are we on those pages? If the AI keeps citing a list of the top agencies in your niche and you're not on it, that's a gap you can actually fix.
4. Entity and Brand Signals
AI engines need to understand who you are. Check that your business name is consistent everywhere. Check you have a proper about page, real author bios with credentials, and clear statements of what you do and who you serve.
If your brand looks like three different companies across your site, social profiles and directories, the engines have a harder time connecting the dots.
5. Answer-Ready Content
Look at your key pages. Does the first sentence answer the question directly? Do you have FAQs that match real prompts? Are comparisons laid out in tables? Are paragraphs short and clear?
AI answers lift clean, direct statements. A page that buries the answer under three paragraphs of intro is harder to quote.
6. Schema
Check your structured data. Organization schema on your homepage, Article schema on posts, FAQ schema where you have FAQs. Run your pages through Google's Rich Results Test and fix errors. Schema won't get you cited on its own, but it helps engines read your pages accurately.
Halfway through and seeing gaps already? Book a free SEO strategy session and we'll look at your AI visibility with you.
7. Technical Access
Can the engines actually reach your content? Check that key pages are indexable. Check robots.txt to make sure you're not blocking crawlers you want. Check page speed and that your HTML is clean enough that the main content isn't hidden behind scripts or pop-ups.
This is the boring part. It's also where some brands find the whole problem in five minutes.
8. Off-Site Mentions and Links
Finally, look beyond your own site. Who's talking about you? Are you on the review platforms, third-party lists, forums and publications that AI engines pull from? Do you have quality links from relevant sites?
This is where link building and digital PR meet AEO. If you want to go deeper on the link side, grab my free link building book.
AEO Audit Table
Use this as your checklist. Go row by row and mark each area green, amber or red.
| Area | What to check | Good sign | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prompts | 20-30 real buyer prompts listed | Mix of best-of, comparison, problem and brand prompts | Only a handful of generic keywords |
| AI mentions | Who gets named across 4 engines | You're named and recommended on core prompts | Competitors named, you're missing |
| Cited sources | URLs the engines pull from | You appear on the sites they cite | Same lists cited every time, none include you |
| Entity signals | Name, about page, author bios | Consistent everywhere, real credentials shown | Different names or no clear about page |
| Answer-ready content | First sentences, FAQs, tables | Direct answers up top, FAQs match prompts | Long intros, answer buried |
| Schema | Organization, Article, FAQ | Valid in Rich Results Test | Missing or throwing errors |
| Technical access | Indexing, robots.txt, speed | Key pages indexed, crawlers allowed | Important pages blocked or not indexed |
| Off-site mentions | Reviews, lists, links, forums | Present on trusted third-party sources | Little or no presence off your own site |
If you want a faster way to write the prompts and fix the content, my 200+ AI SEO Prompts pack covers a lot of it.
DIY vs Expert AEO Audit
You can absolutely do a basic audit yourself. If you want the step-by-step version, I've written up a free AEO audit you can run in about 30 minutes.
DIY makes sense when:
- You're a small business with a handful of core services
- You have a few hours a month to run prompts and log results
- Your main question is "are we showing up at all?"
Getting an expert involved makes sense when:
- You're in a competitive niche and the same competitors keep getting named
- You've found gaps but don't know which to fix first
- You need a plan for getting onto the sources AI cites, which usually means outreach and link building
- You don't have time to track it every month
The audit itself isn't the hard part. Knowing what to do next is. That's why I'd rather get on a call and talk through it than send someone a document they'll never open. Book your free strategy session and we'll go through your AI visibility together.
If you're comparing outside help, I've also put together a guide to the best AEO agency options.
How Often Should You Run an AEO Audit?
Run the full 8-part audit once to get a baseline. Then repeat the prompt testing monthly. AI answers shift as engines update and as new content gets published, so a single snapshot goes stale quickly.
A simple rhythm that works:
- Monthly: rerun your prompt list across the four engines and update the spreadsheet
- Quarterly: recheck cited sources, schema and technical access
- After big changes: rerun everything after a site migration, rebrand or major content push
I use AI agents to handle a lot of the repetitive prompt testing now. If you want to see how that setup works, check the Agent OS guide. And if you're wondering which AI models do best at this kind of research work, I compare them in Goldie Bench.
I've been doing SEO for over 10 years, run Goldie Agency, and teach AI SEO and AEO daily to 430K+ YouTube subscribers. The brands that win in AI answers are the ones that check regularly and fix the boring stuff. Get a free SEO strategy session if you want help working out where to start.
FAQ
What is an AEO audit?
An AEO audit checks whether AI answer engines mention and cite your brand for the questions your buyers ask, and finds the gaps in your content, schema, technical setup and off-site presence that stop them.
Is an AEO audit different from an SEO audit?
Yes, but they overlap. An SEO audit focuses on rankings and site health. An AEO audit adds prompt testing, AI mention tracking and cited-source analysis on top of that SEO foundation.
Which AI engines should an AEO audit cover?
At minimum ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. Add Claude and Copilot if your audience uses them.
Can I get help with my AEO audit for free?
Yes. Book your free strategy session, or book a free SEO strategy session here. It's a call where Julian's team looks at your AI visibility with you and maps out a plan. You can also join the AI Profit Boardroom ($69/mo) to learn the process step by step.
