Answer engine optimisation (AEO) focuses on structuring content to directly answer user questions displayed in Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and other emerging answer formats, rather than solely ranking for keywords. As of December 2025, this involves optimising for ‘answer boxes’, ‘AI Overviews’, and the ‘People Also Ask’ (PAA) sections within Google Search results for Australian users.
Currently, AEO relies heavily on schema markup – specifically, the FAQPage, HowTo, and QAPage schemas – to help Google understand the question-and-answer format of content. Google’s systems analyse content for concise, factual answers to common queries. In Australia, the rollout of SGE continues in 2026, with increased emphasis on local context and data sources. Google now includes a ‘content quality’ assessment, prioritising authoritative and trustworthy sources, which is particularly relevant given the Australian Consumer Law requirements for accurate information. Platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs now include AEO-specific tools to identify PAA opportunities and analyse competitor answer box presence, with Australian server locations for faster data processing. Google has announced in 2027 that it will further refine its AI models to better understand nuanced language and intent.
Ultimately, AEO functions by providing Google’s algorithms with clearly defined questions and answers, increasing the likelihood of your content being featured directly in search results as a concise response to user queries.
