Question 1

What exactly is cite-met?

Accepted Answer

cite-met is an Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) platform. We show you whether ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are citing your site — and give you the hosting, analytics, and tools to get cited more. Our dashboard separates Human, SEO, and AEO performance so you can see which AI engines cite which pages, instead of guessing. We also generate the technical signals AI engines look for (llms.txt, sitemaps, structured data) and keep your content fast and crawlable. Check your AEO visibility now.

Question 2

Who is this for?

Accepted Answer

Founders, growth and SEO leads, agencies, and developers — anyone who needs to know whether AI is citing their site and wants to do something about it. Founders use it to track a brand-new category of visibility; growth and SEO teams use it to measure AEO separately from classic search; agencies use it to report AI citations to clients; developers use it to ship fast, crawlable sites and wire up the technical signals. Check your AEO visibility now.

Question 3

What does C.M.E.T. stand for?

Accepted Answer

It is our framework for AEO: [C]ited — making sure AI engines can read and reference your source material. [M]emorable — structuring content so it sticks in the model's context. [E]ffective — focusing on real citations and outcomes, not vanity traffic. [T]rackable — analytics on which AI bots visit and cite your pages. Read our complete CiteMET guide to learn how each pillar works in detail.

Question 4

What is AEO, and how is it different from SEO?

Accepted Answer

SEO optimizes for clicks from a ranked list of links. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) optimizes for being cited inside the answer that ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews generate. The technical foundations overlap — fast sites, structured data, clean HTML — but the goal diverges: SEO wants you at the top of a list; AEO wants you quoted in the essay. The key difference cite-met adds is measurement: we report AEO as its own channel, separate from Human and SEO traffic, so you can tell which engines are actually citing you.

Question 5

What is the difference between GEO and AEO?

Accepted Answer

They're the same thing. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) both refer to optimizing your content so AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews cite it when they generate answers. The terminology varies; the goal is identical. We use 'AEO' as our primary term. Explore our CiteMET methodology.

Question 6

Is AEO real yet, or is it hype?

Accepted Answer

It's real, and it's measurable — which is exactly why we built the measurement first. Hundreds of millions of people now ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity instead of searching, and Google's AI Overviews answer questions above the classic blue links. Those answers cite sources, and AI crawlers (ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended) request real pages you can see in your logs. cite-met surfaces that traffic and ties it to the pages being cited, so you don't have to take AEO on faith — you can watch it happen. Explore the shift to AI search.

Question 7

Why isn't AI citing my website?

Accepted Answer

Usually one of three reasons: AI engines can't cleanly read your pages, they don't have the signals they look for, or your content doesn't answer the question directly. AI crawlers reward pages that load fast, expose real HTML content, and carry the right metadata (llms.txt, sitemaps, structured data). cite-met first measures whether AI engines are reaching and citing you, then helps you close the gaps. Check your AEO visibility to see where you stand.

Question 8

Can I just ask Cursor or Lovable to "fix my AEO"?

Accepted Answer

AI coding tools generate source code — they don't measure whether ChatGPT or Perplexity actually cite the result, and they can't see your AI crawler traffic. That's the part cite-met owns: we track which AI engines visit and cite which pages, report AEO as its own channel, and generate the technical signals (llms.txt, sitemaps, structured data) that improve readability. Use your favorite tools to build; use cite-met to find out whether the AI web can see and cite what you built.

Question 9

How does cite-met make my pages more AI-readable?

Accepted Answer

We handle the technical signals AI engines look for: fast, crawlable HTML, auto-generated llms.txt and sitemaps, and structured data injection. If you host with us, your content is served as fast static assets from the edge so crawlers get the full page instantly. AI-readiness is a capability, not the whole story — the platform also measures whether that readability is translating into real citations.

Question 10

What is llms.txt and why do I need it?

Accepted Answer

llms.txt is the emerging standard (proposed by Vercel and others) that acts like a "Robots.txt" specifically for Large Language Models. It gives AI agents a concise, Markdown-formatted summary of your site and links to your core documentation. cite-met auto-generates this file based on your content structure. Learn everything about llms.txt and how it works.

Question 11

Do you help with Google (SEO) or just AI (AEO)?

Accepted Answer

Both. The optimizations we perform (SSG, Sitemaps, Meta Tags, SSL) are the foundational pillars of traditional Google SEO. By fixing your site for AI, you are automatically fixing it for Google.

Question 12

How do you track AI traffic?

Accepted Answer

Traditional analytics (like Google Analytics) filter out "bot" traffic because they think it's spam. We capture it. Our dashboard identifies specific user agents like ChatGPT-User, ClaudeBot, and Google-Extended so you can see exactly which AI models are reading your content. Discover how to measure your AEO impact with our analytics dashboard.

Question 13

Can GEO work alongside my existing SEO strategy?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. AEO/GEO doesn't replace SEO—it extends it. All the technical work we do (SSG conversion, structured data, sitemaps, fast load times) strengthens your traditional Google rankings too. You're not choosing between search engines and AI; you're covering both channels simultaneously. In fact, many businesses see their Google rankings improve after deploying with cite-met because we fix foundational technical issues.

Question 14

Why is now the right time to invest in GEO?

Accepted Answer

AI search is exploding, but most sites aren't optimized yet. Early adopters have a massive advantage: when ChatGPT or Perplexity can only find a handful of properly optimized sources on a topic, yours stands out. As more competitors catch on, the window narrows. Additionally, Google is rolling out AI Overviews globally—if you're not visible there, you're losing traffic. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to claim authority in your niche. Explore the future of AI search and why positioning now matters.

Question 15

Do I have to move my hosting to cite-met?

Accepted Answer

No. AEO analytics and the Script Manager work on the site you already run — you connect a domain and add one snippet. AI-ready hosting (pre-rendered pages, auto-generated llms.txt and sitemap) is there if you want it, but it's a capability, not a requirement. You can start with measurement and adopt the hosting later, or never.

Question 16

Will the Script Manager break my site?

Accepted Answer

No. The Script Manager adds and removes third-party tags — analytics, ad pixels, and similar — from one dashboard, so you can change tracking without redeploying. Your application code stays in your repository and is never modified. Remove a script and it's simply gone on the next load.

Question 17

Is my site secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. When you host with cite-met, every deployment runs on the Cloudflare Global Edge Network and includes enterprise-grade DDoS protection, a managed Web Application Firewall (WAF), and automatic SSL/TLS encryption.

Question 18

What happens if cite-met goes down? Will my site go offline?

Accepted Answer

No. Your site stays up. Because we compile your site into static assets and push them to the Cloudflare Edge (data centers in 330+ cities), your website operates independently of our dashboard. Even if we are doing maintenance, your site remains live and globally available.

Question 19

Do you own my code?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely not. You retain 100% ownership of your intellectual property. We only require access to your GitHub repository to build and deploy the site. You can disconnect your repository at any time.

Question 20

Can my team use it?

Accepted Answer

Yes. cite-met is built for teams — founders, growth and SEO leads, developers, and agencies reporting to clients. The dashboard separates Human, SEO, and AEO performance and shows which AI engines cite which pages, so non-technical stakeholders can read the AEO story while developers wire up the technical signals. The Script Manager also lets marketers add or remove tracking tags without involving a developer or redeploying. See plan details.

Question 21

Can I test before going live?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If you host with cite-met, we deploy a staging site after you link your GitHub, so you can preview your pages and check your visibility score before pushing to production. If you're only using AEO analytics and the Script Manager on your existing site, you connect a domain and add one snippet — nothing about your live site changes until you choose to act on what you measure.

Question 22

What happens if I cancel?

Accepted Answer

Your site will be taken offline from our platform at the end of your billing period. However, your code remains safely in your GitHub repository, unchanged. You are never locked in.

Question 23

Do you offer enterprise SLAs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our Authority plan ($99/mo) includes a 99.99% Uptime SLA, priority support, and dedicated infrastructure routing via Cloudflare Enterprise. See all plan details.

Question 24

How do I connect my custom domain to cite-met?

Accepted Answer

Both Pro and Authority plans support custom domains. When you're ready to connect your domain, we provide detailed step-by-step instructions including the exact DNS records (A records, CNAME records, and TXT verification records) to add at your domain registrar. The setup typically takes 5-10 minutes, and SSL certificates are provisioned automatically within 24-48 hours. See all plan details.

Question 25

How do I get my site onto cite-met?

Accepted Answer

If you want AI-ready hosting: push your project to GitHub (most builders, including Lovable, Bolt, and Cursor, have a one-click "Export to GitHub"), then go to platform.cite-met.com, link your repo, pick a plan, and your staging site is ready in minutes. If you only want AEO measurement and the Script Manager, you don't move anything — you connect a domain and add one snippet to the site you already run.

Question 26

How long does deployment take?

Accepted Answer

Your first build typically takes 2-5 minutes as we analyze your structure, generate the SSG config, and warm up the cache. Subsequent updates are faster.

Question 27

My C.M.E.T. score is still low after deploying. Why?

Accepted Answer

While we fix the infrastructure (Technical SEO), you still need to write good content. If your page has very little text, no clear headers, or vague descriptions, your score might still reflect that. Check out our Answer-First Content guides and learn about the Inverted Pyramid strategy.

Question 28

Will this work if my brand is completely new?

Accepted Answer

Yes—but it works differently. For established brands, AEO amplifies existing authority. For new brands, it builds authority from scratch by making you the most accessible, citable source in your niche. You won't outrank major publications overnight, but you will start appearing in AI answers faster than you'd rank on Google page one. New brands benefit enormously because AI tools prioritize clear, structured content over domain age. Learn how to build authorship signals for your brand.

Question 29

How quickly will I see results?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure fixes (SSG, llms.txt, sitemaps) take effect within 48-72 hours as AI bots re-crawl your site. You'll see your C.M.E.T. score improve immediately after deployment. However, earning consistent citations in AI answers depends on content quality and typically takes 2-4 weeks of active measurement. Our Analytics dashboard shows AI bot traffic within the first week, so you can verify crawlers are reading your optimized site. Read our measurement guide to track your progress.

Frequently Asked Questions

🎯 The Basics: What & Who

🤖 Getting Cited: AI-Readiness

⚙️ The Features: AEO & Optimization

🔒 Trust, Security & Infrastructure

💰 Pricing & Account

🚀 Getting Started

Still have questions?

Ranking isn't enough. Get cited.