Answer Engine Optimization
AEO is how AI engines recommend your business.
Be the business Google and ChatGPT mention by name when someone asks. HubSpot just launched AEO at $50/mo for the tracking dashboard. We bundle the tracking and the schema, content, and structured data that lifts your score — included with every Smart Website plan at $297/mo. Plus a free 60-second AEO audit on any URL — no signup.
Two ways AEO works
See once for free. Track + fix forever as a customer.
Anyone can grade their site once. Customers on Smart Website and above get the dashboard, the weekly scans, and the auto-fix loop that actually moves the score.
Free for anyone
$0Free 60-second AEO Audit
Drop in any URL. We grade the site against the same 6 pillars AI engines weigh (AEO readiness, schema, freshness, citations, content depth, conversion). Letter grade per pillar with specific recommendations. No signup. No card. Runs once.
- · Run on your site OR a competitor’s
- · Letter grade per pillar with fix recommendations
- · No tracking — point-in-time snapshot
Smart Site + Voice exclusive
$497/moSelf-Improving AI Search Optimization
The visibility dashboard HubSpot charges $50/mo for — PLUS the auto-fix loop that writes new fixes back into your site every week. Bundled FREE with Smart Website ($297/mo) AND Smart Site + Voice ($497/mo). Runs forever, week after week, gets smarter every Monday.
- ✓ Weekly scans against Google and ChatGPT
- ✓ 12-week trend chart + per-engine breakdown
- ✓ Up to 3 competitors benchmarked side-by-side
- ✓ Recommendations engine (what to fix, ranked)
- ✓ Auto-fix loop — opportunity prompts route to the Content Creator agent and ship as new content next week
- ✓ Weekly digest email with score delta + queue summary
The Launch Website tier ($47/mo) is brochure-only — it doesn’t include AEO tracking. Smart Website at $297/mo is the entry point for the dashboard, the weekly scans, and the auto-fix loop.
What is AEO, in plain English
When someone asks ChatGPT “who’s the best plumber in Tampa?” or asks Perplexity “how much does foundation repair cost?” — those engines no longer hand back a list of links. They synthesize an answer. They name specific businesses.
AEO — Answer Engine Optimization — is the practice of being the business they name.It’s the structured data, the FAQ blocks, the entity clarity, and the citation-ready content that makes AI engines pull your business into their answer instead of a competitor’s.
Traditional SEO got you ranked on a results page. AEO gets you cited inside the answer itself. Different game, same end goal: customers showing up at your door because someone asked an AI a question and got pointed at you.
What you get
Six things that actually move your score.
Visibility Score across 4 LLMs
Weekly scans against Google and ChatGPT. One score per engine, plus an overall grade. Trend over 12 weeks.
Citation tracking
We detect every time an AI engine mentions your brand by name or domain — count, position in the answer, frequency.
Competitor benchmarking
Add up to 3 competitor brands. See where they win and you don't, side-by-side. Prompt-by-prompt.
Opportunity prompts
We surface every question your competitors get cited for that you don't — those become your next content briefs automatically.
Schema + structured data — built in
Every page ships with the FAQ schema, entity clarity, and citation-ready content AI engines look for. The work most agencies skip.
Auto-fix loop
Opportunity prompts route to your Content Creator agent automatically. New blog posts, FAQ entries, and schema additions queue up week over week.
HubSpot AEO at $50/mo vs. included free here.
Apples-to-apples feature comparison. Identical measurement coverage on the items HubSpot ships. Plus the production work HubSpot doesn’t do.
HubSpot AEO pricing publicly listed at $50/mo entry. We bundle every column into Smart Website plans starting at $297/mo (Smart Website tier).
The Loop
Measure → recommend → fix → re-measure.
Most AEO tools stop at “measure.” That’s why they cost $50/mo — measurement is cheap. The work that lifts your score is the production side. We do both.
Measure
Weekly prompt sweep against 4 LLMs. 12-25 niche-specific questions. Detect every brand mention.
Recommend
Specific actionables — add FAQ schema to /services, refresh blog post, target opportunity prompt.
Fix
Content Creator agent writes new posts targeting opportunity prompts. Schema + FAQ updates ship to your site.
Re-measure
Next week's scan picks up the fixes. Score climbs. Trend chart shows it. Loop repeats.
Pricing
Self-Improving AI SEO is bundled FREE with Smart Website $297/mo and Smart Site + Voice $497/mo.
Both tiers bundle the AEO Visibility Dashboard, weekly Google + ChatGPT scans, competitor benchmarking, opportunity detection, AND the auto-fix loop that writes 6 categories of fixes back into your site every Monday. The auto-fix engine only operates on sites we host — it's not sold standalone. Launch Website ($47/mo) is brochure-only and doesn't include the engine.
AEO Frequently Asked Questions
The most common questions about Answer Engine Optimization, scoring, and what we deliver.
What is AI Search Optimization (AEO)?▾
It's the work that gets your business named when somebody asks Google or ChatGPT a question like 'who's a good roofer in Tampa?' or 'who fixes foundations near me?' Regular SEO is about showing up in the blue links on a Google results page. AI Search Optimization is about being the business the AI mentions BY NAME when it gives a one-paragraph answer. We structure your site, your schema, and your content so both Google and ChatGPT have what they need to recommend you.
How is AI Search Optimization different from regular SEO?▾
Regular SEO gets you ranked on Google's blue-link results page. AI Search Optimization gets you cited in the actual AI-generated answer — when somebody asks Google or ChatGPT a question, your business is in the answer. They're writing answers now, not just showing 10 links. If your business isn't in the answer, you're invisible to a fast-growing portion of customers searching for what you do.
How much does AI Search Optimization cost at Fast Digital Marketing?▾
Two answers. The free 60-second AI search audit at fastdigitalmarketing.com/audit costs $0, no signup — that's a one-time grade you can run on any website. The full AI Search Visibility Dashboard (weekly scans of Google and ChatGPT, competitor benchmarking, opportunity-prompt detection, the auto-fix loop that writes the fixes back into your site every Monday, plus the weekly digest email) is bundled into BOTH Smart Website ($297/mo) AND Smart Site + Voice ($497/mo). The $47 Launch Website tier is brochure-only and does not include the dashboard. HubSpot charges $50/mo for the measurement layer alone — we bundle measurement PLUS the production work that actually lifts the score.
How does Fast Digital Marketing measure AI search visibility?▾
Each week we run 12 to 25 niche-specific prompts — the actual questions your customers ask Google and ChatGPT (things like 'best plumber near me' or 'how much does foundation repair cost') — and we check whether your business name or website shows up in the answer. We count mentions, measure how early in the answer you appear, and roll it up into an overall AI Search Visibility Score from 0 to 100. The dashboard shows the trend over time, the score per engine, and which prompts are winning or losing for your business.
Which AI engines does the dashboard track?▾
The big two everybody uses: Google (Google AI Overviews — the AI-written summaries that now appear at the top of Google searches) and ChatGPT. We also track Perplexity and Gemini under the hood so the score isn't dependent on a single engine, but Google and ChatGPT are where the vast majority of small-business search traffic ends up today.
What's an AEO Visibility Score?▾
A 0 to 100 number that combines three signals — did your brand appear in the AI's answer (50 points), how early in the answer did it appear (30 points), and how many times was it mentioned (20 points). We compute one score per engine plus an overall score. Letter grades: A+ (90+), A (80-89), B (70-79), C (60-69), D (50-59), F (under 50).
Can I track competitors?▾
Yes. Add up to 3 competitor brand names from the dashboard, click 'Scan competitors', and we run the same prompt set against each one. The dashboard shows a ranked leaderboard — your score vs. each competitor — plus prompt-by-prompt breakdown so you can see exactly which questions they're winning that you aren't.
What's the difference between AEO and HubSpot's AEO product?▾
HubSpot's AEO is a measurement and analytics tool — it tells you how visible you are. Ours does the same measurement plus the production work that lifts the score: schema markup, FAQ blocks, structured data, citation-ready content, and weekly AI-written content fixes targeting your opportunity prompts. They tell you what's broken at $50/mo. We tell you AND fix it, bundled into a $297/mo Smart Website.
How fast does AEO move the needle?▾
Most customers see their first measurable lift within 4 to 6 weeks of going live. The Visibility Score climbs as fresh content lands, schema indexes, and the opportunity-prompt fixes accumulate. Some niches are faster (low-competition local trades) and some slower (saturated verticals like personal injury law). The dashboard shows the trend so you see it happening.
Do I have to do anything to make AEO work?▾
No. Once you sign up for Smart Site + Voice ($497/mo) or buy the Self-Improving AI Search Optimization agent standalone ($247/mo), the auto-fix loop is on automatically. The agent ships the schema, FAQ blocks, structured data, meta descriptions, and OG images already in place — and writes new fixes back into the site every week. Opportunity prompts auto-route to your Content Creator agent, so new blog posts and schema additions land the following week without your input. You just check the dashboard occasionally to see your score climb.
Is the free AEO audit different from the AEO Visibility Dashboard?▾
Yes. The free audit at /audit is a one-time, point-in-time grade — anyone can run it on any URL with no signup or card. It tells you what's broken right now. The AEO Visibility Dashboard is the ongoing tracking + auto-fix product — included with Smart Site + Voice ($497/mo), or as a $247/mo standalone agent for anyone already on a website. It runs weekly, tracks score changes, benchmarks competitors, and feeds opportunity prompts to your Content Creator agent so the score actually improves over time. Free audit = lead magnet. Paid dashboard = self-improving website.