What this means
Optimization for systems that return direct answers rather than only ranked links.
Historical record
Google publishes official guidance for generative AI Search visibility
Practitioners gained first-party guidance separating verified requirements from speculative AEO/GEO tactics.
Google introduces the conversational Google Assistant
Voice and assistant interfaces strengthened the need to become the selected answer, a core idea later associated with AEO.
Google introduces Featured Snippets
This is an important precursor to AEO: content structure and extractability became a visibility objective distinct from ordinary ranking.