Deciding what to publish for AEO means starting from the sub-queries engines actually run behind buyer questions, and the sources they already cite, rather than from keyword volume.
Keyword tools describe what people type into Google. Answer engines do not work that way: they decompose a question into narrower queries, retrieve sources for each, and compose an answer. Optimising for the original question misses the layer where citations are actually won.
So teams publish more, rank fine, and still never get cited. The content was answering a question the engine never ran.
Query fan-out analysis shows the sub-queries engines ran behind each of your prompts, aggregated across engines, countries and dates so you can see which recur rather than reacting to one sample.
The pages engines pull for those questions tell you the format and depth that wins in your category, which is often not what your content calendar assumes.
Owned citations show which of your URLs get pulled in and which are ignored. This is usually the uncomfortable part and the most useful.
Citation Impact ranks the pages carrying your presence, so the next brief goes where it compounds rather than being spread evenly.
Who it's for. Content and SEO leads who have run out of ideas from keyword tools and want the questions the engines are asking themselves.
This job leans on these parts of the platform.
The hidden sub-queries an engine runs behind a question, so you can write for what it actually searched.
Which of your own pages AI engines actually cite, and which ones they ignore.
The handful of pages carrying your presence in AI answers, so effort goes where it counts.
Keyword tools tell you what people type into a search box. Engines search their own generated sub-queries, which is a different and usually narrower set. Both are useful; only one of them tells you why you did or did not get cited.
It tells you which questions recur, what already gets cited for them, and where your own pages fall short. The brief is still yours to write.
The AI Index is a free public view of what engines recommend by industry. This is the same idea run against your prompts, your competitors and your own pages.
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