Answer engine optimization (AEO) in Mérida, Yucatán
Answer Engine Optimization: be the answer AI gives
When buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews about your category, you want your brand named and your pages cited. Answer engine optimization (AEO) makes that more likely. Our team in Mérida tracks how AI tools describe your business, in English and Spanish.
You can't see what AI tools say about you
More buyers start with a question to an AI assistant instead of a list of links. They ask which providers to consider, how two options compare, or what something should cost. The assistant gives a confident summary and maybe a few sources.
Most businesses have no idea what those answers say. Their brand might be missing. It might be described with outdated information. A competitor might be recommended for a service they offer too. And unlike a search ranking, there's no position number telling you where you stand.
Trying to game this with tricks doesn't work for long. AI tools lean on content that's clear, consistent and backed up by other sources. That's work you can do on purpose.
Make your business easy to understand and easy to quote
Answer engine optimization (AEO), sometimes called generative engine optimization (GEO), builds on solid SEO. AI tools that browse the web still need to find and read your pages. So we make sure the technical basics are in place first.
From there, we focus on three things: what AI assistants currently say, how clearly your content answers the questions they're asked, and how consistently your business is described across the web.
Visibility baseline
We run the questions your buyers ask through major AI assistants and record whether you're mentioned, how you're described and who gets cited.
Answer-ready content
We restructure key pages with direct answers, clear definitions, comparisons and FAQs that are easy to extract and quote accurately.
Entity clarity
We tighten how your business is described on your site, in schema markup and on profiles and directories so the facts about you line up.
Crawler access
We review robots rules and firewall settings so the AI crawlers you want can reach your content, and the ones you don't can be managed.
Definition
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the work of making your business the source AI answer engines use, name and link when people ask about your category. Answer engines reply with a written answer instead of a list of links: Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Claude.
AEO builds on SEO. Most answer engines search the web, read a handful of pages and write a summary that cites some of them. If your pages aren't found, trusted and easy to quote, you're left out of the answer, even when you rank.
Generative engine optimization (GEO), AI search optimization and LLM SEO are other names for the same work. We use AEO.
AEO vs SEO vs GEO
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank your pages in search results | Get named and cited in AI answers | Same as AEO |
| Where you show up | Blue links and the map pack | Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini | Mostly used for ChatGPT-style assistants |
| What a win looks like | A click from the results page | A mention, a citation, or a visit from the answer | Same as AEO |
| What it depends on | Crawling, relevance, links, page experience | Everything SEO needs, plus direct answers, clear entities and consistent facts across the web | Same as AEO |
| How it's measured | Rankings, clicks and leads in Search Console and GA4 | A tracked set of buyer questions, citations, and AI referral visits in GA4 | Same as AEO |
You don't have to choose. Good AEO starts with good SEO, so we run them as one program. See our SEO services.
Show up when people ask AI about Mérida
More people now ask ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode for "the best" options in Mérida before they search anywhere else. We check what those tools say about your category in the city, find the sources they rely on, and make sure your business is described accurately and consistently across them.
Search in Mérida mixes Spanish and English: locals, people relocating from other states, foreign residents and visitors all look for services differently. We research both languages, build pages that answer each group, and track how you show up in Mérida results, not just national ones.
What's included
- AI visibility audit across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
- Buyer question set mapped to your services
- Competitor citation comparison
- Answer-focused rewrites of priority pages
- Organization, service and FAQ schema markup
- Brand and entity consistency review across key profiles
- AI crawler access review in robots.txt and Cloudflare
- Recurring visibility check-ins to track change over time
AEO audit
Our AEO audit: what we check
Every AEO engagement starts here. You get a written report that says what to fix first and why.
- Crawler access. robots.txt, firewall and bot settings for Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot and ClaudeBot.
- Indexing in Google and Bing. Copilot and other assistants draw on Bing's index, so being missing there costs you answers.
- Answer-first pages. Does each key page answer its main question in the first lines, in plain words?
- Question coverage. The real questions your buyers ask, in English and Spanish, mapped to the page that answers each one.
- Entity clarity. Organization, person, service and FAQ schema, and the same name, location and services everywhere.
- Facts across the web. Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, directories and reviews that AI tools read to confirm who you are.
- Proof. Named experts, sources, case studies and original material an assistant can cite.
- Speed and rendering. Content that loads fast and is readable without running JavaScript.
- llms.txt and Markdown. A low-cost extra. No major engine has confirmed it uses llms.txt, so we treat it as optional.
- Measurement. AI referral visits in GA4 and a fixed set of prompts we can recheck over time.
Proof
We practice AEO on our own site
Everything we recommend, we run on mayabmedia.com first. On a call we'll show you each item live.
- AI crawlers are welcome in our robots.txt, with Content Signals that allow search, AI answers and training.
- An llms.txt index plus full-text versions of the site in English and Spanish, updated with every new article.
- One schema graph: the company, our CEO with his credentials, and authorship on every article.
- A named, credentialed author and a sources list on every article.
- Bilingual pages linked with hreflang, so assistants can answer Spanish questions with Spanish pages.
- Lighthouse 100 on mobile for our website development page.
How we measure AEO results
There's no ranking report for AI answers, so we build one. We keep a fixed list of the questions your buyers ask, run them across the main assistants on a schedule, and record whether you're named, how you're described and which sources get cited.
In GA4 we separate visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, Copilot and Gemini so you can see AI referrals and the leads they bring. Google counts AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic inside normal Search Console totals, without a separate filter, which is why prompt tracking matters.
How it works
From first call to results
- 01
Benchmark AI answers
We test your buyer questions across AI assistants and document mentions, descriptions and cited sources.
- 02
Find the gaps
We compare your content and brand signals to the sources AI tools are citing instead of you.
- 03
Restructure and reinforce
We rewrite key pages for clear answers, add schema and fix inconsistent brand information across the web.
- 04
Recheck and adjust
We rerun the same questions on a schedule to see what changed and where to focus next.
Who this is for
- Companies whose buyers research with AI assistants before contacting sales
- Brands that have seen AI tools describe them inaccurately
- Businesses already investing in SEO that want to cover AI answers too
- Marketing leaders who need a clear picture of AI visibility to report on
Services
More SEO services
Technical SEO
Crawl, index, speed and schema fixes so Google can find and rank the pages that matter to your business.
Learn moreOn-Page SEO
Rework titles, copy, structure and internal links so your existing pages match search intent and climb.
Learn moreSEO Content Strategy
Topic clusters, briefs and well-written articles built on the questions your buyers actually search for.
Learn moreAnswer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Get your business mentioned and cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews answers.
You are hereEcommerce SEO
Technical cleanup, collection pages and product schema that turn your Shopify or WooCommerce store into an organic sales channel.
Learn moreNot sure which one fits?
Tell us about your project and we will recommend the right service, with no commitment.
Book a free auditLearn more
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FAQ
Questions we get a lot
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
AEO is the work of making your business the source that AI answer engines, such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, use, name and link when people ask about your category. It builds on SEO and adds direct answers, clear entity data and consistent facts across the web.
Is AEO replacing SEO?
No. Most answer engines search the web before they answer, so the pages they cite still have to be crawlable, indexed and trusted. AEO adds to SEO; it doesn't replace it.
How long does AEO take to work?
Technical fixes can be picked up within weeks, once pages are recrawled. Being cited more often usually takes longer and depends on your content and how often each assistant refreshes its sources. We report what changes; we don't promise dates.
Do you do AEO in Spanish?
Yes. We research and track questions in English and Spanish, and we build and connect pages in both languages so assistants can answer each audience in its own language.
Does llms.txt help?
It's a proposed standard, and no major AI search engine has confirmed it uses it. It's cheap to publish and we keep one on our own site, but we treat it as an extra, not a strategy.
What's the difference between AEO, GEO and SEO?
SEO is about ranking in search results. AEO and GEO are names for getting your content used in AI-generated answers. In practice they share most of the same foundations, and we treat them as one program with extra attention on how answers get built and sourced.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend us?
No. AI models change often, answers vary from one session to the next, and no one controls what they say. What we can do is make your business clearer, better documented and easier to cite, which improves your odds, and track the results honestly.
How do you measure AI visibility?
We keep a fixed set of buyer questions and run them across AI assistants on a schedule, recording mentions, how you're described and which sources get cited. Where your analytics can identify visits referred from AI tools, we report on those too.
Should we block AI crawlers?
It depends on your goals. If you want to be cited in AI answers, blocking the crawlers those tools rely on works against you. Some businesses choose to allow some and block others. We'll walk you through the tradeoffs and set it up the way you decide.
Do you offer SEO for businesses in Mérida?
Yes. We are based in Mérida, Yucatán, and work with local businesses as well as companies across Mexico and the United States. We can meet in person in Mérida and work in Spanish or English.
See what AI tools say about you
We'll run your buyer questions through the major AI assistants and show you where you stand.