GEO vs AEO vs SEO, explained

Three acronyms, one underlying goal: be the business or the page that search and AI tools choose. Here’s what each term means, where they overlap, and why a small business shouldn’t worry too much about the labels.

Last updated 15 October 2026 · Written by GPT Visibility

The quick definitions

SEO – search engine optimisation: Making pages easy for search engines to crawl, understand and rank in results such as Google and Bing.
GEO – generative engine optimisation: Improving the chance that AI systems which write an answer – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews – use or name you in that answer. The term comes from a 2023 research paper (Aggarwal et al., published at KDD 2024).
AEO – answer engine optimisation: Structuring content so a system can lift a direct answer from it – originally featured snippets and voice assistants, now AI answers too.
AI search visibility: The outcome: how often, and how accurately, AI tools mention or recommend you. It’s what you measure.

How they overlap

In practice the work is mostly the same. Google states that the best practices for SEO remain relevant for its AI features and no special optimisation is needed. ChatGPT search relies on its own crawler and search partners, so crawler access and being indexed in more than one search engine matter more. And all AI assistants lean on third-party sources – reviews, directories, press – to corroborate what you say about yourself.

What the research says (and doesn’t)

The original GEO paper tested content changes on a benchmark and found that adding quotations, statistics and citations to sources increased how visible a source was in generated answers in its experiments. That’s useful evidence that clear, well-sourced content helps – but it was a controlled experiment, not a guarantee for live search engines.

What a small business should actually do

Get the SEO basics right: crawlable, indexed, fast, clear pages.
Let AI search crawlers in – see our AI crawler guide.
Answer customers’ real questions plainly, with specific facts.
Keep your business details consistent and get mentioned on independent sites.
Measure your AI visibility with repeated customer-style questions.

If someone sells you “GEO” that ignores those basics, or promises guaranteed placement, be sceptical.

Frequently asked questions

What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)?

GEO is the practice of improving the chance that AI systems which generate answers, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, use or name your content or business. The term comes from a 2023 research paper.

Is GEO replacing SEO?

No. Google says SEO best practices remain relevant for its AI features. GEO builds on SEO, adding emphasis on AI crawler access, clear factual content and third-party mentions.

What’s the difference between AEO and GEO?

AEO focuses on making content easy to extract as a direct answer. GEO focuses more broadly on being used or recommended within AI-generated answers. In practice they overlap heavily.