The rules for getting cited in AI overviews and conversational AI are different from traditional SEO practices. With over half of global search volume involving AI in some capacity, B2B brands need to adapt in order to maintain online visibility. In fact, many brands that rank high in organic search don’t show up at all in AI-powered results for the same search phrase. These new dynamics require AEO (answer engine optimization), a practice that optimizes a brand’s content for visibility by AI answer engines. This article focuses on top content strategies that can help brands get cited in AI answer engines like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.
AI-powered search engines prioritize citing content that they can directly quote from when generating answers. This means your website should include structured copy phrased as direct answers to common questions related to your business and industry.
How-tos and FAQs are among the most successful approaches to phrasing and structuring content for AEO.
Your website should include easy-to-find copy that answers common “how-to” questions related to your service offerings. Let’s look at the real estate industry as an example. A real estate agency could reasonably expect prospects who are early in their decision stage to ask the following questions online:
Including direct phrases that clearly and succinctly answer these questions in titles and body text will help your website get cited in results of related searches. The top two citations in the Google AI Overview come from Realtor.com, which directly answers the questions on its website.
The highlighted citation in Google's AI Overview above links to a Realtor.com page with bulleted "how-to" explanations to this and other common questions:
This brings us to the importance of FAQs. Frequently asked questions modules on your website provide a structured format for answering “how-to” questions and other common queries about your business. FAQs can, and should, range from brand-specific to general information.
credit: Realtor.com
Optimizing your website is crucial, but it is not the only part of a successful content strategy for AI visibility in 2026. Often, AI answer engines cite third-party platforms to answer crucial questions related to your business. YouTube videos and Reddit threads are the most frequently cited content types in Google’s AI overviews. For B2B-related searches, AI engines often quote from industry directories or industry-specific forums. Think of these platforms as foundational trust signals that validate your brand's expertise to AI engines.
YouTube videos account for nearly a third of citations in Google’s AI Overviews. They provide a perfect format for walk-throughs and deep dives on topics.
Since YouTube videos can easily be embedded on your website, they serve the dual purpose of helping build out web content while creating opportunities for visibility in AI overviews.
Not only is Reddit a common source in AI overviews, but it often signals trustworthiness to users who are hoping for honest, non-promotional information. Many turn to Reddit for the “inside scoop” on brands, services, and products. Establishing a presence on Reddit, either by joining relevant forums or creating a dedicated subreddit for your company, can broaden your brand’s reach in AI overviews.
This comes with an important caveat. Reddit users are wary of brands attempting self-promotion on the platform. If you’re going to attempt to establish a presence for your brand on Reddit, make sure it is honest, organic, and non-promotional. This is likely not a priority for small brands that are still working to establish basic AI visibility on their websites. It can be a fruitful option for well-known brands or those with a dedicated, knowledgeable following.
In a 2026 study, nearly every single B2B buyer reported using AI to research vendors during the buying process. LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity often cite industry directories and industry-specific forms when a buyer uses it to discover new providers, develop vendor comparison breakdowns, or learn more about specific companies.
Directories and forums act as third-party trust signals about your brand. AI answer engines prioritize these platforms because they provide structured, aggregated data that makes it easier to compare your capabilities against those of your competitors.
How B2B brands can leverage these platforms:
SEO simply isn’t enough anymore. AEO is the new standard for how your customers discover your business. By shifting your content strategy from focusing on keyword rankings to earning authoritative AI citations, you’ll ensure your brand remains visible, trusted, and relevant in this new era of search.
We measure whether AI answer engines can read, understand, and cite your company. It grades your schema markup and answer-engine optimization on an A to F scale and shows gaps that keep AI from naming you when it answers a question in your category.