The AEO playbook

From invisible to named in the answer.

How we take a brand from missing in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to showing up when buyers ask which tool to use. Six stages, with the inputs, approvals and measurements that keep every claim checkable.

Echoic team · Updated October 2026

After the first fix

One audit. More places the engines read about you.

  1. 01 · Usually first

    Your own site

    Comparison and alternatives pages the engines can quote.

  2. 02 · Weeks 2 to 6

    Reviews and listings

    G2, Capterra and Product Hunt pages with real customer voice.

  3. 03 · Weeks 4 to 8+

    Forums and press

    Reddit threads, LinkedIn posts and coverage that compound.

Typical timing is 30 to 60 days, and no one can guarantee what an engine says.

In this playbook

One question set. Six connected stages.

A real product, a clear buyer and the questions that buyer types. The order adapts to where you're missing, and we never promise a ranking.

  1. 01Scan the answers
  2. 02Find why you're missing
  3. 03Write where they read
  4. 04Publish with your yes
  5. 05Re-run every week
  6. 06Separate mentions from pipeline

01 / 06

Scan the answers

Start with the questions your buyers type, not keywords. We ask 40 of them on four engines, 3 to 5 times each, because the answer changes from one run to the next.

What you get
A baseline: how often you're named, who gets named instead, and on which engine.
From your team
Your category, ideal buyer, top three competitors and how customers describe the problem.
Before moving on
The agreed question set and competitor list, so before and after use the same yardstick.

The baseline

  • Buyer questions40
  • Engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Overviews4
  • Runs of each question3 to 5

The same questions before and after, so the change is measured, not guessed.

02 / 06

Find why you're missing

The engines don't invent recommendations. They repeat what they read. So we trace what they quote when they name a competitor, page by page.

What you get
A gap map: the threads, listings and pages the engines cite, and where you're absent from each.
From your team
Access to your current content, review profiles and any comparison pages already live.
Before moving on
The priority gaps, ranked by how often each source shows up in answers.

Where the engines read

  • Reddit threadsreddit.com
  • Review listingsg2.com, capterra.com
  • Competitor comparison pagestheir site
  • Reference pageswikipedia.org
  • Your siteoften no page cited

Real audits list every cited URL.

03 / 06

Write where they read

AI leans more on reviews, comparisons and forum threads than on backlinks. We write for those places in your team's voice, with facts you can stand behind.

What you get
A content plan and drafts for each gap, with the claim, the source and the destination.
From your team
Someone who can answer product questions, customers willing to review, and brand approvals.
Before moving on
Product facts, pricing details and every disclosure checked.

Where we write · 6 channels

  • Reddit

    Threads that name you

  • LinkedIn

    Posts from your team

  • Reviews

    G2, Capterra, Product Hunt

  • Wikipedia

    Sourced, disclosed edits

  • Press

    Editors who cover you

  • Your site

    Comparison pages

No spam, no fake reviews, no backlink farms.

04 / 06

Publish with your yes

Nothing goes live without you. Site changes arrive as a pull request or a CMS draft. Everything off your site needs your approval on the copy.

What you get
A publishing schedule, each piece's destination, and who replies to questions in each thread.
From your team
A named approver, a reviewer for technical claims, and a ready landing page.
Before moving on
Final fact checks, links and affiliation disclosures on every post.

Every piece waits on you

  • Your sitePull request or CMS draft
  • Reddit, LinkedInYour yes on the copy, disclosed
  • ReviewsReal customers, in their words

05 / 06

Re-run every week

The work is half of it. The other half is knowing what moved, what slipped and who took your place. Then we change the content to match what the engines cite.

What you get
A weekly movement report by question and engine, with the next fixes ranked.
From your team
Product updates, plus what sales hears buyers asking on calls.
Before moving on
New questions to add and the next round of content.

Each week, per engine

  • ChatGPTNamed in, of 40 questions
  • PerplexityNamed in, of 40 questions
  • GeminiNamed in, of 40 questions
  • AI OverviewsNamed in, of 40 questions

A slip on one engine is where next week's work goes.

06 / 06

Separate mentions from pipeline

Being named is exposure, not leads. We report visibility separately from traffic and demo requests, and we say plainly where attribution runs out.

What you get
Before and after on the same questions, the sources now citing you, and measured leads where tracking exists.
From your team
Analytics access, a "How did you hear about us?" field, and agreed lead definitions.
Before moving on
The reporting period, data sources and which results you're happy to share.

Visibility

  • Named in answers
  • Engines naming you
  • Sources citing you

Pipeline

  • AI-referred visitsMeasured
  • Demo requests citing AISelf-reported
  • Closed revenueNot attributed

Two columns, never one blended number.

Find out what AI says about you.

20 minutes. We run three of your buyer questions live on the call and you see where you stand.