The terminology
AEO vs SEO vs GEO: what is the difference?
SEO works toward a place in a ranked list of links. Answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) work toward the answer an AI system writes: whether a business is named in it, described correctly and cited as a source. AEO and GEO are two names for that same aim.
The short version
- SEO, search engine optimization. The goal is a ranked result on a search results page and the click that follows it. Google Search Console reports how a site performs there.
- AEO, answer engine optimization. The goal is the written answer in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or a Google AI Overview. Success is being named, described accurately and cited, not holding a position in a list.
- GEO, generative engine optimization. The same goal under a name taken from a research paper, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", first posted in November 2023 and accepted to KDD 2024.
There is substantial overlap
Accessible pages, accurate facts, useful content and credible references matter to a business regardless of the channel. Google's guidance on its AI features says: "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary." A page has to be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet. Google's documentation.
For Google's own AI features, then, the search fundamentals are the entry requirement, not a separate discipline.
Where they differ
What is being won
A search result holds a position for a query. A generated answer is assembled for one question at a time, and the sources behind it change with the question. When we put 16 buying questions to ChatGPT in one city, its 84 citations came from 63 different domains. What that sample contained.
Which pages matter
In SEO, the page that ranks is usually your own. In that same sample, the answers drew on a city government page, the Better Business Bureau, a trade association directory, a manufacturer's dealer locator, Reddit threads and businesses' own websites. How a business is described on pages it does not own is part of the work.
How it is measured
Search has Search Console. Answers in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity come with no comparable report for the business being described, so they have to be sampled: selected questions asked repeatedly, with every answer, cited source, engine, model and date stored. API observations are labelled separately from the consumer apps.
Not every answer cites anything
On general how-does-it-work questions, we have recorded answers that arrived with no sources at all. Content written for those questions has a weaker path into a chat answer than into Google's AI Overviews or Perplexity.
Do you need AEO, SEO or both?
It is not a choice between them. Google's AI features draw on pages that already qualify for Search, so the fundamentals carry over. What answer measurement adds is a view of what each engine actually says about a business, and which of the sources it relies on are missing, wrong or thin.
Buy a concrete scope
Ask which pages and profiles will change, who will do the work, what will be measured and what the provider cannot establish. Citation counts are not market share, and a before-and-after change alone does not prove a cause.
What answer engine optimization is · Where GEO comes from · AEO vs GEO: what differs · LLM SEO · Answer engine optimization services · Our scope and prices
Questions we get asked about this.
What is the difference between AEO and SEO?
SEO aims for a ranked link on a search results page. AEO aims for the answer an AI system writes, where the outcome is whether a business is named, described correctly and cited. The foundations overlap: Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet to appear as a link in its AI Overviews.
Is GEO the same as AEO?
Both describe improving how a business appears in AI-generated answers. GEO comes from a research paper of that name, first posted in November 2023 and accepted to KDD 2024. Neither term is a formal standard.
Does AEO replace SEO?
No. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimizations are necessary. The search fundamentals still apply. Answer sampling adds a record of what the engines actually say.
Do I need special markup or an AI text file for AEO?
Not for Google's AI features. Google says you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files or markup to appear in them. We do not sell llms.txt.
How is AEO measured?
By asking selected questions repeatedly on named engines and storing each answer with its cited sources, the engine, the model, the settings and the date. The counts describe those questions under those conditions, not market share or customers.
We publish what we find.
We're measuring AI answers in Cincinnati and will publish what we find, including our own results, including when they're unflattering. No pitch attached.
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