If you’ve been told that getting your brand into AI-generated answers is about adding schema markup, running PR campaigns, or getting a few backlinks—forget it.
That’s not how large language models (LLMs) decide what to show.
The real driver of visibility is something far more practical—and far more measurable—called query fan-out.
What Is Query Fan-Out?
When someone types a question into ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, these tools don’t just take the words you give them and run a single search.
They fan out the original query into a network of related sub-queries—rewording, expanding, and narrowing the scope—before deciding what content to pull from.
Example:
User asks:
“What are the best vegetables to grow in Utah?”
LLM expands into:
- “Best vegetables for high-altitude gardening”
- “Vegetables that grow well in cold climates”
- “Short-season vegetable planting guide”
- “Frost-tolerant vegetables”
If your content only targets the exact phrase “best vegetables to grow in Utah” but ignores the surrounding micro-topics, you’re invisible to the AI’s broader retrieval net.
Why This Matters for AI Visibility
Traditional SEO taught us to optimize for the one big keyword.
AEO—Answer Engine Optimization—requires something different: optimizing for the entire conversation around your topic, because that’s what LLMs are actually querying.
You don’t need a bigger PR budget or a fancier schema implementation.
You need content that matches the real question network an LLM explores when building an answer.
How aeo.press Solves This
aeo.press is built for the query fan-out world.
We:
-
Map the Fan-Out Network
Your website chatbot identifies not just your ranking keywords, but the questions LLMs are likely to generate from them to answer your customer questions. -
Highlight Content Gaps
aeo.press reveals where you’ve nailed the primary query but failed to cover critical supporting angles. -
Optimize for AI-Friendly Structure
aeo.press ensures your content is structured so LLMs can easily extract, connect, and trust your answers across the fan-out spectrum. -
Track AI Visibility Over Time
See if your updates actually increase presence inside LLM-generated answers—not just search rankings.
The Bottom Line
Visibility in AI answers doesn’t go to the brand with the prettiest schema.
It goes to the brand that’s everywhere the AI looks when it fans out a query.
If you’re only targeting your core keyword, you’re playing old-school SEO in a new-school AI game.
With aeo.press, you’ll see understand your customer question network—and own it.
If you want to learn more about Query Fan-Out, you can read the white paper from Primary Position.