Docsbook
Overview

AEO — Answer Engine Optimization

AEO targets the surfaces where users get an instant answer instead of a list of links: Google's featured snippets and People Also Ask, Bing answer boxes, Alexa and Google Assistant voice responses, and increasingly the conversational front-end of every search.

Three structural patterns dominate these surfaces — FAQ, step-by-step instructions and short speakable summaries. Docsbook generates all three from regular markdown.

What Docsbook does when AEO is enabled#

Toggle AEO on in the admin SEO / GEO tab.

FAQPage auto-detect#

Any markdown section structured as an FAQ becomes FAQPage JSON-LD. The detector looks for two patterns:

  1. An ## FAQ (or Frequently Asked Questions) heading followed by ### Question? H3s — each H3 becomes a question.
  2. Any ### Question ending with a ? anywhere in the document.

Answers are extracted from the paragraphs between the question heading and the next heading. Up to 20 questions per page, answers capped at 1000 characters.

Authoring tip: keep each answer self-contained — Google strips the FAQ snippet from context, so it must read standalone.

## FAQ
 
### How do I add a custom domain?
 
Open the admin panel, go to Custom Domain, type `docs.yourcompany.com` and press save. SSL provisions in 30 seconds.
 
### Is GitBook export compatible?
 
Yes — Docsbook reads standard CommonMark from GitHub, the same format GitBook exports.

HowTo auto-detect#

Any H1/H2/H3 starting with "How to ..." (or Russian "Как ...") followed by a numbered list becomes a HowTo JSON-LD object. Each numbered item becomes a HowToStep with a name (first sentence) and text (full step).

Requirements: at least 3 numbered steps, capped at 20. Up to 5 HowTos per page.

## How to publish your first docs site
 
1. Go to docsbook.io and sign in with GitHub.
2. Paste the URL of any public repository.
3. Pick a name and click Publish — your site is live in 15 seconds.

Speakable markup#

The page's TechArticle schema gets a speakable block:

{
  "speakable": {
    "@type": "SpeakableSpecification",
    "cssSelector": [".tldr", "article > p:first-of-type", "h1"]
  }
}

Voice assistants (Google Assistant, Alexa) use this hint to know which parts of the page to read aloud. The selector list prioritizes the GEO TL;DR block (when GEO is on), then falls back to the first paragraph and H1.

Authoring patterns that win#

  • Phrase H2/H3 as questions — "How do I cancel a subscription?" outperforms "Subscription cancellation".
  • Keep answers 40–60 words — that's the sweet spot for featured snippet length.
  • Use tables and ordered lists — Google extracts these almost verbatim into rich results.
  • Open every FAQ answer with a direct yes/no/number — "Yes, Docsbook supports custom domains on PRO and PRO+ plans."

How to enable#

  1. Open your workspace admin panel (FloatWidget) → SEO / GEO tab.
  2. Toggle AEO — Answer Engine Optimization on.
  3. The change applies on next render — view source of any page to see FAQPage / HowTo JSON-LD if matching sections exist.

Updated

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