AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what’s the difference and what should you do?

You’ve probably seen three acronyms all over your LinkedIn feed. AEO vs GEO vs SEO. Every agency has a different take on which one matters and most of them are selling something.

Here’s the short version. SEO gets your pages ranked. AEO gets your answers picked. GEO gets your brand named inside AI-written responses.

They overlap a lot. Google itself says the work is mostly the same. This guide shows where they differ and gives you a plan you can start this month.

AEO vs GEO vs SEO at a glance

Here’s how the three line up.

	SEO	AEO	GEO
Full name	Search engine optimization	Answer engine optimization	Generative engine optimization
Goal	Rank pages in search results	Be the direct answer	Get cited or named in AI responses
Where it shows up	Blue links, maps and shopping results	Featured snippets, voice assistants and AI Overviews	ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Mode
Main win	Clicks and traffic	Answer placement	Brand mentions and citations
Core tactic	Crawlability, content and links	Short direct answers and clear structure	Original facts and real mentions

Think of them as three lenses on one job: make useful content easy to find and easy to quote.

What SEO covers

SEO is the base layer. It gets your pages crawled and ranked for the searches your customers type.

The four parts of SEO

• Technical: site speed, mobile layout, crawl access and clean URLs
• Content: pages that match what the searcher wants
• Authority: links and mentions from trusted sites
• Local: Google Business Profile, reviews and citations

A page that can’t be crawled can’t be cited by an AI tool either. If your site is slow or hides its text behind scripts, fix that first. Our post on why your website isn’t ranking covers the usual culprits.

Why SEO still matters for AI search

Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode pull from the regular Google index. A page that isn’t indexed has no shot at either one. SEO is the entry ticket.

Our search engine optimization services page lists what a full campaign covers.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

 

Answer engine optimization is the practice of writing and structuring content so a search feature or assistant can lift out a clear answer and show it. The goal is the answer box at the top of the results.

The idea is older than ChatGPT. Featured snippets and voice assistants were pulling single answers years ago. AEO is the name that stuck for going after those spots.

Where AEO shows up

• Featured snippets and People Also Ask boxes
• Voice search answers on phones and smart speakers
• Google AI Overviews
• Answers inside Perplexity and ChatGPT search

How to write for answer engines

Lead with the answer. Put a 40 to 60 word reply right under a question heading. Add the detail after it.

Compare two openings for a page about maintenance costs. Version one: “Website upkeep is something many owners wonder about, and lots of factors play a role.” Version two: “Most small business websites cost $50 to $300 a month to maintain, depending on platform and how often you need changes.”

An engine can lift version two as is. Version one gives it nothing to quote. Our post on website maintenance cost opens with the number for exactly this reason.

A few other habits help:

• Write headings that match real questions
• Use short lists and tables for steps and comparisons
• Keep one question per section
• Add structured data only when it matches the visible text on the page

Google’s own guidance says no special markup is required for its AI features. Schema labels what’s already on the page. That’s useful but modest.

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization is the work of getting your brand named or cited when an AI tool writes an answer from scratch. The term came out of a 2023 research paper.

Tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity build a response from many sources and often list where the facts came from. GEO aims to make you one of those sources.

How AI tools pick sources

Two things drive it. The first is retrieval. The tool runs searches (often several at once) and pulls passages that match the question. Google calls this query fan-out.

The second is reputation. Google says its AI features can reflect what people say about products and services across blogs and forums. Only the companies behind each tool know the exact weights.

What GEO work looks like

• Publish original facts such as your own price ranges and project data
• Use the same business name and city everywhere you appear online
• Earn real mentions through reviews, local press and directory listings
• Write sections that stand alone, since an AI tool may lift one passage
• Check your robots.txt file. OpenAI documents separate bots for search and for training, so you can allow one without the other

A citable page has a claim, a number and a date. “We offer competitive pricing” gives an AI tool nothing. A price table with your own ranges and the year you checked them gives it something real.

Skip paid mention schemes. Google’s guide warns that inauthentic mentions may be treated as spam. Reviews are the easiest real mention to earn, and here’s why Google reviews matter for local businesses.

AEO vs SEO: the real differences

AEO vs SEO comes down to the unit you’re working on. SEO works at the page level. AEO works at the passage level.

• SEO rewards a whole page that covers a topic well. AEO rewards one tight answer inside it.
• SEO tracks rankings and clicks. AEO tracks answer placement and impressions.
• A 2,000 word guide suits SEO. A 50 word reply under a question heading suits AEO.

One page can do both jobs. Most AEO work is editing pages you already have.

GEO vs SEO: the real differences

GEO vs SEO is a bigger gap because the format changes. A search engine lists links. A generative engine writes a paragraph and picks a few sources to back it.

• Links vs mentions: SEO leans on backlinks. GEO also counts unlinked mentions and what others say about you.
• Rank vs inclusion: a chat answer has no position 7. You’re cited or you’re missing.
• Stability: rankings move slowly. AI answers can change from one prompt to the next, so test the same question a few times.
• Clicks: an AI answer can settle the question without a visit, so brand recall matters more.

What Google says about AEO and GEO

On May 15, 2026, Google published its first official guide to generative AI features on Google Search.

The guide answers the big question first. SEO best practices still apply because the AI features sit on Google’s core ranking and quality systems. Google names AEO and GEO directly and treats both as SEO.

Other points from the guide:

• A page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet
• No special schema or AI-only files are required
• Unique content people find helpful has more impact than any other tip
• Inauthentic mentions can look like spam

One catch. The guide covers Google’s AI features. ChatGPT and Perplexity run their own systems and Google’s advice can’t speak for them.

My take: the fundamentals carry over and the extra work is mostly brand mentions and clear writing. So AEO vs GEO vs SEO turns into one plan with three scoreboards.

Which one should you start with?

It depends on where you stand today.

• New site or thin content: start with SEO
• Decent rankings but few snippets: start with AEO
• Strong offline reputation but missing from AI answers: start with GEO
• Local service business: begin with your Business Profile and reviews

Approach	Strengths	Limits
SEO	Proven, measurable and feeds the other two	Slow to build
AEO	Quick edits to pages you already have	Answer boxes can cut clicks
GEO	Builds your brand beyond Google	Hard to measure and answers shift

A simple plan for AI search optimization

1. Fix the base. Check that your key pages are indexed and fast on mobile. Search Console shows the problems.
2. Collect real questions. Pull them from the Search Console and your sales calls.
3. Put the answer first. Write a 40 to 60 word reply under each question heading. Add detail after it.
4. Add proof. Use real prices and named authors. These are the experience and trust signals Google’s quality systems look for.
5. Earn mentions. Ask happy customers for reviews. Get listed in the directories your industry uses.
6. Match structured data to the page. Add schema only for text that appears on the page.
7. Track it. Set up the monthly check in the next section.

How to track AI search visibility

AI search visibility is hard to measure because answers shift. Four simple checks still help:

• Prompt log: ask the same 10 customer questions each month in two or three AI tools. Record whether your brand appears and which page gets cited.
• Search Console: Google says sites shown in its AI features count in the regular totals. Watch impressions on question-style queries.
• Analytics referrals: look for visits from chat tools and AI search engines in your referral reports.
• Branded search: a rise in people searching your business name often follows more mentions.

Treat all of it as directional. Clean attribution doesn’t exist yet.

Mistakes that waste time

• Rewriting the whole site. Fix your top 10 pages first.
• Padding FAQ blocks with filler questions.
• Buying mentions or links from shady sources.
• Spending a week on llms.txt files. Google says its AI features need no AI-specific files.
• Blocking AI crawlers by accident. Check robots.txt after every site change.
• Chasing AI traffic while the site can’t turn visits into leads. Our post on website traffic but no leads covers 9 fixes.

What this means for a Calgary business

Local searches get AI answers too. Google’s guidance says to keep your Business Profile information current, which makes it a quick win.

For a Calgary roofing company the work looks like this:

• Use the same business name and phone number everywhere
• Collect reviews that mention the service and the neighbourhood
• Build one page per main service with real price ranges
• Answer the questions customers ask on the phone

If you’re weighing paid ads against organic work, our SEO vs Google Ads comparison for Calgary businesses lays out the trade-offs.

Conclusion

Here’s the recap on AEO vs GEO vs SEO. SEO gets your pages found. AEO gets your answers picked. GEO gets your name into AI responses.

Start with a crawlable and fast site. Then rewrite your top 10 pages so the answer comes first. Then collect real reviews and mentions. Test a set of questions every month.

Want a second pair of eyes? Book a free strategy call and see what our digital marketing team would fix first. We’ve worked with 150+ businesses since 2011.