AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what answer engine optimisation is, and how the three differ
SEO, AEO and GEO are three names for overlapping jobs. SEO earns a place in search results. AEO (answer engine optimisation) makes your content the direct answer to a question. GEO (generative engine optimisation) makes it usable by AI systems that write answers from several sources. Most of the work is shared, and the differences are mostly emphasis. I treat them as one discipline in my AI search optimisation work. Here's where they differ, and where they don't.
What is answer engine optimisation (AEO)?
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so a search engine or AI assistant can lift it as the direct answer to a question: a featured snippet, a voice assistant reply, an AI Overview or a chatbot response. It grew out of SEO for featured snippets and voice search, before generative AI arrived. Today it mostly means making your answers clear, specific and easy to quote.
An answer engine is any system that replies with an answer rather than a list of links: Google's answer features, voice assistants and AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. The AEO basics are simple to state. Put the question in a heading, answer it directly in the first few lines, make each fact stand on its own, keep FAQs genuinely visible on the page, and describe the page accurately with structured data.
The ground has moved under the older version of AEO. In my study of 1,000 New Zealand commercial searches, not one showed a classic featured snippet, while AI Overviews appeared on 73.9% and People Also Ask on 92.1%. That was one NZ sample on one day, so it doesn't mean featured snippets are gone everywhere, but in that sample AI answers had taken their place. The detail is in my NZ Google AI Overviews Study 2026.
What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)?
GEO is the newer term, from a 2023 research paper, for making content likely to be used and cited when generative AI writes an answer from several sources. Where AEO aims to be the single answer, GEO accepts that AI answers blend sources and aims to be one of the sources used and cited. It applies to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode.
The paper behind the term found that adding citations, statistics and quotations made a source more likely to be used, while keyword stuffing made it less likely. I've covered what GEO is and what the research found, including the limits of that research, in a separate guide.
AEO vs GEO vs SEO: the differences at a glance
The three differ mainly in what they aim for and how you measure them. SEO aims for a ranked link people click. AEO aims to be the direct answer. GEO aims to be one of the sources an AI-written answer is built from. The levers overlap heavily: all three need pages that can be crawled, understood and trusted.
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aims for | A ranked link people click | Being the direct answer | Being used and cited inside an AI-written answer |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results | Featured answers, voice assistants, AI Overviews, chatbots | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| Main levers | Crawlability, relevance, links, page experience | Question-led structure, direct answers, clear facts | Specific, sourced, quotable content; entity clarity; genuine third-party mentions |
| Measured by | Rankings, clicks, conversions | Answer placements, impressions | Mentions and citations across repeated tests; Search Console's generative AI report |
| Where the term comes from | The early web, as search engines grew | Featured snippets and voice search, before generative AI | A 2023 research paper |
Where AEO, GEO and SEO overlap
Almost everywhere. Google says its AI features are built on its core search systems and that optimising for them is still SEO. A page that can't be crawled, indexed and trusted won't be the answer or a cited source either. Clear structure, specific facts, real expertise and a consistent business identity serve all three. The overlap is why I don't sell them separately.
Google's guide to optimising for generative AI features is direct about it. There are no additional technical requirements for its AI features beyond being indexed and eligible for a snippet, no special schema, and no need for llms.txt files or content chopped into chunks. What changes between the three is emphasis, not the rules.
Is AEO or GEO better than SEO?
Neither is better, and you can't use GEO instead of SEO. AI answers are mostly built from pages that search systems have already found and trusted, so GEO without SEO has nothing to stand on. SEO without the AEO and GEO emphasis leaves you ranking but less likely to be quoted. Fund the shared foundations first, then the emphasis that suits your buyers.
Some commentators argue the new acronyms are unnecessary and that it is all just SEO. Google broadly agrees. The acronyms are still useful as a reminder that being quoted is a different outcome from being clicked, and that it needs to be measured differently.
Will AEO replace SEO?
No. AEO widens what SEO has to do rather than replacing it. Answers still come from pages that search systems can find, and for many searches the classic results still decide who gets the customer. In my NZ study, searches for a local provider showed an AI Overview only 16.5% of the time and a local pack 91% of the time, so local SEO still decides those.
I've looked at the wider question, including what ChatGPT can and can't do, in whether AI will replace SEO.
Which should a business fund first?
Start with the searches your buyers make, split by intent, because exposure to AI answers differs sharply by intent. In New Zealand, advice and cost searches showed an AI Overview about 96% of the time, but local-provider searches only 16.5%. A trades business lives in the map pack, which is SEO and local SEO. A business adviser lives in advice and comparison answers, which is AEO and GEO.
So a plumber should put local SEO first and add clear cost and advice pages second. A B2B consultancy should publish specific answers to its buyers' questions, then work on corroboration. Before deciding how much to spend at all, check the Search Ceiling Calculator, which shows how much search demand your industry actually has. Standalone AI search programmes in New Zealand run about $1,000 to $3,000 a month, and mine starts at $2,000. See what AI SEO costs.
If you'd like this worked out for your business, the free AI Visibility Audit tests your buying questions by intent, across Google and the main AI assistants.
Other names you'll hear: AIO, LLMO, AI SEO, SEO for AI
AI optimisation (AIO), LLM optimisation (LLMO), AI SEO and "SEO for AI" all describe the same shift. No standards body defines any of them, and providers use them loosely. Judge a provider by what they actually do and how they measure it, not by the acronym on the proposal. The work underneath is the same set of foundations.
Google's advice on hiring an SEO applies here too: ask what they will change, how they will measure it, and be wary of anyone who guarantees results. If a proposal uses terms you don't recognise, my SEO and AI search glossary defines them in plain English.
AEO, GEO and SEO questions
What is AEO vs SEO?
SEO earns a ranked place in search results. AEO shapes content so it can be lifted as the direct answer to a question, in a featured answer, an AI Overview or a chatbot reply. They use the same foundations: crawlable pages, relevance and trust. AEO adds question-led structure and short, self-contained answers. Most businesses need both, done as one piece of work.
Is AEO similar to SEO?
Very. AEO is best understood as a branch of SEO that focuses on answers rather than rankings. Google says optimising for its AI features is still SEO. The difference is in emphasis and measurement, not in a separate set of rules, so a page built well for SEO is most of the way to being a good answer.
How do you do answer engine optimisation?
List the questions buyers ask, answer each in the first 40 to 80 words under a heading that asks it, back the answers with specific facts and sources, keep FAQs visible, mark up the page accurately, and test whether AI assistants and Google use your answers. That is how the pages on this site are built.
What's the best answer engine optimisation tool?
There isn't one tool that does AEO. Search Console, including its generative AI report, shows Google's side for free. Repeated manual tests show what assistants say about you. SEO platforms add keyword and ranking data. Google says no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems, so treat any tool's score as a guide.
What are the four types of SEO?
They are usually listed as on-page, off-page (links and mentions), technical and local SEO. It's a convenient grouping, not a standard. AEO and GEO sit across all four: technical access for crawlers, on-page answers, off-page corroboration, and accurate local business data for businesses that serve a place.
Do I need different agencies for SEO, AEO and GEO?
No. The work shares the same foundations, and splitting it between providers usually means paying twice for the same pages. What matters is that whoever does it measures AI visibility as well as rankings. I run them as one strategy for clients in New Zealand and overseas.
Sources
- Google Search Central: Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?
- Aggarwal et al.: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (arXiv 2311.09735; KDD 2024)
Find out which answers you're in
The free AI Visibility Audit shows where you rank in Google today and whether AI assistants mention your business, split by the kinds of questions your buyers ask. No cost, no obligation.
Book Your Free Audit