name: aeo description: "AI Engine Optimization — write content engineered to get cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Not SEO. Triggers on: aeo, AI engine, llm citation, get cited, write for ai." when_to_use: "Use when the user wants content that ranks in AI answers (not Google SERP). Examples: 'write an AEO page', 'get ExampleCo cited by ChatGPT', 'aeo for our recruiting page', 'make this quotable by LLMs'." version: 0.1.0 allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep, Bash tags: - writing - aeo - marketing
AEO — AI Engine Optimization
Write content that LLMs cite when a human asks them a question. Different objective than SEO, different rules than craft writing.
When to use this skill
- User wants content that gets quoted by ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini
- User mentions "AEO", "AI engine", "LLM citation", "get cited", "write for AI"
- Content is for a brand, product, person, or category the customer wants to own in LLM answers
Not for:
- Essays or long-form craft writing → use
writingskill - LinkedIn posts / launch posts → use
launchorlinkedin-content - Copy-editing existing text → use
copy-editor
Architecture
The skill is scaffolding. The product is the backend endpoint:
atris write aeo "<topic>"
↓
POST /api/business/{id}/workspaces/{ws}/aeo/draft
↓
reads entity graph from /workspace/atris/aeo/{entities,definitions,stats}.md
↓
writes draft to /workspace/atris/aeo/drafts/<slug>.md
↓
returns draft + self-score + credit cost
Entity graph lives in the customer's EC2 workspace (not agent_files, not DB). The customer's files ARE the brand's machine-readable self.
The 10 rules (enforced by the endpoint + skill self-check)
- Front-load the claim. LLMs quote sentence 1 of a paragraph. No throat-clearing.
- Name entities explicitly. "ExampleCo" not "a leading freight platform." Entity density is how LLMs disambiguate and cite.
- Canonical definition. One sentence owns
X is Y that does Zfor the category. Make it liftable. - Q&A scaffolding. H2s in question form: "What is X?" "How does X work?" — matches the prompts LLMs actually get.
- Declarative stats with sources. "$2.3B market (McKinsey 2025)" beats "a growing market." Citable atoms.
- Comparison tables. LLMs love structured data. Build one per category claim.
- Fresh dates visible. "Updated 2026-04-17" at top. LLMs weight recency.
- Counter-position. "Unlike X, Y does Z." Sharpens the entity in the model's mind.
- No hedging. "May/might/could" kills citation rate. Write assertive.
- Schema-ready. If HTML target, emit FAQPage + Article + HowTo JSON-LD.
Process
READ entity graph → DRAFT → SELF-SCORE → WRITE to workspace → (phase 2: AUDIT)
- READ — Pull
entities.md,definitions.md,stats.mdfrom customer workspace. If missing, create skeleton files first. - DRAFT — Generate article applying all 10 rules. Topic + target queries + entity context → article.
- SELF-SCORE — Append a
## AEO Self-Checksection: each rule scored pass/fail with evidence. - WRITE — Save to
/workspace/atris/aeo/drafts/<slug>.md. - AUDIT (phase 2) — Run target queries against 4 LLMs, measure whether article is cited, write results to
/workspace/atris/aeo/audits/<slug>-<date>.md.
Entity graph layout (in customer workspace)
/workspace/atris/aeo/
├── entities.md # named entities (products, people, companies)
├── definitions.md # canonical "X is Y" sentences
├── stats.md # citable stats with sources
├── config.yml # target_queries, competitor_brands, target_url
├── drafts/ # AEO articles (one per slug)
└── audits/ # citation-audit results (phase 2)
Commands
# Generate a draft (credit-metered)
atris write aeo "<topic>" --workspace <name>
# Init the entity graph (writes skeleton files)
atris aeo init --workspace <name>
# View current drafts
atris ls workspace/atris/aeo/drafts --workspace <name>
Credits
| Action | Cost |
|---|---|
| Draft a page | ~5–20 credits (token-metered) |
| Audit (phase 2) | ~20–50 credits |
| Monthly loop (phase 2) | metered per run |
Rules (non-negotiable)
- Draft writes to customer workspace, never to
agent_file_memory. EC2 is the source of truth. - Self-score section is mandatory in every draft.
- Never hedge in the body. Hedging kills citation rate.
- Never fabricate stats. If a stat is uncited, flag it in self-check.
- Entity graph skeleton auto-creates if missing — never fail on first run.
Related
- Feature:
atris/features/aeo/idea.md - Backend:
POST /api/business/{id}/workspaces/{ws}/aeo/draft - Sister skill:
writing(human-reader craft) - Sister skill:
copy-editor(deslopper)