What is AEO? Agent Experience Optimization Explained

Published January 31, 2026 · 10 min read

AEO (Agent Experience Optimization) is the practice of optimizing your product, content, and digital presence to be discovered, evaluated, and recommended by AI agents.

As AI agents increasingly make decisions on behalf of humans—from booking flights to selecting software tools—a new frontier of optimization is emerging. AEO is about ensuring your product gets chosen when an AI agent is doing the choosing.

The Evolution: SEO → GEO → AEO

We're witnessing a fundamental shift in how products get discovered:

Why AEO Matters Now

AI agents are rapidly becoming decision-makers:

• Personal assistants booking restaurants, flights, and hotels
• Shopping agents comparing products and making purchases
• Business agents evaluating and selecting SaaS tools
• Developer agents choosing libraries and APIs
• Research agents gathering information and making recommendations

When an AI agent evaluates your product, it doesn't look at your beautiful landing page. It reads your documentation, checks your API, scans structured data, and evaluates trust signals programmatically.

The AEO Framework

1. Machine-Readable Content

AI agents need content they can parse and understand:

• llms.txt — A new standard for AI-readable site summaries
• Structured data — JSON-LD, Schema.org markup
• Clean APIs — Well-documented, consistent endpoints
• Markdown docs — Easy to parse and understand

# Example llms.txt
name: CMO Miko
description: AI-powered Chief Marketing Officer
capabilities:
  - SEO monitoring and optimization
  - Content strategy and creation
  - Growth analytics
pricing: Starting at $99/month
api: https://api.cmomiko.com/v1
docs: https://docs.cmomiko.com

2. API-First Design

If an AI agent can't interact with your product programmatically, you're invisible:

• Public API with clear documentation
• OAuth/API keys for agent authentication
• Webhooks for real-time updates
• Rate limits that accommodate agent usage patterns

3. Trust Signals for Machines

AI agents evaluate credibility differently than humans:

• Uptime history — Reliable services get recommended
• Response times — Fast APIs are preferred
• Error rates — Low error rates signal quality
• Version stability — Consistent APIs build trust
• Security certifications — SOC 2, GDPR compliance

4. Agent-Friendly Pricing

AI agents need to evaluate costs programmatically:

• Clear pricing tiers in machine-readable format
• Usage-based options for variable needs
• Trial/sandbox access for agent evaluation
• Bulk/API pricing for high-volume agent usage

5. Semantic Clarity

When an agent asks "What does this product do?", your answer must be crystal clear:

• One-sentence value prop that agents can quote
• Clear categorization (what category do you belong to?)
• Explicit capabilities (what can you do?)
• Explicit limitations (what can't you do?)

AEO Checklist

Is your product ready for AI agents? Check these:

• ☐ llms.txt file at your domain root
• ☐ Structured data (JSON-LD) on all pages
• ☐ Public API with documentation
• ☐ Machine-readable pricing information
• ☐ Clear, parseable product descriptions
• ☐ Uptime and status page
• ☐ Security/compliance documentation
• ☐ Changelog with version history

The Future of AEO

As AI agents become more sophisticated, AEO will evolve:

• Agent marketplaces — Where agents discover and compare products
• Agent reviews — AI agents rating products for other agents
• Negotiation protocols — Agents negotiating pricing and terms
• Trust networks — Decentralized reputation systems for agents

"In the future, your most important customer might not be a human—it might be an AI agent acting on a human's behalf."

Getting Started with AEO

Step 1: Audit Your Machine-Readability

Can an AI agent understand what your product does without seeing your UI?

Step 2: Create llms.txt

Add a simple, structured file that tells AI agents about your product.

Step 3: Document Your API

If you don't have an API, start planning one. If you do, make sure it's well-documented.

Step 4: Add Structured Data

Implement Schema.org markup on your key pages.

Step 5: Monitor Agent Traffic

Start tracking how AI agents interact with your site and API.

FAQ

Is AEO replacing SEO?

No. SEO remains important for human searches. AEO is an additional layer for the agentic future. Think of it as SEO + GEO + AEO working together.

When should I start thinking about AEO?

Now. AI agents are already evaluating products. Early movers who optimize for agents will have a significant advantage.

What's the difference between GEO and AEO?

GEO optimizes for AI that assists human decisions (like ChatGPT answering questions). AEO optimizes for AI that makes decisions autonomously (like an agent booking a flight).

Do I need to change my product for AEO?

Not necessarily. AEO is primarily about how you present and document your product, not changing the product itself. Though having an API becomes increasingly important.