Ebook only
Answer Engine Optimization
CAD $9.99
EPUB. Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play Books, any e-reader.
17 chapters, ~60,000 words. The framework, the field, the research, the 90-day plan.
Get the ebookAnswer Engine Optimization The Practitioner's Guide to AI Search Visibility
Answer Engine Optimization is for SEO practitioners, content strategists, digital marketers, and agency owners working out what to do about ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Copilot.
AI search changed the rules. 17 chapters, a diagnostic called Access, Structure, Authority, and 50+ deploy-ready files.
Why this book
Online discovery just changed. A prospect asks ChatGPT to recommend a solution in your category, and your competitor gets cited. You rank first on Google, and the AI Overview summarises someone else's page. Sixty-nine percent of searches ended without a click in 2025. The old rules still work. They do not cover what is new.
Every recommendation sits under one question: does this help AI access the content, extract from it, or trust it. Every claim is sourced; uncertain ones are labelled ESTABLISHED, EMERGING, or SPECULATIVE so you know what to act on.
- Why traditional SEO and AEO overlap only 8–12% (Ahrefs, 15,000-prompt study)
- The terminology: AEO, GEO, LLMO, AIO, position zero, RAG, knowledge graphs
- How AI retrieval actually works, and which signals move the needle
- Technical access: robots.txt for AI bots, JavaScript rendering, CDN and WAF tuning
- llms.txt from first principles, with a decision tree for 11 hosted platforms (Webflow, Framer, WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, and more)
- Schema markup that earns citations, and schema you should not add
- Content structure, E-E-A-T, information gain, freshness, and entity optimization
- Third-party platforms that move AI citation weight: Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube
- Measurement, including first-party AI visibility reports from Bing, Google, and Perplexity
- A 90-day action plan you can start on Monday
Inside the book
17 chapters, grouped under the book's own framework plus a foundational and execution section. The framework itself is explained in the introduction; the three parts that follow each test one of the three citation conditions.
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Foundations
What AI search is, what it measures, and how AI retrieval actually works.
- Ch 1. The Shift That's Actually Happening
- Ch 2. Making Sense of the Acronyms: AEO, GEO, LLMO, and AIO
- Ch 3. How AI Answer Engines Actually Work
- Ch 4. The SEO Foundation You Can't Skip
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Access
Can AI bots reach your content.
- Ch 5. Making Your Site Legible to AI Bots
- Ch 6. The llms.txt File: Your AI-Readable Site Map
- Ch 7. Schema Markup: How to Speak Machine
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Structure
Can AI extract clean answers from it.
- Ch 8. Structuring Content for Extraction
- Ch 9. E-E-A-T: Why AI Systems Trust Some Sources and Ignore Others
- Ch 10. Freshness, Originality, and Information Gain
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Authority
Will AI trust and cite you.
- Ch 11. The Costs You're Opting Into
- Ch 12. Entity Optimization: Making AI Confident About Your Brand
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Execution
Where to act and how to measure whether it worked.
- Ch 13. Third-Party Platform Strategy: Where AI Actually Finds You
- Ch 14. Platform-Specific Playbooks
- Ch 15. Measuring What Actually Matters
- Ch 16. Your 90-Day AEO Action Plan
- Ch 17. What Comes Next
Pick a package
One-time purchase. CAD pricing; Gumroad converts at checkout.
Best value
Ebook + Supporting Files Bundle
CAD $44
Save CAD $4.99.
EPUB ebook plus a ZIP of deploy-ready files.
The book plus every template, schema, checklist, tracker, and worksheet in the AEO Tools and Template Files. Full contents listed below.
Get the bundleFor power users
AEO Tools and Template Files
CAD $39
ZIP of deploy-ready files. No ebook.
The working material on its own. For consultants, agencies, and in-house teams that want the templates in deploy-ready format.
Get the files
Checkout is on Gumroad. Your card statement reads
GUMROAD (merchant of record, handles tax and VAT).
Download lands in your Gumroad library right after payment.
Inside the Supporting Files
Not PDFs of templates. Deploy-ready files in the format each artefact is used in. Open, edit, rename, drop into a site.
- Access
- robots.txt in 3 variants (permit-all, citation-only, block-all); llms.txt sample plus a decision tree for 11 hosted platforms.
- Schema
- 7 JSON-LD templates pre-wrapped in
<script>tags; entity canonical-facts template; citation-density tracker. - Audit & measurement
- 60-item AEO audit checklist; quarterly content refresh template; GA4 AI-channel setup, server-log analysis script, monthly scorecard, 80-prompt starter bank.
- Action plan
- 90-day action plan in Markdown, PDF, Word, and a CSV tracker; hub-and-spoke content-cluster worksheet from Chapter 8.
- Platforms & research
- Per-platform playbooks (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, voice); Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube templates; 16-prompt AI prompt bank; full 50-site and 2-site audit data in narrative and JSON form.
Not ready to buy? Grab 2 files free at spencergoldade.ca/aeo-samples: the hub-and-spoke worksheet and the full 90-day action plan in all 4 formats.
Who wrote this?
Spencer Goldade is a Calgary-based product leader with over fifteen years in UX, product design, product management, and product operations. The book came out of a 50-site AEO readiness audit: technically sound content with strong SEO still invisible to AI search because of fixable structural problems. That research anchors the book.
Questions
What does Answer Engine Optimization cover?
The book covers how to make a site visible, extractable, and citable by AI search. It is built around a three-part diagnostic called Access, Structure, Authority. Topics include robots.txt for AI bots, llms.txt, schema markup, content structure, E-E-A-T, entity optimization, third-party platforms, and measurement.
Who is this book for?
SEO practitioners, content strategists, digital marketers, agency owners, and product marketers working out what to do about AI search. The voice is practitioner to practitioner. The framework applies to sites of any size and to teams that range from one person to an agency.
What format is the ebook?
EPUB. Works on Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play Books, and any modern e-reader. The book does not ship as a PDF or MOBI from this store. The Supporting Files bundle, sold separately, includes a PDF and a Word file of the 90-day action plan.
What is the Access, Structure, Authority framework?
Three tests a page has to pass before AI will cite it. Access means AI bots can reach the content. Structure means AI can extract clean answers from it. Authority means AI trusts the source enough to quote it. The three parts of the book match these three tests.
How do the Supporting Files relate to the ebook?
The book names roughly 50 templates, schemas, checklists, trackers, and worksheets throughout the chapters. Those artefacts ship as the AEO Tools and Template Files product, a ZIP of deploy-ready files (txt for robots.txt, pre-wrapped HTML for schema, CSV for trackers, Markdown and Word and PDF for the 90-day plan). You can buy the ebook alone, the files alone, or the two together.
Do retail buyers on Amazon or Kobo get the Supporting Files?
No. Retail buyers get the ebook plus 2 free samples at spencergoldade.ca/aeo-samples (hub-and-spoke worksheet + 90-day plan in 4 formats). The full Supporting Files are sold separately here.
Which package should I pick?
Most readers want the Ebook plus Supporting Files Bundle at CAD $44, which saves CAD $4.99 versus buying the two products apart. Pick the Ebook on its own if you are reading first and will decide about the templates later. Pick the AEO Tools and Template Files on its own if you already have the book from a retail store and only want the working material.
What happens when I click a buy button?
You land on the product page on Gumroad to complete the purchase. Gumroad is the merchant of record and handles tax and VAT; your card statement and receipt read GUMROAD. The download lands in your Gumroad library right after payment.
Will I get updates when I find an error in the book or files?
Corrective updates only. If an error surfaces in the ebook or a supporting file, the Gumroad library copy is updated for everyone who bought the affected product. New editions of the book and new artefacts added to the bundle are separate releases, not free updates to existing buyers.
Is there a print or paperback edition?
Coming soon. A paperback edition is in progress and will be added as a separate Amazon KDP listing once the print ISBN is issued. The ebook and the Supporting Files bundle ship now; the paperback follows when the ISBN clears.
Is there an audiobook?
No. There is no audiobook edition planned for this release. The book has a lot of code, schema, and fill-in templates that do not translate well to audio.