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AI Search & LLMs

What's the difference between AEO, GEO, and SEO?

Updated April 22, 2026

Quick Answer

SEO is optimisation for traditional search engines (primarily Google). AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is the practice of optimising content to be cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is a broader, sometimes-overlapping term covering optimisation for any generative AI surface, including AI Overviews. In practice the work overlaps 80–90% with traditional SEO; the new acronyms describe shifts in emphasis rather than a fundamentally separate discipline.

Why the new acronyms exist

The shift from 10-blue-links to AI-summarised SERPs created real changes in how content earns visibility: extractable passages matter more, named authors matter more, third-party mention frequency matters more, and click-through behaviour changes. AEO and GEO are useful labels for this emphasis shift, even though they don't describe a separate technical channel.

The acronyms also serve a marketing purpose. Agencies use 'AEO' and 'GEO' to differentiate their offering, and clients increasingly ask for them by name. Whether you call it SEO or AEO, the underlying playbook overlaps heavily.

What's actually different in practice

Real differences from traditional SEO: greater emphasis on answer-passage structure (40–80-word self-contained paragraphs), greater emphasis on FAQPage and HowTo schema, greater emphasis on author bylines and visible expertise signals, greater emphasis on third-party mentions across Reddit, Wikipedia, and trade press.

What's the same: ranking in top organic positions remains the prerequisite for citation in nearly every AI surface. Backlinks, topical authority, technical hygiene, and content depth still determine whether you get cited. There is no shortcut that bypasses traditional ranking.

How to budget AEO/GEO work

We recommend treating AEO/GEO as a 15–25% adjustment within an existing SEO program, not a separate budget line. The incremental work — restructuring existing pages for extractability, adding answer summaries, building author profiles, expanding third-party mention strategy — fits naturally inside ongoing SEO retainers.

Be skeptical of agencies pitching 'pure AEO' packages disconnected from SEO fundamentals. Without strong organic ranking, AEO tactics produce limited results. The agencies seeing real AEO citation lifts are doing it on top of healthy SEO foundations, not instead of them.

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