Your best prospect is already searching near you. Your next best prospect is asking an answer engine for a quick, trusted summary. If you show up fast, clear, and credible, you win the click and the call.
Ready to boost your visibility? This guide walks you through how to fine-tune your local SEO and AEO for 2026. You’ll learn how to optimize your Google Business Profile, add smart schema, write answer-first content, and collect reviews that make a real impact. Plus, you’ll get clear insights into how Google’s AI Overviews and Bing’s Copilot highlight sources, and discover how you can become one of those trusted resources.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the practice of structuring pages so AI systems can quote you, cite you, and summarize you correctly. It is not a trick. It is content clarity plus machine-readable context.
Core AEO moves for agents:
Answer first. Lead pages with a two to three sentence plain answer. Follow with detail, examples, and links. This helps AI Overviews and people.
Use entity terms. Name your city, carrier names you discuss, product types, and “Medicare insurance agent” in natural sentences.
Add structured data. Mark up Local Business, FAQ Page, How To, and Organization where relevant. Google’s Local Business and structured data docs show what properties help.
Cite sources. When you explain Medicare rules, link to CMS or Medicare.gov. Answer engines favor useful, reliable pages that credit sources.
Show E-E-A-T signals. Add bylines, credentials, and contact info. Google’s rater guidelines emphasize experience, expertise, author identity, and site trust.
Google Business Profile (GBP) is your front door for local. Complete it, keep it accurate, and keep it active.
Setup checklist
Primary category: Health insurance agency
Secondary categories: Insurance broker, Medicare consultant, Health insurance broker (use what fits your services)
NAP: Name, address, phone match your site and listings
Hours: Add holiday hours and enrollment hours
Service area: Add cities you cover if you are a service-area business
Products and Services: List “Medicare plan reviews,” “ACA marketplace help,” “Small group quotes,” with short, plain descriptions
Photos: Exterior, interior, team, and screenshots of your quoting process
Booking link: Add your calendar link
Messaging and Q&A: Turn on messaging and seed Q&A with real questions and short, clear answers
Google states local ranking is based on relevance, distance, and prominence. Up-to-date profile info and quality reviews improve visibility and conversions in local results.
Ask for honest reviews after each enrollment or renewal. Reply to every review with short, helpful notes. Reviews and responses improve prominence and buyer confidence.
Give search engines clean, consistent signals.
Add name, logo, address, phone, hours, service area,, review snippets, and “knows about” where relevant. Google’s Local Business doc explains fields and examples.
Create an FAQ on key topics like ANOC, AEP/OEP dates, SOA basics, and subsidy eligibility. Mark it up with FAQ Page so answers are scannable for both users and answer engines.
Mark your brand sitewide with Organization schema and link to your social profiles. This helps systems resolve your entity.
Pro tip
If your whole site describes one agency, you only need Organization or Local Business markup once, then add page-level schema where useful.
Structure your service pages and guides for AEO and people.
Two-sentence answer block at the top
Bulleted key points with city or county references
Short table with plan types or timelines
Source links to Medicare.gov or CMS for rules
Local proof like case notes or anonymized quotes
Clear CTA to book a review
“Medicare plan review in [City]: what to bring”
“AEP dates and rules in [State] for 2026”
“How the $2,100 Part D cap affects costs” with simple examples and CMS links
“ACA marketplace help in [City]: eligibility and deadlines”
Google’s AI Overviews announcement and AI features documentation describe how summaries provide a starting point and link out to sources. Make your pages the clearest source worth citing.
Bing’s Copilot highlights cited sources inline, which rewards precise, well-structured answers.
Write short pages that feel like a helpful brief, not a brochure.
Neighborhood pages: “Medicare help in North Phoenix” with local clinics, senior centers, and transit notes
Event pages: “Free plan review day” with RSVP and parking info
Clinic partner page: List providers you work with and referral steps
Review page: Teach clients how to leave a review with one link and two prompts
Cross-link these pages from your GBP website link, from your main service page, and from each blog you publish.
Answer engines look for content that is useful, clear, and reliable.
E-E-A-T signals: Bio pages, licenses, years in market, speaking or training history
Contact clarity: Real address, phone, and staff names
Freshness: Update plan-year content and deadlines
Accessibility and speed: Fast pages, readable contrast, large tap targets
Source hygiene: Link to primary sources for rules and timelines
Google’s rater guidelines and blog posts stress useful content, clear purpose, and strong expertise. Treat every guide as something you would hand to a client during an appointment
Fix NAP and hours on GBP and site
Add products, services, and booking
Upload five photos and a short intro video
Send five review requests with a short script
Publish an answer-first “Medicare agent in [City]” page
Add FAQ Page markup to your main FAQ
Publish “AEP 2026 in [State]” with a two-sentence answer and a simple table
Add two CMS or Medicare.gov source links
Add LocalBusiness JSON-LD if missing
Check GBP Insights for calls, messages, and direction requests
Review Search Console queries and add missing questions to your FAQ
Add one clinic partner page and one event page
Google explains local ranking factors, and Search Central outlines how structured data aids understanding. Tie your month to those fundamentals.
Local SEO brings you into view.
AEO gets you cited in answers.
Together they win calls and clicks.
Quotit can help you turn both into sales.