---
id: "concept-ai-engine-optimization"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§ Decades of Marketing Science Built for a Different Customer"]
tags: ["seo", "discoverability", "structured-data", "ai-engine-optimization"]
related: ["concept-bnn-vs-ann", "contrarian-visibility-vs-persuasion"]
speakers: ["Kartik Hosanagar"]
definition: "The practice of structuring content for AI crawlers, which the author argues is insufficient because it solves for visibility rather than AI-specific persuasion."
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-tier2-05-market-to-ai-customer"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/how-do-you-market-to-an-ai-customer"
sourceTitle: "How Do You Market to an AI Customer?"
---
# AI Engine Optimization (AEO)

**AI Engine Optimization (AEO)** is the practice of making digital content structured and crawlable so AI agents can easily find and ingest it — the AI-era successor/complement to SEO (schema markup, feed quality, protocol integration).

[[entity-kartik-hosanagar]] flags a critical misconception: marketers assume AEO (visibility) is sufficient. But because AI agents don't just filter information — they actively make purchasing decisions — merely being visible to an AI crawler is inadequate. Marketers must move beyond AEO to learn how to *persuade* the agent, a challenge complicated by the fact that ANN decision-making does not align with human ([[concept-bnn-vs-ann|BNN]]) psychological triggers. This distinction is the crux of the contrarian insight [[contrarian-visibility-vs-persuasion]]. Structuring machine-readable data is still the necessary baseline — see the action [[action-structure-machine-readable-data]] and the Commerce Layer of the [[framework-agentic-tech-stack]].

*Enrichment note:* practitioners already distinguish **visibility metrics** (how often a brand/product appears in AI outputs) from **conversion outcomes** (actual selection/purchase). The conceptual distinction — being in the consideration set (AEO) vs. being selected (persuasion) — is well supported. The "persuasion of AI agents" layer itself remains under-researched and forward-looking.


## Related across articles
- [[concept-answer-engine-optimization]]
- [[concept-generative-engine-optimization-d1]]
- [[concept-ai-agent-optimization-aao]]