Straight answer
What is AEO, and does a contractor need it?
Short answer
AEO (answer engine optimization) is making your business easy for AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini to find, understand and name when someone asks who to call. For a contractor it is mostly the basics done well: a clear website, matching business details everywhere, good reviews and structured data. You need it if AI names your competitors and not you.
Facts checked on October 18, 2026
AEO, GEO and SEO in plain words
- SEO: showing up in Google's list of links and on Google Maps.
- AEO or GEO: being named inside the answer an AI assistant writes.
- They overlap. Most of what helps one helps the other.
What it involves for a trade business
- One page per main service, saying what you do, where and roughly what it costs.
- A service-area page that names the cities and neighbourhoods you cover.
- The same name, address, phone and hours on your site, Google and directories.
- Structured data on your homepage (LocalBusiness), so the facts are machine-readable.
- Recent reviews that mention the job and the area.
- No robots.txt rule that blocks AI crawlers.
For the HVAC version step by step, read how to get your HVAC business recommended by ChatGPT.
How to know if you need it
Run a free scan. Cited asks ChatGPT Search, Gemini and Google AI Overviews the questions your customers ask, shows who gets named, and lists what to fix. If you are already named, you may not need to do anything yet.