A customer searching for a local business no longer always types a short keyword and clicks through ten blue links. They ask questions. “Who is the best family dentist near me?” “Which plumber in Brisbane handles emergency leaks?” “Where can I find a reliable accountant for a small business in Ballarat?” “Which café in a regional town has gluten-free breakfast and good reviews?” Search engines and AI answer systems are increasingly built to respond directly, summarise options, compare businesses, and surface the sources they understand best. In Australia, this shift is already visible through Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. That is where AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation — becomes important. AEO is not a replacement for SEO. It is the next layer of visibility. Traditional SEO helps a page rank. AEO helps a business become easier for AI systems to interpret, trust, extract, and mention in answers.…