Commerce LLM Discovery
AI answer engines are becoming the primary discovery channel. If your store isn't structured for LLM crawlers, you're invisible to the fastest-growing traffic source. We audit, fix, and optimize your AI visibility.
The Shift from SEO to AEO
Traditional SEO got you ranked on page one. That still matters. But increasingly, customers skip the search results entirely. They ask ChatGPT for a recommendation. They ask Claude to compare products. They ask Perplexity for the best solution in a category.
If your brand doesn't appear in those AI-generated answers, you're losing sales to competitors who do. This isn't hypothetical. AI answer engines are processing billions of queries per month and growing.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the discipline of making your site citable by AI systems. Structured data, schema markup, llms.txt files, semantic HTML, and content that AI can extract and reference. We build this into every site and offer standalone audits for existing sites.
What We Audit
ChatGPT & Claude Presence
We ask real questions about your product category and measure whether your brand appears in AI answers. If your competitors show up and you don't, we identify exactly why and fix it.
We test across multiple prompt styles: product recommendations, comparison queries, category research, and brand-specific questions. Each test is documented with the exact prompt, response, and your brand's presence (or absence).
Google AI Overviews
Google's AI-generated search results are replacing traditional snippets for many queries. Schema markup, structured data, and semantic content structure determine whether your site gets cited.
We audit your schema markup against Google's latest requirements, test your pages against AI Overview triggers, and optimize structured data so Google's AI can extract and cite your content accurately.
Perplexity & Search AI
Perplexity, You.com, and other AI search engines crawl differently than Google. They weight structured content, authority signals, and citation-worthy formatting.
We measure how AI search engines reference your products and content, score your discoverability, and implement changes that make your site more citable by AI crawlers.
llms.txt & Structured Data
llms.txt is the robots.txt equivalent for AI crawlers. It tells language models what your site is, what you sell, and how to reference you. Most sites don't have one.
We create and optimize llms.txt files, audit your full schema markup (JSON-LD), ensure semantic HTML structure supports AI extraction, and validate against the latest structured data specifications.
AEO Built Into Every Build
Commerce LLM Discovery is also a standalone audit. But every site we build ships with these AEO components from day one.
llms.txt
Machine-readable site summary for AI crawlers. Who you are, what you sell, how to reference you.
Schema Markup (JSON-LD)
Structured data for products, services, FAQs, organizations, and articles. Google and AI crawlers both use this.
Semantic HTML
Proper heading hierarchy, landmark elements, descriptive alt text, meaningful link text. Structure that machines can parse.
Content Authority Signals
Author credentials, citation-worthy statistics, original research references. Signals that make AI more likely to cite you.
FAQ Schema
Structured Q&A that appears in Google's People Also Ask and gets ingested by AI answer engines.
90+ Lighthouse Scores
Performance is a ranking signal for both Google and AI systems. Fast, accessible, well-built sites get cited more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
AEO is the practice of optimizing your website to appear in AI-powered search results and answer engines. This includes ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other AI systems that generate answers from web content. AEO focuses on structured data, schema markup, llms.txt files, and content structure that AI can extract and cite.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO optimizes for Google's traditional search rankings (links, keywords, page authority). AEO optimizes for AI answer engines that generate responses by synthesizing information from multiple sources. SEO gets you ranked on page one. AEO gets you cited in AI answers. You need both.
Is AEO included in every CommerceKing build?
Yes. Every site we build ships with AEO optimization from day one: llms.txt, schema markup, semantic HTML, FAQ schema, and 90+ Lighthouse scores. The Commerce LLM Discovery service adds a deeper audit and ongoing AI visibility monitoring on top of the standard build.
What is llms.txt?
llms.txt is a machine-readable file (similar to robots.txt) that tells AI language models what your site is about, what products or services you offer, and how to reference your brand. It helps AI crawlers understand your site without having to parse every page. Most sites don't have one yet, which is an opportunity.
Can you audit my competitors' AI visibility?
Yes. Our Competitive Intelligence service includes AI visibility benchmarking. We test how your competitors appear in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, then score each competitor's AEO readiness against yours.
How long does a Commerce LLM Discovery audit take?
A standard audit takes 1-2 weeks. It includes AI presence testing across multiple engines, structured data analysis, llms.txt review or creation, and a prioritized action plan. Implementation of recommendations (if we're also building your site) happens as part of the development process.
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