What is AI SEO and how does it differ from GEO and AEO?
AI SEO is the umbrella name for the whole field — adapting a website for AI-driven search. GEO is about whether a model knows and recommends you, and AEO is about whether a direct answer gets lifted from your page. Technically they overlap almost entirely, so separate task lists do not exist.
Three words, one field, and a great deal of confusion. Proposals use them interchangeably, which makes them look like three separate services to be paid for separately. They are not.
What each one means
| Term | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| AI SEO | The umbrella name for the whole field |
| GEO | Does a model know, understand and recommend me |
| AEO | Is a direct answer lifted from my page |
AI SEO is an umbrella term. It says nothing specific, but it is the phrase most people search with — which is the only reason it exists.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is narrower and more precise. The question here is whether a generative system knows about you at all, whether it understands you well enough to mention you in an answer, and whether it trusts you.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the narrowest of the three. It concerns one thing: whether your paragraph becomes the answer — a Google snippet or a sentence in an AI summary.
Why the task list is still one
Different questions, near-identical technique. The structure that helps a model lift an answer (AEO) is the same structure that helps it understand the page (GEO). Structured data, authorship and sources serve all three.
In practice the work looks like this:
can a bot reach you robots.txt, JS rendering, llms.txt
can it understand you schema, author, date, entity relations
are you worth citing questions in headings, 40-120 word passages, sources
Anyone selling a "GEO package" and a separate "AEO package" is selling the same work twice.
What AI SEO does not replace
Several models answer using the ordinary search index — Google AI Overviews directly, ChatGPT and Perplexity through a search tool. An unwelcome conclusion follows: a site that is not indexed stays invisible to AI as well.
So AI SEO is not a substitute for SEO and cannot be the starting point. If your pages are not indexed, solve that problem first and talk about citation afterwards.
How to tell a real offer from marketing
Ask what exactly will be measured. "We will increase your AI visibility" is not a measurement. A measurement is: how many of ten queries mention you, what structure the page has, and which elements are missing.
A guarantee is a signal to leave. Nobody can guarantee ChatGPT will recommend you — the same as with first place on Google. Odds can be improved.
Ask for a list, not a package. Concrete findings with page URLs mean somebody actually looked. Three pricing tiers mean pricing.
You can check your own site without any proposal: the GEO optimization check shows whether a bot reaches you, whether schema is declared and whether the text is shaped for citation.
Related articles
The same topic from another angle — each answers its own question:
- What GEO optimization is and how it differs from SEO
- What AEO is and how to land in the answer
- How AI decides what to cite
How this feeds into the score is described under what we check.
Sources
What this text is based on — primary sources, not retellings:
Frequently asked
Is AI SEO a new profession?
No, it is part of SEO. Almost everything that works in AI search also works in ordinary search; only the way you measure it is new.
Which term should I use on my own site?
The one your customers search with. In most markets that is "AI SEO", while practitioners say "GEO". The meaning is the same.
Do I need separate content for AI?
No. Google says so directly: there are no separate technical requirements. You need the same content with sound structure.
How much does AI SEO cost?
The same as SEO, because it is the same work. A separate "GEO" line on an invoice usually means the same work was billed twice.
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