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55 · Marketing · AI Search

AI Citation Content Audit

Audit content structure and citation signals. Use AI Search Visibility Planning for broader visibility strategy.

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Alireza — AEO / LLM Citation Optimization · Original SKILL.md

---
name: aeo
description: "Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) skill — optimize content to be cited by AI language models (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Mistral) as authoritative sources. Distinct from SEO — AEO optimizes for citation in LLM-generated responses, not search rankings. Use when planning content for AI-first search audiences, auditing existing content for E-E-A-T signals, tracking which pages get cited by which LLMs, or building a citation-friendly content strategy. Triggers — 'AEO audit', 'optimize for ChatGPT', 'get cited by Perplexity', 'LLM citation strategy', 'answer engine optimization', 'content for AI search', 'E-E-A-T audit'. Output is a markdown audit report (default) or JSON for pipeline integration. Stdlib-only Python tools."
---

# Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

**Get your content cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Mistral as the authoritative source.**

AEO is the practice of optimizing content for **citation** in LLM-generated responses — distinct from SEO, which optimizes for search rankings. This skill audits, optimizes, and tracks AEO performance.

## Distinct From SEO

| | SEO | AEO |
|---|---|---|
| **Optimizes for** | Click-through rankings | Being cited as authoritative source |
| **Audience** | Humans browsing search results | LLMs answering questions |
| **Success metric** | Position 1-10, organic traffic | Citation count across LLMs |
| **Key signals** | Backlinks, keywords, page speed | E-E-A-T, structured data, factual density |
| **Update cadence** | Weeks-to-months | Days-to-weeks (LLM training cycles) |

Both can coexist — the same content can rank #1 on Google AND get cited by Perplexity. But the techniques differ: SEO rewards keyword density + backlinks; AEO rewards primary-source signals + structured facts.

## When To Use

- Planning a new content piece for an AI-first audience
- Auditing existing content for E-E-A-T gaps before AI Overview rollout
- Tracking which pages get cited by which LLM (citation ledger)
- Researching what queries LLMs cite sources for (vs. what they answer from training)
- Benchmarking against competitors' citation rates
- Building a long-term AEO strategy aligned with traditional SEO

## When NOT To Use

- Pure click-through SEO without LLM-citation intent — use `marketing-skill/skills/seo-audit` instead
- Brand-voice content with no factual claims — citations require facts to cite
- Content for a topic where LLMs already have strong training signal (e.g., elementary math) — citation upside is minimal
- Time-sensitive content (breaking news) — LLM training lag means citations come months later

## Core Capabilities

### 1. Content audit + E-E-A-T scoring

The auditor (`aeo_audit.py`) scores content across 4 dimensions:

- **Experience**: First-person evidence, dated examples, case studies, "We ran X in 2026" claims
- **Expertise**: Author bio, credentials, citations to peer-reviewed sources, technical depth
- **Authoritativeness**: External backlinks from authority domains, schema.org markup, structured data
- **Trustworthiness**: HTTPS, contact info, transparent corrections, factual density (number of verifiable claims per 1000 words)

Composite score 0-100 with per-dimension breakdown. Output: markdown report with specific fix recommendations.

### 2. Content optimization

The optimizer (`aeo_optimizer.py`) generates AEO-improved variants:

- **Structure rewrite** — H2/H3 hierarchy optimized for LLM parsing
- **Citation density boost** — adds `[1]`-style references with sources
- **Schema injection** — generates JSON-LD for FAQ, HowTo, Article schemas
- **Fact-first lede** — moves verifiable claims into the first 200 words

Three modes: `conservative` (touch <10% of words), `balanced` (touch <30%), `aggressive` (rewrite for maximum AEO).

### 3. Citation tracking

The tracker (`citation_tracker.py`) maintains a local ledger of citations:

- Manual entry: paste a citation found in ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude/Gemini output
- Track which URL, which LLM, which query, what date
- Compute per-page citation count, citation velocity, LLM coverage
- Export to CSV for reporting

Stores in `~/.aeo-data/citations.json` (local, no telemetry).

## References

- `references/aeo_eeat_canon.md` — E-E-A-T methodology, industry thresholds, anti-patterns
- `references/llm_citation_patterns.md` — per-LLM citation selection heuristics (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral)
- `references/aeo_vs_seo.md` — when to invest in AEO vs SEO vs both
- `references/bot_access_and_monitoring.md` — AI crawler robots.txt matrix (the prerequisite check: a blocked bot zeroes that platform), Google Search Console AI Overviews monitoring, manual testing protocols, citation-drop diagnostic (merged from the former `ai-seo` skill)
- `references/extractable_content_patterns.md` — 7 copy-ready block templates (definition, steps, table, FAQ, attributed stat, expert quote, summary box) that answer engines reliably extract (merged from the former `ai-seo` skill)

## Workflow

```
0. Pre-flight: bot access
   Check robots.txt against the crawler matrix in references/bot_access_and_monitoring.md
   → a blocked GPTBot/PerplexityBot/ClaudeBot/Google-Extended is the first fix, always

1. Audit existing content
   $ python3 scripts/aeo_audit.py --url https://example.com/blog/post
   → markdown report with composite score + 4-dimension breakdown

2. Apply optimization recommendations
   $ python3 scripts/aeo_optimizer.py --input post.md --mode balanced --output post-aeo.md
   → optimized variant with citations + schema + structural fixes

3. Publish + monitor
   $ python3 scripts/citation_tracker.py --action add --url https://example.com/blog/post \
       --llm perplexity --query "what is AEO" --date 2026-05-17
   → adds entry to local citations.json ledger

4. Report
   $ python3 scripts/citation_tracker.py --action report --url https://example.com/blog/post
   → per-page citation stats: count, LLMs, queries, velocity
```

## Configuration

The skill is industry-aware via per-run `--industry` flag. Supported: `saas`, `healthcare`, `finance`, `legal`, `ecommerce`, `b2b`, `media`, `education`.

Industry affects:
- **Authority signal requirements** — healthcare/finance need stricter source citations
- **Fact-checking rigor** — legal/healthcare flag unverifiable claims as critical
- **Citation style** — academic vs. trade-journal vs. blog conventions

Example:
```bash
python3 scripts/aeo_audit.py --url <url> --industry healthcare
# → stricter E-E-A-T thresholds; flags any health claim without primary citation
```

## Output Format

### Markdown audit report (default)

```markdown
# AEO Audit Report — [Page Title]

**URL:** https://example.com/blog/post
**Date:** 2026-05-17
**Industry:** saas
**Composite Score:** 72/100 (B+)

## Dimension Breakdown

| Dimension | Score | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Experience | 80/100 | Strong — first-person case study present |
| Expertise | 65/100 | Author bio missing credentials |
| Authoritativeness | 75/100 | 4 backlinks from authority domains |
| Trustworthiness | 68/100 | No corrections policy linked |

## Top 3 Fixes

1. Add author bio with credentials (Expertise +15)
2. Link to corrections policy from footer (Trustworthiness +12)
3. Inject FAQ schema for the 5 questions implicit in H2s (Authoritativeness +8)

## All Recommendations
[...]

## Audit Trail
[3-count of analysis steps, sources cited, time taken]
```

### JSON for pipelines

```bash
python3 scripts/aeo_audit.py --url <url> --output json
```

Returns full structured data for integration with content management workflows.

## Industry-Specific E-E-A-T Thresholds

| Industry | Min Composite | Critical Signals |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 85 | Medical reviewer byline, peer-reviewed citations, FDA disclosure |
| Finance | 85 | Author CFA/CPA credentials, "not investment advice" disclaimer, dated examples |
| Legal | 85 | Jurisdiction disclosed, attorney bio, "not legal advice" disclaimer |
| SaaS | 70 | Product manager byline, case study with metrics, ROI calculator |
| E-commerce | 65 | Product reviews aggregated, return policy, schema.org Product |
| B2B | 70 | Industry analyst quotes, customer logos, ROI data |
| Media | 70 | Editorial policy, fact-check link, original reporting |
| Education | 75 | Instructor bio, learning outcomes, accreditation if applicable |

## Anti-Patterns Rejected

- **Keyword stuffing for AI** — LLMs already extract topic from semantics; keyword density doesn't boost citation likelihood
- **Pure AI-generated content with no human review** — generic LLM output gets de-prioritized by RAG retrieval algorithms looking for distinctive signal
- **Citation farms / link wheels** — modern LLM RAG penalizes low-authority linked networks
- **Schema spam** — false or unverifiable schema.org claims get filtered; only mark up real, verifiable claims
- **Optimizing for one LLM at expense of others** — citation distributions are highly correlated across major LLMs because they share training data sources; optimize for the shared signals (E-E-A-T) not per-LLM hacks
- **Ignoring SEO entirely** — AEO citations often originate from sources that already rank well organically; AEO and SEO are complements, not substitutes

## Dependencies

- **stdlib-only** for all 3 scripts — no `pip install` required
- **Optional**: `requests` + `beautifulsoup4` if `--url` mode used (otherwise pass markdown via `--input` for file-based audits)
- **Optional**: any LLM API key for `query_research` mode (currently scaffold-only — full LLM-driven query research is roadmap)

## Storage

All data is local-first:
- `~/.aeo-data/citations.json` — citation ledger
- `~/.aeo-data/patterns.json` — success patterns library
- `~/.aeo-data/audits/<hash>.md` — saved audit reports

No telemetry. No cloud sync. Export to CSV anytime via `citation_tracker.py --action export`.

## Trigger Phrases

- "AEO audit", "AEO check"
- "optimize for ChatGPT / Perplexity / Claude / Gemini"
- "get cited by [LLM]"
- "LLM citation strategy"
- "answer engine optimization"
- "content for AI search"
- "E-E-A-T audit"
- "track AI citations"
- "schema for AI"

## Related Skills

- `marketing-skill/skills/seo-audit` — traditional click-through SEO
- `marketing-skill/skills/programmatic-seo` — template-driven SEO at scale
- `marketing-skill/skills/content-strategy` — broader content planning
- `marketing-skill/skills/copywriting` — voice + tone
- `marketing-skill/skills/schema-markup` — structured data implementation

---

**Version:** 2.7.3
**Source:** Ported from [`alirezarezvani/aeo-box`](https://github.com/alirezarezvani/aeo-box) (`answer-engine-optimization/` skill, 2,464 LOC across 9 modules). This port distills the 9-module Python toolkit into 3 stdlib CLI tools per the claude-skills convention; preserves the E-E-A-T scoring methodology, citation-tracking schema, and industry-aware thresholds verbatim.
**License:** MIT (matches upstream + this repo).

When to use

Audit content structure and citation signals. Use AI Search Visibility Planning for broader visibility strategy.

What you get

The complete original guidance with attributed source and declared limitations.

How it works

Clarify the task and evidence, then apply relevant source instructions within authorized scope.

Requirements

Content, target queries, audience and dated citation observations.

Delivery and review notes

Brief source danger screening: full-text pattern triage and review of flagged passages, not a comprehensive audit or functional test. Scoring and E-E-A-T weights do not prove factual authority or future citations. Query-research mode is described as scaffold-only; do not present it as working. Referenced scripts, templates, integrations and sibling skills are not supplied or installed unless explicitly listed as included. External calls, account changes, messages and file writes require the actual user task and authorization.

Starting prompt

Use AI Citation Content Audit for [TASK]. Ask for missing inputs: Content, target queries, audience and dated citation observations. Identify assumptions and missing tools before execution; do not claim results or approvals without evidence.

Not for

Claiming runtime installation, certified safety, verified numerical outputs or permission for external actions merely from loading this source.

What M11 added

German routing, task scope and source limitations. Original author attribution: alirezarezvani (repository; source author not declared). Brief source danger screening: full-text pattern triage and review of flagged passages, not a comprehensive audit or functional test. Scoring and E-E-A-T weights do not prove factual authority or future citations. Query-research mode is described as scaffold-only; do not present it as working. Referenced scripts, templates, integrations and sibling skills are not supplied or installed unless explicitly listed as included. External calls, account changes, messages and file writes require the actual user task and authorization.

Original authorship remains with alirezarezvani/claude-skills · Original source ↗

Original license & copyright

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Alireza Rezvani

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.

Source SHA-256: c2b1fe51416b7e4e951ce55072d937c4c5783b92573c88714c58e27cefa862fe
Snapshot checked: 2026-09-28T15:50:31.645Z

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