AEO Checker: How to Audit Your Answer Engine Optimization

Last Updated: January 2026

Checking your AEO performance is essential for understanding how well your content appears in AI-generated answers. Unlike traditional SEO where ranking positions are clearly visible, AEO success requires systematic checking across multiple AI platforms. This guide explains how to audit your answer engine optimization effectively.

Why AEO Checking Matters

You cannot improve what you don't measure. AEO checking reveals:

• Current visibility: Whether AI platforms cite your content for relevant queries
• Competitive position: How your citation frequency compares to competitors
• Content gaps: Topics where you should be cited but aren't
• Accuracy issues: Whether AI systems represent your brand correctly when they do cite you

Without systematic checking, AEO efforts proceed blindly.

Manual AEO Checking Methods

Manual checks provide direct insight into how AI platforms treat your content.

ChatGPT Citation Checks

Test your visibility in ChatGPT:

1. Identify target queries: List questions your audience asks that relate to your expertise
2. Test in ChatGPT: Ask these questions directly in ChatGPT with web search enabled
3. Document citations: Record whether your brand, domain, or specific content gets cited
4. Note context: How prominently are you cited? As a primary source or brief mention?
5. Compare competitors: Which competitors appear for the same queries?

Systematic manual testing across 20-50 queries provides baseline visibility understanding.

Perplexity Visibility Checks

Perplexity shows sources explicitly, making checking straightforward:

1. Search target queries: Enter questions in Perplexity
2. Review source panel: Check whether your domain appears in cited sources
3. Assess source prominence: Are you a primary source or supporting citation?
4. Verify accuracy: Does the citation accurately represent your content?

Perplexity's transparent citation system makes manual checking efficient.

Google AI Overview Checks

Check visibility in Google's AI-generated summaries:

1. Search informational queries: Use Google for questions that trigger AI Overviews
2. Identify AI Overview presence: Note whether AI Overview appears for your target queries
3. Check for citations: Look for your domain in the AI Overview's source links
4. Compare to organic results: Does AI Overview citation correlate with organic rankings?

AI Overviews appear selectively, so not all queries trigger them.

Featured Snippet Checks

Featured snippets often feed voice assistants and influence AI citations:

1. Search question-format queries: Test queries beginning with who, what, when, where, why, how
2. Identify snippet presence: Note whether featured snippets appear
3. Check ownership: Determine whether you own the featured snippet
4. Analyze format: What format (paragraph, list, table) wins the snippet?

Featured snippet visibility often correlates with broader AEO success.

Automated AEO Checker Tools

Manual checking doesn't scale. Automated tools monitor visibility continuously.

Dedicated AEO Monitoring Platforms

Several platforms specialize in AEO checking:

SE Visible provides straightforward LLM visibility tracking. The platform monitors your presence across major AI chatbots, tracking citation frequency over time. Historical trending helps identify whether optimization efforts improve visibility.

Otterly.AI focuses on practical citation monitoring with alert systems. Get notified when visibility changes significantly—either improvements from optimization or declines requiring attention.

Scrunch AI offers prompt-level monitoring showing exactly which queries cite your content. Topic clustering reveals patterns in how AI systems engage with different content areas.

Enterprise AEO Platforms

Larger organizations benefit from comprehensive solutions:

Ahrefs Brand Radar combines AI visibility monitoring with traditional SEO data. For teams already using Ahrefs, integrated reporting simplifies unified measurement.

Conductor provides enterprise-grade AEO monitoring connected to content workflows. Citation data informs content prioritization and optimization decisions.

Profound specializes in detailed citation analysis including sentiment—understanding not just whether AI cites you, but how it portrays your brand.

Tool Selection Considerations

Choose AEO checker tools based on:

• Platform coverage: Does it monitor the AI platforms your audience uses?
• Check frequency: How often does it update visibility data?
• Historical tracking: Can you trend performance over time?
• Competitive features: Does it compare your visibility to competitors?
• Integration: Does it connect with your existing marketing stack?

What to Check in an AEO Audit

Comprehensive AEO audits examine multiple dimensions.

Citation Frequency

What to measure: How often AI platforms cite your content for target queries

What it indicates: Overall visibility and authority recognition

Benchmark: Track changes over time rather than absolute numbers

Citation Context

What to measure: How AI platforms describe you when citing

What it indicates: Brand accuracy and positioning

Red flags: Incorrect information, outdated details, competitor confusion

Share of Voice

What to measure: Your citation frequency relative to competitors

What it indicates: Competitive positioning in AI answers

Goal: Increase share for high-priority topics

Query Coverage

What to measure: Which target queries cite you versus which don't

What it indicates: Content and authority gaps

Action: Create or optimize content for uncovered queries

Source Diversity

What to measure: Which specific pages get cited most frequently

What it indicates: Content concentration and opportunity

Insight: Diversify citations beyond a few dominant pages

Creating an AEO Audit Checklist

Systematic audits follow consistent processes.

Technical AEO Checks

• [ ] AI crawlers (GPTBot, ChatGPT-User) not blocked in robots.txt
• [ ] Key pages render content without JavaScript dependency
• [ ] FAQ schema implemented on relevant pages
• [ ] Article schema includes author and date information
• [ ] Organization schema establishes entity identity
• [ ] Page load times under 3 seconds

Content AEO Checks

• [ ] Priority pages have clear, extractable answer paragraphs
• [ ] Paragraphs under 80 words with standalone meaning
• [ ] Question-based headings matching user queries
• [ ] Direct answers immediately following question headings
• [ ] Specific statistics and facts included
• [ ] Content updated within past 6 months

Authority AEO Checks

• [ ] Consistent brand information across platforms
• [ ] Expert author attribution with credentials
• [ ] External citations from authoritative sources
• [ ] Brand mentioned on industry-relevant sites
• [ ] Comprehensive topical coverage in content area

Interpreting AEO Check Results

Understanding what results mean guides action.

Improving Citation Frequency

If citation frequency is low:

• Strengthen traditional SEO rankings (supports AI discovery)
• Restructure content for extractability
• Build entity authority through external presence
• Create content specifically answering common queries

Fixing Citation Accuracy

If AI misrepresents your brand:

• Ensure consistent information across all platforms
• Update outdated content AI may be referencing
• Create clear, authoritative content on misrepresented topics
• Implement comprehensive schema markup

Gaining Query Coverage

If competitors get cited for queries you should own:

• Create content directly addressing those queries
• Optimize existing relevant content for extractability
• Build authority in the topic area through comprehensive coverage

Key Takeaways

Regular checking is essential. AEO visibility isn't visible without active monitoring. Build systematic checking into your optimization workflow.

Combine manual and automated methods. Manual checks provide detailed insight; automated tools enable scale and trending.

Check multiple dimensions. Citation frequency matters, but so do context, accuracy, and competitive position.

Act on findings. Checking without response wastes effort. Build action plans from audit insights.

FAQs

How often should I check AEO performance?

Run comprehensive audits quarterly. Monitor key metrics through automated tools continuously. Manual spot-checks of priority queries should happen monthly. Adjust frequency based on how actively you're optimizing—more active programs warrant more frequent checking.

Which AEO checker tool is best?

The best tool depends on your needs. For basic monitoring, SE Visible or Otterly.AI provide accessible starting points. For enterprise needs with existing Ahrefs investment, Brand Radar integrates well. Most teams benefit from starting simple and adding capabilities as programs mature.

Can I check AEO without specialized tools?

Yes. Manual checking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews provides meaningful insight without tool investment. This approach doesn't scale but works for initial assessment and small-scale programs. Add automated tools when you need historical trending or competitive comparison.

---

Ready to improve your AEO performance? Explore our Answer Engine Optimization Tools guide or learn about AEO Services for professional implementation.