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’ and ‘HowTo’ 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. Platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs now include AEO-specific tools to identify relevant PAA queries and assess content suitability for answer features. Google’s AI models prioritise content that demonstrates Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T), which is particularly important for ‘Your Money or Your Health’ (YMYL) topics under Australian Consumer Law. Google has announced that in 2027, more sophisticated natural language processing will allow for greater nuance in answer extraction, potentially reducing reliance on strict schema implementation.
Ultimately, AEO functions by providing Google’s algorithms with clearly defined questions and answers, enabling them to directly address user needs within the search results page.
