Content Engineering Certifications

Two certifications.
One discipline

Content Engineering combines creativity, taste, and systems design to build visibility across AI and traditional share. It takes two core skills: Reading the field and building on it. These certifications prove you can do both.

The role

AEO Analyst

Reading the field is where every Content Engineer starts. This certification proves you can. You diagnose where your brand shows up in answer engine optimization (AEO), find what's missing, and build the case that gets budget, headcount, and executive attention.

What makes a great AEO Analyst

The best analysts read AI search the way a trader reads a market: patterns, signals, gaps, and opportunity. They know how to pull insight from the data, spot what competitors miss, and tell the story that gets the right people to act. These are the intelligence skills every Content Engineer needs.

01

AI search fluency

You understand how LLMs retrieve, rank, and cite content. You know the difference between how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews surface information, and why that matters for your brand's visibility.

Intelligence
02

Brand visibility diagnosis

You can audit where a brand appears, and where it doesn't, across AI answer engines. You track citation rate, citation share, and sentiment. More importantly, you know what the numbers actually mean.

Intelligence
03

Prompt-intent mapping

You think in prompts, not keywords. You understand how real people ask AI for recommendations, and you map those queries to content opportunities your brand should own.

Intelligence
04

Content gap identification

You surface the specific topics, questions, and use cases where your brand is missing from AI answers. Then you prioritize which gaps to close first based on impact.

Evaluate
05

Strategic Recommendation

You don't just find the gaps. You make the case for what to do about them. You identify the single highest-priority action and build the justification that gets your work funded and moving.

Take Action
06

Narrative that lands internally

You translate AEO data into the language your leadership team already speaks: pipeline, revenue, competitive position. You know how to tell the story so the right people pay attention and the work gets prioritized.

Evaluate
Certification path

What you must demonstrate

One deliverable: a structured internal report. The kind you'd actually hand a CMO or VP of Marketing. Run the diagnostic on your brand, and prove you can analyze, diagnose, and communicate.

  1. Setup

    Set up your brand in AirOps

    Use your own brand, or a client's brand if you're at an agency or freelancing. Configure your dashboard, connect your data, and get your AEO environment ready to run the full diagnostic.

    Platform setupBrand configuration
  2. Diagnostic analysis

    Run the CITED diagnostic

    Work through the four questions that structure every strong AEO analysis:

    • Are we in the conversation?
    • Are we growing our visibility?
    • Are we positioned correctly?
    • What are we doing next, and why?

    This is where you prove you can read the data, not just pull it.

    CITED diagnosticVisibility analysisGap identification
  3. Report deliverable

    Build the report that makes the case

    Turn your findings into a structured internal report: current state, where the gaps are and why, and the single highest-priority action with your justification. Write it for the person who needs to act on it, not the person who already understands AEO.

    Strategic communicationPrioritizationBusiness case
How you're graded

Grading criteria

Reviewers evaluate your submission across each criterion. Each carries a weighted score, and your final grade is the weighted total. Here's exactly what they look for.

Analytical rigor

30%

How well do you interpret data and draw meaningful conclusions? We look for clear reasoning, accurate reads on visibility metrics, and insight that goes beyond surface-level observation.

Strategic thinking

30%

Can you connect analysis to a prioritized action plan? We evaluate how well you turn findings into a clear "do this next" with measurable outcomes tied to it.

Technical accuracy

25%

Do you show correct understanding of how AI search works? This covers retrieval mechanics, citation behavior, platform differences, and AEO concepts. Mistakes here undermine everything else.

Communication clarity

15%

Could a marketing leader read your report and act on it? We look for clear structure, concise writing, and your own voice. If the report reads like it was generated by AI with no editing, it doesn't pass.

Submit your work

Ready to submit?

Make sure you have everything below before you start the submission form. We won't review incomplete submissions.

  1. Your written reportA completed AEO diagnostic and strategic recommendation as a written document (PDF or Google Doc link). This is your single deliverable. It should cover current state, gap analysis structured around the four diagnostic questions, and your prioritized recommendation with justification.