AI Assistive Engine Optimization
Optimising how well AI assistants and answer engines understand a brand, judge it credible, and deliver it to users. Coined by Jason Barnard in 2024.
What it actually means
AIEO splits the problem into three questions an assistant has to answer before it will say your name: does it understand what you are, does it believe you are credible, and can it actually deliver you to the user in a usable form.
That ordering is the useful part. Credibility work is wasted if the system has not resolved your identity, and delivery is irrelevant if it does not trust you. The sequence tells you which problem to fix first.
Understanding, credibility, deliverability
Understanding is entity work: consistent facts, a canonical home, unambiguous naming. Credibility is corroboration: what independent sources say, and whether they agree with you. Deliverability is practical: can the assistant surface you in the form the user needs, at the moment they need it.
Most brands invest in the third, some in the first, and almost none in the second, which is the one that decides whether a model will repeat a claim in its own voice.