What is AI Answer Engine?

Search engines (Google) return links for you to click. Answer engines (Perplexity) synthesize information and give you a direct answer with citations. You don't have to click through, the answer is right there. It's a fundamental shift in how search works.

Perplexity is the largest pure answer engine. ChatGPT with browsing functions as one. Google's AI Overviews turn Google into a hybrid answer engine. Microsoft Copilot (Bing Chat) combines search and AI. All are growing in usage.

Same principles as AIO broadly: authoritative, well-structured content that directly answers questions. FAQ format works well. Be the definitive source on your topic. Answer engines pull from the best sources, be the best source.

Not replacing, but growing alongside. Different use cases emerge: quick factual answers go to AI, complex research might still use traditional search, commercial queries use both. Smart businesses optimize for all paths users might take.