SEO vs AEO vs GEO at a glance
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank pages in search results | Be the single direct answer | Be cited or recommended in AI answers |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results pages | Featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice answers | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Google AI Mode |
| Unit of success | A ranking and a click | A quoted passage | A brand mention or citation |
| Key tactics | Keywords, technical health, links, content depth | Question-led headings, short direct answers, tables | Entity clarity, third-party mentions, original data, crawler access |
| How to measure | Search Console rankings, clicks, traffic | Snippet ownership, AI Overview citations | Prompt tracking, AI referral traffic, Bing and Google AI reports |
| Typical time to results | 3 to 6 months | Weeks to months | Weeks for access fixes, months for reputation |
What is SEO?
SEO is the practice of improving a website so search engines can crawl it, understand it and rank it for relevant searches. It covers technical health (speed, indexing, mobile), content (answering what people search for) and authority (links and mentions from other sites). Every AI search system still depends on this base, because AI assistants search the web before they answer.
What is AEO?
AEO is optimising content so a search engine or assistant can lift it as the answer, without the user clicking through a list. The term grew up around featured snippets and voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant. Today it matters most for Google’s AI Overviews.
AEO in practice means: a question as the heading, a 40 to 60 word answer straight after it, then detail. Lists and tables help, because they are easy to extract cleanly.
What is GEO?
GEO is optimising for visibility inside answers written by large language models. The term comes from a 2023 research paper by Pranjal Aggarwal and colleagues, later accepted at the KDD 2024 conference. In their tests, targeted content changes raised a source’s visibility in generative engine answers by up to 40%.
GEO goes beyond your own website. AI models weigh what the wider web says about you: reviews, articles, directory listings and discussions. So GEO includes digital PR and reputation work, not just on-page edits.
What does Google say about AEO and GEO?
Google’s position, updated in July 2026, is that optimising for its AI features is still SEO. Its AI Overviews and AI Mode are built on Google’s core ranking systems. They find pages through retrieval (grounding) and query fan-out, where the AI runs several related searches to answer one question.
Google also lists tactics you can skip for its search: llms.txt files, splitting content into tiny chunks, rewriting purely for AI, and chasing fake mentions. That is useful guidance for Google. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude run their own crawlers and indexes, which is why GEO also covers bot access and off-site reputation.
Which one should your business focus on first?
Start with SEO, then layer AEO and GEO on top. In practice, one well-built page serves all three.
- Fix the foundation (SEO): make sure pages are indexed, fast and mobile-friendly, with one clear topic each.
- Format for answers (AEO): put the question in the heading and the answer in the first two sentences. Add a comparison table where it helps.
- Build your reputation (GEO): keep business details consistent, earn reviews and mentions, publish original data, and allow AI search crawlers.
- Measure all three: Search Console for rankings and AI impressions, Bing Webmaster Tools for Copilot citations, and a monthly prompt check in ChatGPT and Gemini.
A worked example: one page optimised for all three
Take a page answering “How much does a business website cost in India?” Here’s what each discipline adds to it:
| Layer | What you do on the page |
|---|---|
| SEO | Target the main query in the title and URL; make the page fast and mobile-friendly; link to it from related pages; earn links from other sites |
| AEO | Answer the question in the first two sentences; use a price table by website type; add FAQs on related questions such as monthly costs |
| GEO | Include your own real price ranges and what they include; show the author and date; get the page mentioned in directories, articles and community answers; allow AI crawlers |
The result is one page that can rank in Google, appear in AI Overviews, and be quoted by ChatGPT or Perplexity.
Who does what: skills for each discipline
| Discipline | Core skills | Typical owner |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Technical audits, keyword research, site architecture, link building | SEO specialist |
| AEO | Clear writing, question research, content structure, structured data | Content strategist or editor |
| GEO | Digital PR, review generation, entity management, AI visibility tracking | SEO lead with PR support |
Small teams often combine all three in one person or agency. Larger teams split them but share one plan and one set of target questions.
How the three fit together over time
- Months 1 to 2: foundations. Technical SEO fixes, crawler access, consistent business details.
- Months 2 to 4: answer content. Rewrite key pages answer-first; publish pages for your top buyer questions.
- Months 3 to 6: reputation. Reviews, PR, partnerships and directory listings.
- Ongoing: measurement. Rankings, AI impressions, Copilot citations, AI referrals and monthly prompt checks.
Glossary of AI search terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AI Overviews | AI-generated summaries at the top of some Google results |
| AI Mode | Google’s conversational, full-page AI search experience |
| Grounding | An AI system retrieving web pages to base its answer on |
| Query fan-out | An AI running several related searches to answer one question |
| Citation | A link or reference to a source within an AI answer |
| AI share of voice | The share of tested prompts in which your brand is named |
| Entity | A distinct thing, such as a brand or person, that search systems recognise |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI’s crawler for ChatGPT search results |
Common mistakes when combining SEO, AEO and GEO
- Treating them as separate projects with separate agencies and conflicting advice.
- Chasing AI hacks such as llms.txt or content “chunking” while basic technical problems remain unfixed.
- Writing for algorithms instead of buyers, producing keyword-stuffed pages that neither people nor AI want to quote.
- Ignoring off-site reputation, so nothing independent confirms your claims.
- Measuring only rankings, and missing AI impressions, citations and AI-referred visits.
How to brief a writer for all three
Give every writer the same short brief:
- The exact question the page must answer, in the buyer’s words.
- The one-sentence answer you want to lead with.
- Three to five follow-up questions to cover as H2s.
- The facts only you can provide: your prices, process, examples and numbers.
- Sources for any statistics.
- The format: a comparison table, steps or a checklist where they help.
- Internal links to related service pages and guides.
A brief like this produces content that ranks, gets quoted and builds your reputation at the same time.
How each discipline is measured
| Discipline | Key metrics | Where to find them |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Rankings, organic clicks, indexed pages, organic leads | Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, GA4 |
| AEO | Featured snippet ownership, AI Overview and AI Mode impressions, People Also Ask appearances | Search Console Generative AI report, rank trackers |
| GEO | Brand mentions in AI answers, citations, AI referral visits, AI share of voice | Monthly prompt checks, Bing AI Performance report, GA4 |
Report all three together each month. A rise in AI impressions with flat clicks, for example, tells you to make cited pages more compelling, not to abandon the work.
Priorities by business type
| Business type | Start with | Then add |
|---|---|---|
| Local service business | Google Business Profile, local service pages, reviews | AEO-style FAQs on each service page; local directory consistency |
| B2B services or agency | Service pages, case studies, technical SEO | GEO through PR, expert articles and comparison content |
| Ecommerce store | Technical SEO, category and product pages, product schema | Buying guides and comparisons that AI engines can quote |
| SaaS or software | Documentation, use-case and comparison pages | Entity building, integrations directory, reviews on software review sites |
| Publisher or education site | Topic clusters, author expertise, fast templates | Original data and research that AI answers cite |
Whatever the business, the order rarely changes: get found, get understood, then get trusted.
Five questions to answer before investing in AEO or GEO
- Do we rank on Google for our main services today? If not, fix SEO foundations first; AI engines lean on the same pages.
- Can every AI crawler read our pages? Check robots.txt, firewall rules and whether key text is in the raw HTML.
- Do our pages answer buyers’ questions directly? If answers are buried, AEO rewrites will pay off quickly.
- What does the web say about us? Search your brand and read your reviews and listings; GEO depends on this reputation.
- How will we measure progress? Set up Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, a GA4 AI channel and a prompt list before you start, so you have a baseline.
Honest answers to these five questions usually reveal where the first rupee should go.
How keyword research changes for AEO and GEO
Classic SEO research starts with a keyword and its monthly search volume. That still matters, but AI answers work differently. People type longer, conversational questions into assistants and ask follow-ups, and the system may run several related searches behind the scenes. Google’s own documentation says both AI Overviews and AI Mode may use a “query fan-out” technique, issuing multiple related searches across subtopics to build a response.
So research each topic as a set of questions, not a single phrase:
- Start with the main keyword, for example “website development cost in India”.
- List the follow-up questions a buyer would ask next: how long it takes, what’s included, freelancer or agency, yearly running costs.
- Add the comparison and decision questions: WordPress or Shopify, is ₹10,000 enough, what to ask before signing.
- Collect real phrasing from sales calls, WhatsApp chats, Google’s “People also ask” boxes and the queries in Search Console.
- Map each question to one page, and answer it in a clear sentence near the top of the relevant section.
A page that answers the main question and its likely follow-ups gives Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity more passages that match the searches they run. It also stops you from writing five thin posts that compete with each other for the same topic.
Keep using search volume to decide which topics to cover first. Use the question set to decide what each page must contain.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO dead because of AI search?
No. AI assistants search the web before answering, and Google’s AI features run on its core ranking systems. Weak SEO means AI tools are less likely to find your pages at all.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
They overlap heavily but are not identical. SEO aims for rankings and clicks. GEO aims for mentions inside AI answers, which also depend on reviews, press and how consistently the web describes your business.
What is LLMO or AI SEO?
LLMO (large language model optimisation) and AI SEO are other names for GEO. Agencies use the terms interchangeably.
Which is better for a small business, AEO or GEO?
For a local or small business, start with SEO basics, a complete Google Business Profile and AEO-style service pages. Add GEO work, such as reviews and press mentions, once those are in place.
How do I measure GEO results?
Track a fixed list of buyer questions in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity each month. Add AI referral traffic in Google Analytics, Google Search Console’s Generative AI report, and Bing Webmaster Tools’ AI Performance report.
Will GEO replace SEO?
No. Most AI engines retrieve web pages through search indexes before they answer, so SEO remains the foundation. GEO extends it to reputation and AI-specific access.
Do I need separate content for AEO and GEO?
No. One well-built page can serve all three: optimised for search, structured as answers, and backed by facts and mentions that AI engines trust.
What is AI share of voice?
The percentage of relevant prompts, tested across AI assistants, in which your brand is mentioned. It’s a practical way to track GEO progress month to month.
How much do AEO and GEO cost compared with SEO?
They usually sit inside the same budget, because the work overlaps. Expect extra costs mainly for digital PR, review programmes and AI visibility tracking.
Not sure where you stand? Get a free AI visibility audit covering SEO, AEO and GEO.
