AI-generated search answers now appear on Google (AI Overviews), Bing (Copilot), Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search. Each platform has its own crawler, its own preference signals, and its own rules for which content it will cite. Getting cited by one platform does not automatically mean you will be cited by others. This guide explains what each platform looks for and what one round of structured content work can accomplish across all four. Start with AEO schema markup to understand the foundational layer that benefits the most platforms at once.
AI Platform Radar: AEO Signal Weights
Click a platform to compare its AEO signal profile. Scores are relative benchmarks based on published ranking documentation and Botify/BrightEdge crawl studies.
Google AIO
Dominates search; PageRank + entity authority drive citation; FAQPage, HowTo and Article schema all confirmed as ranking signals.
AI Crawler Launch Timeline
Each AI platform operates its own web crawler with distinct robots.txt directives. Getting robots.txt directives right is a prerequisite for multi-platform AEO.
Robots.txt AI Crawler Planner
Select which AI crawlers to block. The tool generates the correct robots.txt directives and explains the real-world impact of each choice.
robots.txt output
# All AI crawlers permitted (no blocks selected)
Citation Habit Comparison
Each AI search platform uses different signals when selecting content to cite. Hover a row to see what each platform actively favors.
| Platform | Schema | Freshness | E-E-A-T | Long-form |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AIO | ||||
| Perplexity | ||||
| ChatGPT Search | ||||
| Bing Copilot |
Multi-Platform AEO Readiness Checklist
Items shown adapt to your selected reading level. Practitioner and Advanced unlock additional checklist items.