Answer Engine Optimization
AEO is how AI engines recommend your business.
Be the business ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews 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 Website plans & up
From $297/moAEO Visibility Dashboard
The tool HubSpot charges $50/mo for. Bundled into Smart Website ($297), Smart Site + Voice ($497), and Full Stack ($797). Runs forever, week after week.
- ✓ Weekly scans against ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude
- ✓ 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 ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. 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
AEO is included with every plan from $297/mo.
Smart Website ($297), Smart Site + Voice ($497), and Full Stack ($797) all ship with the AEO Visibility Dashboard, weekly multi-LLM scans, competitor benchmarking, opportunity detection, and the auto-fix loop. The $47/mo Launch Website tier is brochure-only — upgrade to Smart to unlock AEO.
AEO Frequently Asked Questions
The most common questions about Answer Engine Optimization, scoring, and what we deliver.
What is AEO?▾
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It's the practice of structuring your website and content so AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews recommend your business by name when someone asks them a question. Traditional SEO targets blue links on a search page; AEO targets the synthesized answer the AI gives.
How is AEO different from regular SEO?▾
Regular SEO gets you ranked on Google's blue-link results page. AEO gets you cited in AI-generated answers — by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. They're synthesizing answers now, not showing 10 links. If your business isn't in the synthesized answer, you're invisible to a fast-growing portion of searchers.
How much does AEO cost at Fast Digital Marketing?▾
Two answers. The free 60-second AEO audit at fastdigitalmarketing.com/audit costs $0, no signup, anyone can run it on any URL — that's a one-time grade. The full AEO Visibility Dashboard (weekly scans across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude, competitor benchmarking, opportunity prompt detection, the auto-fix loop, and the weekly digest email) is bundled into Smart Website plans starting at $297/mo. The $47 Launch Website tier is brochure-only and does not include AEO tracking. 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 AEO visibility?▾
Each week we run 12 to 25 niche-specific prompts (questions your customers actually ask AI assistants) against ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. We detect whether your brand name or domain appears in the response, count mentions, measure position in the answer, and roll up an overall AEO Visibility Score from 0 to 100. The dashboard shows the trend, the engines, and which prompts are winning or losing for your business.
Which AI engines do you scan?▾
ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Gemini (Google), and Claude (Anthropic). Each engine has different training data and ranking behavior, so we score them separately and show you a per-engine breakdown.
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 a Smart Website plan ($297+), AEO is on automatically. The site we build for you ships with the schema, FAQ blocks, and structured data already in place. The weekly scans run automatically. Opportunity prompts (where competitors win and you don't) auto-route to your Content Creator agent — new blog posts, FAQ entries, and schema additions get queued for 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 Website plans starting at $297/mo. 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.