What is AEO, and how is it different from SEO?
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of making your content easy for AI systems to find, understand and quote in a generated answer. GEO, generative engine optimization, is the same idea aimed at LLM-powered tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, and most people use the terms interchangeably.
SEO earns a blue link someone may click; AEO earns a mention inside the answer itself, which is often all the user reads. The two overlap heavily: AI engines still retrieve pages from search indexes, so weak technical SEO limits AEO. That is why Devmenta runs AEO on top of its SEO services. For the background, read what is AEO.
What does Devmenta actually implement?
Devmenta implements eight concrete changes, each aimed at a specific way AI engines discover sources and decide which ones to trust.
- JSON-LD entity schema: Organization, LocalBusiness, Person, Service and Product markup, with sameAs links that tie your site to your profiles elsewhere.
- FAQPage markup: real buyer questions with short, self-contained answers, marked up so machines can parse each question and answer.
- Answer-first content: key sections open with a one- or two-sentence answer that still makes sense when quoted on its own.
- llms.txt: a plain-text summary of your most important pages and facts, placed at the root of your domain.
- AI crawler access: robots.txt reviewed so OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and similar crawlers are not blocked by accident.
- Bing and IndexNow: Bing Webmaster Tools verification and IndexNow pings, because ChatGPT search relies heavily on Bing's index.
- Entity consistency: the same name, description, address, founder and contact details on your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories.
- Third-party citations: finding the reviews, lists, directories and publications AI engines already cite in your niche, and working to get your brand mentioned there.
How do you rank in ChatGPT and get cited in Google AI Overviews?
You cannot buy or force a citation, but you can raise the odds: be indexed where each engine looks, state facts clearly, and be mentioned by sources the engine already trusts. Each engine retrieves differently, so Devmenta tunes for each one.
- Google AI Overviews and Gemini: built on Google's own index, so technical SEO, helpful content and structured data matter most. Blocking Google-Extended does not remove you from AI Overviews.
- ChatGPT search: leans on Bing's index plus OpenAI's own crawler, so Bing Webmaster Tools, IndexNow and allowing OAI-SearchBot matter.
- Perplexity: crawls with PerplexityBot and tends to favor fresh, clearly sourced pages, so dated content and specific facts help.
- Microsoft Copilot: built on Bing, so the same Bing work carries over.
Does llms.txt help with AI search?
llms.txt is a proposed standard, not a ranking factor, and no major AI engine has confirmed using it to choose citations. Devmenta adds one because it is quick, harmless and gives any AI agent that does read it an accurate summary of your business.
The bigger wins are still structured data, crawlability and clear, answer-first writing. We would rather tell you that than sell llms.txt as a magic switch.
How much do AEO services cost and how long do they take?
Devmenta quotes AEO to scope, because a 10-page service site and a large online store need very different amounts of schema and content work. Website plans start at $399 a month, the Scale plan at $1,199 a month ($6,000 yearly) includes monthly SEO reporting, and every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee with no lock-in. See pricing.
The technical layer of schema, robots.txt, llms.txt and Bing verification usually ships within the first few weeks. Citations depend on engines recrawling your pages and on third-party mentions building up, which typically takes months, not days.
How to choose an AEO agency
Ask any AEO agency to show you its own site's schema and llms.txt, and to explain how it measures AI visibility. Devmenta applies the same playbook to devmenta.com: entity schema, FAQ markup, llms.txt, open AI-crawler access and one consistent description of the business everywhere it appears.
To measure progress, Devmenta records which sources get cited for a fixed set of buyer questions in Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity, re-tests them monthly, and tracks referral traffic from AI engines in GA4. Be wary of any agency that guarantees AI citations; it cannot control them.