Are you wondering how to get your company to show up in ChatGPT and other answer engine results? Start with understanding how customers use answer engines to find your products and services. Then, develop a Question Map™ to make better-informed decisions around content marketing and strategy. Lastly, you cannot forget about the fundamentals of SEO if you want to appear on these answer engines!
Let’s break everything down using our common-sense approach to content marketing for AEO below.
Understanding Answer Engines and Why It Matters
First off, answer engines like ChatGPT and Gemini are designed to be interactive. They want users to use their services repeatedly, and this stickiness concept is fundamental to any successful application. That’s why answer engines guide users through decisions and help them eliminate confusion before they even interact with a brand. In the past, that level of qualification would have happened through your website or a direct sales call. Now, answer engines do all of that for you.
To understand this journey, consider the following example.
Example Scenario: HVAC Repair Search Flow
Imagine a user facing a broken furnace. Their first question might be:
How do I fix my furnace?
An answer engine then breaks that question down into possible root causes. It may offer three or four troubleshooting paths with questions like:
- Is the furnace receiving power?
- Does the pilot light turn on?
- Does the unit smell like gas?
- Are there error codes on the panel?
The user interacts with these outputs and explores a single, yet relevant path. If the fix is simple, the engine may provide DIY steps. If the issue is complex or unsafe, such as question three, it may recommend hiring a professional. A final follow-up question might be, Do you want a referral list of nearby HVAC companies to call? This is a massive moment for HVAC companies to appear. But don’t forget about the other two or three questions that lead up to this moment; HVAC companies must also appear for those questions as linked URLs!
This is the new buyer journey. The user is more qualified, more informed, and further down the funnel before a business ever speaks to them. With these in mind, let’s look at the steps for effective AEO content marketing.
Step One: Build a Question Map™
In our furnace example, the same question can branch into multiple paths. If the initial question has four outcomes and each of those outcomes has four more, that’s 16 (4 x 4) prompt possibilities! The only way to capture this answer engine traffic is for your brand to appear for these questions. And the way to do so is to start with a Question Map™.
Question Maps help visualize how a customer might find you. They capture all the questions that can lead to a desired outcome, such as being included on a referral list in our HVAC example. Once you’ve captured all the questions, list out all the unique sequences, starting from the first question (e.g., how to fix my furnace) and ending with the last question (e.g., list of HVAC companies). Each unique sequence is called a Question Chain™. Keep in mind that questions can and will appear in more than one sequence.
Ideally, you should answer questions across all Question Chains. Obviously, you can’t do so, but you can prioritize which Question Chains to tackle first in Step Two.
Step Two: Maximize the Value of Your Question Chain™
Once you map your questions, determine which Question Chain has the highest intent and search demand. With a bit of modeling, SEO (yes, SEO!) tools can guide you to the highest valued path that maximizes both. However, keep in mind that search intent is key, and specific question chains may not convert, so they may not be worth your time and resources to pursue.
For help developing and refining your Question Map or maximizing the value of Question Chains, contact us today for a free consultation.
Step Three: Create Content for High-Value Question Chains
Every question in the chain deserves its own article or page. It should be clear, specific, and easy to understand. For simple questions like How do you check a thermostat?, a FAQ section is enough. For complex questions, search and answer engines need deeper content.
Using our HVAC example, one possible Question Chain™ could look like the following sequence:
- How do I fix my furnace? The customer starts by asking this question, and the answer engine suggests that the furnace might be off.
- How do I know if the furnace is on? The customer asks this next question, and the answer engine suggests checking the pilot light.
- How do I turn on the pilot light? The customer confirms that the pilot light is off and asks this question to turn it on.
- Why does the pilot light not stay lit? The customer follows the steps from three and still has issues, and asks why.
- Find me the best HVAC company in Columbus? This could be a suggestion from the answer engine or a prompt from the customer.
The above chain requires five pieces of content. Each one increases visibility across the different stages of your customer’s buyer journey. AEO requires more coverage than SEO, but the payoff is higher-intent users and more qualified leads.
Note that customers may not follow the HVAC QC fully. Some may stop at question one. Others may stop at question three. Regardless, your business must be present at each step with linkable content for those who drop out of the QC and go directly to the source.
How Does AEO Relate to SEO?
Answer engine optimization sits on top of traditional search engine optimization. Search crawlers power answer retrieval, which is why SEO tools are relevant for AEO. For that reason, your content marketing still needs SEO best practices. If you want your site referenced in AEO outputs, it must be indexable, authoritative, and relevant. For the latter, Bing has placed significant emphasis on freshness in its algorithms, so make sure you’re releasing content as frequently as possible and using IndexNow.
Ultimately, you cannot rank on AEO without proper SEO. And you cannot win SEO without quality content marketing!
The Bottom Line
We’ve all heard it, and it’s true in marketing: AEO is the next evolution of search. The brands that win will be those that answer questions better, faster, and in greater depth than their competitors. SEO builds visibility and is the foundation for all things AEO.
Start with questions. Build content. Become the answer. It’s that simple! Connect today to discuss your AEO goals and how we can get you there!
