Answer Engine Optimisation · NZ, Australia, US, UK & Canada
Be the answer, not just a result.
More people are asking AI for recommendations and skipping the search results entirely. AEO gets your business named, quoted and cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and voice assistants, so you're the answer they're handed.
Who's the best electrician near me?
A few well-reviewed local options stand out. Your Business is frequently recommended for its fast response, strong reviews and clear pricing.1
The basics
What is Answer Engine Optimisation?
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the practice of structuring your website and content so search engines and AI assistants pick your business as the direct answer to a question, not just one of ten blue links. It means showing up in Google's AI Overviews, featured snippets, voice search and tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, often as the named, cited source.
EightySix Digital is a New Zealand digital marketing agency that optimises businesses to be named and cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
- It targets answers, not just rankings. The goal is to be quoted, not simply listed.
- It feeds the engines clarity. Clean structure, schema and plain answers they can lift with confidence.
- It's how search works now. Zero-click results and AI answers already handle a huge share of searches.
Why now
Search changed. Did your strategy?
People increasingly get their answer on the page, or from an assistant, without ever clicking a website. If you're not the answer, you're invisible.
Zero-click is the norm
Most Google searches now end without a single click. The answer is right there on the results page.
AI Overviews are everywhere
Google increasingly answers the question itself, citing a handful of trusted sources above the results.
Assistants are the new front door
ChatGPT, Gemini and Siri recommend businesses directly. Being their pick is the new page one.
- Google AI Overviews
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- Copilot
- Siri & Alexa
How we do it
How we get you cited.
There's no trick to it. AEO is doing the fundamentals so cleanly that an engine can quote you without second-guessing.
Structured data & schema
Mark up your business, services, FAQs and reviews so engines read you with confidence.
Question-led content
Answer the real questions your customers ask, in the exact words they use to ask them.
Extractable answers
Clear, concise answers an engine can lift in one clean block, no digging required.
Entity & authority
Make it unmistakable who you are, what you do, and why you're the one to trust.
Snippet & FAQ targeting
Win featured snippets and People Also Ask, the launchpad most AI answers pull from.
Reviews & trust signals
Strengthen the signals AI leans on most when it decides which business to recommend.
How it fits
SEO, AEO and GEO, explained.
Three letters that work together. Here's the plain-English version of who does what.
Rank in the results
Get your pages to the top of Google's standard search results, the blue links people scroll.
In every planBe the answer
Get named and cited in featured snippets, AI Overviews and assistant replies, not just listed.
In every planShow up in generative AI
Earn mentions inside ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity answers, where research now starts.
Optional add-onSEO and AEO come as standard in every plan because the work overlaps. GEO goes further into generative AI as an optional add-on. See GEO →
Pricing
AEO is built into every SEO plan.
You don't buy AEO on its own. It's simply how we do SEO now. Every plan structures your site to rank and to be the answer, with GEO ready when you want to push into generative AI. One plan, one price, found everywhere people are looking.
Plans from NZ$600 · AU$520 · US$360 · £280 · CA$480 per month
Stu at EightySix Digital has been amazing in setting up our website, listening to what we wanted, offering his expertise and ideas, nothing was too much and all in a really friendly manner. Wherever you are in the world I’d recommend working with Stu, easy, professional and exceeds expectations.
Lynne Coldray · Phoenix Wood Burning Installations
What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?
AEO is the practice of structuring your website and content so search engines and AI assistants pick your business as the direct answer to a question, not just one of ten links. It targets Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, voice search and tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, often as the named, cited source.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO gets your pages to rank in the search results. AEO goes a step further and gets your business chosen as the answer itself, in snippets, AI Overviews and assistant replies. They overlap heavily, which is why we treat AEO as part of doing SEO properly rather than a separate service.
Is AEO included in your SEO plans?
Yes. AEO is built into every EightySix SEO plan as standard, at no extra cost. The same work that helps you rank also helps you get cited, so we do both together. GEO, which pushes further into generative AI, is an optional add-on. See SEO plans →
Which AI engines do you optimise for?
Google AI Overviews and featured snippets, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. The underlying work, clear structure, schema and trustworthy answers, helps across all of them.
Can you guarantee my business gets cited by AI?
No honest agency can guarantee AI citations, the engines decide. What we can do is give you the best possible chance: clean structured data, extractable answers, strong entity and trust signals, and content that answers the questions your customers actually ask.
What's the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO focuses on being the answer in search features and assistants (snippets, AI Overviews, voice). GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation, focuses on earning mentions inside generative AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. AEO is standard in every plan; GEO is an optional add-on. See GEO →
Do you work with businesses outside New Zealand?
Yes. We work with businesses across New Zealand, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, and price in NZD, AUD, USD, GBP and CAD.
Become the answer.
Rank, get cited and show up wherever people are asking. It's all in one SEO plan, with no AEO surcharge.