A Simple AEO Action Plan for Small Businesses (No Tech Skills Required)

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Customers in a coffee shop are discussing making changes to increase their changes of AEO success.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is an extension of SEO

For better or worse, AI is changing the way people find information. Businesses are starting to hear a new acronym: AEO, which stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It sounds complicated, but the goal is simple: make your business the one that AI tools trust when they answer people’s questions.

You don’t need to be very techy to take advantage of it. You just need a clear, practical plan. 

Here’s what your small business can start doing right now to improve visibility with both search engines and AI answer engines. 

1. Keep Your Website Healthy and Easy to Navigate

A lot of business owners think AI “reads” everything instantly. It doesn’t.

AI tools still depend heavily on traditional search engines, especially Google, to understand which websites are trustworthy. If your site loads slowly, has broken pages, or hasn’t been updated in years, Google won’t give it much love, if any. And that means AI won’t either.

What this means in plain English:
If your website feels old or slow to you, it definitely feels old or slow to Google. They’ll leave your site and find another site that meets their standard.

Simple things you can do:

  • Make sure your website loads quickly on a phone

  • Update outdated pages or information

  • Fix broken links

  • Use clear page titles like “Content Marketing Services in Marlborough” instead of vague ones

You don’t need to know code for any of this. Just the willingness to keep things tidy. 

2. Create Content That Answers Real Questions

AI tools love direct answers. If someone asks, “How often should I service my furnace?” and you’ve answered that clearly on your website, you have a chance to be the source the AI uses.

You don’t need to write long blogs or full guides. Instead, think about what customers ask you every day.

Write short, helpful answers to questions related to your industry:

  • “How long does a roof installation take?”

  • “What’s the difference between a will and a trust?”

  • “When should I plant tomatoes in Massachusetts?”

These bite-sized answers help both your human customers and the AI models that scan the web.

Tip: If you already say something to your clients more than five times a week, jot it down and turn it into a short piece of website content. 

3. Make Your Business More Visible Across the Web

AI doesn’t rely only on your website. It looks at your presence across the entire internet.

Think of it like a background check: the more places your business is mentioned accurately, the more the AI trusts you.

Helpful places to be listed or mentioned:

  • Google Business Profile

  • Social media profiles (even if you don’t post much)

  • Local directories

  • Industry associations

  • Online reviews

  • Local news or community websites

You don’t need to be everywhere. But you do need to show up somewhere trustworthy. Accurate information repeated in multiple places builds credibility.

4. Structure Your Content So AI Can Understand It

This part sounds technical, but it’s really just about being organized.

AI tools read websites the way humans skim a page. They look for structure:

  • Headings

  • Short paragraphs

  • Clear lists

  • Questions followed by answers

When your website looks like a wall of text, AI has a harder time understanding what you’re saying. If everything is neatly structured, AI can lift your answers cleanly and confidently. See how this blog post has multiple breaks along the way? This is what makes it easy for humans and bots to get information.

A simple rule:
If a human can skim it easily, AI can extract it easily.

5. Track the Right Things (Not Just Clicks)

Search used to be all about ranking and clicks. AEO adds new ways to measure success.

You can pay attention to things like:

  • Are more people searching your business name?

  • Are your answers showing up in AI tools when people ask questions about your industry?

  • Are you getting more calls or messages without seeing an increase in website traffic?

Those are all signs that you’re becoming more “trusted” in this new AI-driven web, even if you’re not seeing huge jumps in traditional analytics. 

Putting It All Together: Start With Small Steps

You don’t need to overhaul your marketing strategy. You don’t need new software. You don’t even need to understand how AI really works.

Just focus on three simple habits:

  1. Keep your website clean and up to date.

  2. Share clear, helpful answers to the questions your customers already ask.

  3. Make sure your business is visible and accurate across the web.

Those three steps alone put you ahead of most competitors, especially in local markets where very few small businesses have even heard of AEO yet. Congratulations. You’re officially ahead of the curve!

Need help turning these steps into a real plan, refreshing your website, or making sure AI tools actually trust your content? That’s exactly what I do at Tannuzzo Creative. Just reach out and we’ll get your website up to modern standards.

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