An answer engine optimization (AEO) tool checks whether your content can be quoted by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini, then shows you exactly what to fix. The AEO tools below are free, run in your browser, and work on your own AI key or open straight in ChatGPT or Claude. No account needed for the basics.
Traditional SEO gets you into the ten blue links. AEO gets you into the answer itself, the part most people now read instead of clicking. If you want to be the source an AI cites, these are the tools that measure it and tell you what to change.
The free AEO tools
AEO Readiness Checker
Scores any page on how quotable it is: does it answer first, use question-shaped headings, and carry self-contained passages an AI can lift. It will also rewrite your opener into something liftable.
AEO Citation Checker
Tells you whether an AI engine actually cites your site, a competitor, or nobody, for a given prompt. Returns a clear Cited, Mentioned or Not mentioned across ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude on your own key.
On-Page SEO Analyzer
An instant on-page audit that also runs an AI query fan-out, so you can see the questions your page should answer to be pulled into AI results, alongside the usual title, heading and schema checks.
What is answer engine optimization?
Answer engine optimization is the practice of structuring content so AI search systems can quote it directly in their answers. Where SEO optimises for a ranking position, AEO optimises for being the sentence the AI lifts out and attributes to you.
In practice it comes down to a few things an AEO tool can measure: opening with a direct answer, using headings shaped like the questions people ask, writing self-contained passages that still make sense when pulled out of context, and backing claims with citable data and a visible author. Get those right and you become an easy source to quote.
How do I check if AI cites my website?
Run the prompt you care about through an AEO checker and see who the AI names. The AEO Citation Checker does this in one step: you give it a domain and a prompt, and it reports whether that site is cited, merely mentioned, or missing entirely, so you can see if the answer engines know you exist yet.
Score your content for AEO as you write it
If you publish on WordPress, Intent SEO scores every post live in the editor for citation-readiness alongside search intent and human voice, and applies the fixes one approved change at a time. It runs next to Rank Math or Yoast rather than replacing them, so you keep your existing setup and add the AEO layer on top.
Frequently asked questions
What does an AEO tool do?
An AEO tool measures whether your content is structured to be quoted by AI answer engines, and tells you what to change. That usually means checking for an answer-first opening, question-shaped headings, self-contained passages, citable data and a clear author, then scoring the page and suggesting fixes.
Is there a free AEO tool?
Yes. The AEO Readiness Checker and AEO Citation Checker above are both free and need no account for the core checks. The AI-powered parts run on your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key, or you can open the prompt directly in ChatGPT or Claude at no cost.
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO aims to rank a page in the list of search results. AEO aims to get your content quoted inside the AI-generated answer that now sits above that list. They overlap, since well-structured, trustworthy content helps both, but AEO puts extra weight on being liftable and citable rather than just relevant.
Which AI engines do these tools cover?
The checks target the systems that generate answers today: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. The AEO Citation Checker lets you test against ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude directly using your own key.
How often should I check my AEO?
Check a page when you publish it and again whenever you make a substantial edit, since a rewrite can change how quotable it is. If a page matters to your business, it is worth re-checking every month or two, because the answer engines update what they cite over time.
These tools, and this page, are built and maintained by Anthony Hayes. Explore the full AEO Hub, or browse the full set of free SEO and AEO tools.