On this page
Key takeaways
- SEO gets your pages ranked in search results. AEO and GEO get your company named inside AI answers.
- AEO and GEO mean almost the same thing. Most people use them interchangeably.
- They are not either-or. Good SEO is the foundation that AEO builds on.
- The difference is in what you measure: rankings and clicks for SEO, being named in answers for AEO.
The short version#
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Search engine optimization | Answer engine optimization | Generative engine optimization |
| Goal | Rank pages in search results | Be named in AI answers | Be included in AI-generated answers |
| Where | Google, Bing | ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, AI Overviews | Same as AEO |
| Main measure | Rankings, clicks, traffic | Share of answers that name you | Same as AEO |
SEO: being found in a list of links#
Search engine optimization is the long-standing work of helping pages rank in search engines. It covers technical health (pages that load and can be crawled), content that matches what people search for, and links from other sites. Success shows up as rankings, clicks and visits.
AEO: being named in the answer#
Answer engine optimization aims at a different moment: when a buyer asks an AI tool a question and gets one written answer. There is no page two. The answer either names your company or it does not.
AEO work focuses on making your company easy to understand and easy to recommend: consistent facts, pages that answer buyer questions directly, schema markup, and mentions on the sites AI tools read and trust. Our guide to AEO covers each part.
GEO: a different name for the same goal#
Generative engine optimization comes from academic research on how content can be made more likely to appear in generative AI answers. In practice, GEO, AEO, LLM optimization and AI search optimization all describe the same goal. Pick one term for your team and move on; the work is the same.
How they overlap#
AEO does not replace SEO. A large part of AEO is built on SEO foundations:
- Crawlable pages. AI tools that search the web need to reach and read your pages, just like search engines.
- Search indexes. Several AI tools use web search to find sources while answering. Pages that are indexed and rank well are easier for them to find.
- Authority. Links and mentions from trusted sites help in both.
Where they differ:
- Format. AEO rewards direct, quotable answers, clear facts and comparisons more than keyword-focused pages.
- Brand mentions without links. For AEO, being described accurately on review sites, directories and community threads matters even when there is no link.
- Measurement. Search tools will not tell you whether ChatGPT names you. You need to ask the AI tools directly and count.
What to do first#
If you have limited time, do this in order:
- Measure where you stand. Ask 20 buyer questions across four AI tools and record who is named. Our free AI visibility check does a first pass in about 2 minutes.
- Fix your basic facts. One clear sentence on your homepage and About page saying what you do and for whom. The same description on LinkedIn and review sites.
- Check AI crawlers can read your site. See which AI crawlers to allow.
- Publish one page that answers a question you are missing. Often an honest comparison against the rival AI names most.
- Keep your SEO basics healthy. They still feed AI search.
Questions and answers
Is SEO dead because of AI search?
No. Search engines still send large amounts of traffic, and several AI tools rely on search indexes to find sources. What has changed is that being ranked is no longer the only goal; being named in AI answers now matters too.
Do I need a separate AEO team?
Usually not. Most AEO work fits into content, SEO and product marketing. What is new is measuring AI answers and acting on what they show.
Which matters more, AEO or SEO?
For most B2B companies, both. SEO keeps bringing visitors. AEO protects the shortlist moment, when buyers ask AI who to consider before visiting any site.
B2B marketers who build tools to measure how ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity talk about companies. About us