THE SHORT ANSWER
SEO gets your pages ranking in search results so people click through. AEO gets your business chosen as the answer by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI features. GEO is a newer name for much the same work, focused on AI tools that write answers. Most businesses need one joined-up approach: strong SEO foundations, with AEO built on top.
The one-line definitions
If you only remember one thing, remember the last column. Each discipline measures success differently.
| Term | Stands for | Where it shows up | Success looks like |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search engine optimisation | Google and Bing results pages | More clicks from relevant searches |
| AEO | Answer engine optimisation | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews | Being named or quoted in the answer |
| GEO | Generative engine optimisation | AI tools that write answers | Being mentioned and cited as a source |
Where they overlap
Many AI tools search the web before they answer. They pull from pages that are easy to find, easy to read and trusted by other sites. That is exactly what good SEO builds.
So a page that ranks well and answers a question clearly has a head start in AI answers too. Think of SEO as the foundations of the house and AEO as the rooms people actually walk into.
Where they differ
The overlap is big, but AEO asks for a few things classic SEO often skips:
- Who you are, not just which keywords you target. AI tools need to understand your business as a clear “entity”: what you do, for whom, and where.
- Direct answers. Short, quotable paragraphs that answer a real question in the first two sentences.
- Consistent facts everywhere. Your name, services and details should match on your site, profiles and directories.
- Proof from other people. Reviews, mentions and coverage on sites AI tools trust.
- Different measurement. SEO tracks rankings and clicks; AEO tracks mentions, accuracy and which sources get cited.
Which should you invest in first?
If your website is slow, unclear or barely indexed, fix the SEO foundations first. AI tools struggle to recommend a business they can’t read.
If you already rank reasonably well, add AEO now. The businesses AI recommends today are building a lead that gets harder to catch.
For most ambitious businesses the honest answer is both, planned together, so every page you publish works for search results and AI answers at once.
Rule of thumb: SEO helps people find your pages. AEO helps AI tools find, trust and recommend your business.
What a joined-up plan looks like
- A technical health check so search engines and AI crawlers can read every important page.
- One clear page per service, each opening with a plain-English answer.
- A facts page and consistent business details across the web.
- Content built around the real questions your buyers ask.
- Reviews and mentions from credible sources in your industry.
- Monthly tracking of rankings, AI mentions and, most importantly, enquiries.
Key takeaways
Common questions
Only slightly. Both describe making your business visible in AI-generated answers. Some people use GEO for AI tools that write long answers and AEO for anything that gives a direct answer, but in practice the work is the same.