The operational definition, the public evidence boundary, and the nearby concepts an operator needs before using the term in a diagnosis.
Answer engine optimization is the practice of making public information easier for answer systems to access, interpret, attribute, and represent accurately. It improves the evidence surface but cannot guarantee inclusion in a particular answer.
Definition before diagnosis.
Read the definition as a contract. It keeps a useful public observation from expanding into an outcome the scan cannot see.
AEO work can include crawl access, clear entity language, attributable claims, useful page structure, and consistent machine-readable declarations. These are controllable inputs a business can inspect and improve.
Actual answers vary by engine, prompt, location, time, source set, and model behavior. Measuring mentions or citations therefore requires dated prompt runs and preserved snapshots; page changes alone are not proof of visibility.
Inspect the submitted public surface and the declarations it returns.
Keep the rule, page signal, severity, and stated limitation together.
Do not infer private revenue, conversion, delivery, or customer behavior.
The free scan begins with the page you submit and routes its result through a private email-linked intake. It does not access private analytics or CRM data.
Public pages only. The $97 report comes after the result.