"Page structure is critical for AEO because of how answer engines synthesize content. In the past, we marketers would format our blog and website content so that search engines could "crawl" our pages, looking for keywords and backlinks to determine how the content would rank in SERPs. The right combination of keywords and links would help determine whether the content ranked first in search results or ended up on the dreaded second page."
"Now, LLMs like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity do more than just crawl for keywords; they analyze, extract, and synthesize content in real time. Unlike traditional search engines, which primarily match keywords and evaluate backlinks, LLMs analyze your content as contextual information within their token limits. If your page is poorly structured, engines like ChatGPT could miss your best insights entirely, pull information out of context, or simply skip over your content in favor of a competitor's page that's easier to process."
Consumers increasingly ask questions directly to answer engines like ChatGPT instead of typing keywords into traditional search engines. LLM-powered answer engines synthesize, extract, and analyze page content in real time within token limits rather than relying primarily on keywords and backlinks. Clear page structure with distinct headings and concise answers helps LLMs identify authoritative, relevant information. Poorly structured pages risk having key insights missed, pulled out of context, or skipped in favor of competitor pages that are easier for LLMs to process. Marketers should structure pages for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) by prioritizing headings, concise answers, and content that signals authority and relevance.
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