Course 03 · AEO

Get named by the AI when your customer asks.

More and more buying starts with “ask ChatGPT.” AEO is the game of being the business the AI names and links — and the lane is wide open.

◷ 11 min · ▶ 48-sec video· MentorMe Academy

The one idea

AI engines don't cite the loudest brand. They cite the most extractable, most specific, most honest answer they can find. A published number beats "call for a quote" every time — because the AI can actually quote the number. If competitors hide their answer, the AI is forced to guess a vague range, and you can be the exact figure it quotes instead.

The 5 things AI rewards

  1. Answer-first writing. First 1-2 sentences of every page answer the question in 40-60 words, as a self-contained fact. (Course 2's prompt enforces this.)
  2. Publish the specifics. Real numbers, dimensions, prices, timelines. Vague marketing copy is uncitable.
  3. Schema markup. The JSON-LD blocks tell AI exactly what each fact is.
  4. Be in the directories AI trusts — GBP, Yelp, Angi, industry directories, Reddit — with identical info. (Course 4.)
  5. Let the AI bots in. Don't block GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended in robots.txt.
The opening: when we checked who AI names for "best [service] in [city]" across several high-ticket niches, the answer was national aggregators and directories — not a single strong local competitor. The local AEO race has zero entrants in most niches. First mover with structure wins.
Charge for this: an "AI visibility setup" — audit, answer pages, schema, directory claims, monthly re-test — is a $750–$2,000 setup + retainer. Almost nobody offers it yet.