SEO, GEO and AEO are names for work on the same website with a different aim. SEO (search engine optimisation) focuses on visibility in search engines such as Google and Bing. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) focuses on visibility in answers from AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. At Outseen, we use AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) for answering specific customer questions clearly on your website.
What do SEO, GEO and AEO mean?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. In its SEO Starter Guide, Google describes it as helping search engines understand your content and helping users find your site and decide whether to visit it. You work on the technical side, the structure and the content of your pages. More in What is SEO and how does it work?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. The term comes from a 2023 research paper on generative search engines: systems that use a large language model to put together an answer from several sources. With GEO you work towards your business and your information appearing in such answers. More in What is GEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. There is no official definition. At Outseen, we mean answering specific customer questions about use, cost, differences and suitability clearly. Sometimes that takes a short paragraph, sometimes a comparison table or a step-by-step guide. See also the glossary entry AEO.
How do SEO, GEO and AEO relate to each other?
The three differ mainly in where you want to be visible and how you measure it. The work itself overlaps a great deal.
SEO, GEO and AEO side by side
| SEO | GEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aim | Making your pages findable in search engines | Getting your business and information to appear in AI answers | Answering customer questions clearly on your website |
| Where you become visible | Google and Bing search results | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude, AI Overviews and AI Mode | On your own pages, and from there in search engines and AI answers |
| What you measure | Impressions, clicks and positions in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools | Mentions and source links in recorded AI answers; referral traffic from AI assistants | Whether the page answers the question; traffic and enquiries per page |
| Main work | Technical setup, structure, internal links, content for each search intent | Customer questions in everyday language, supporting evidence, consistent business information, access for AI search bots | Answer first, a format that suits each question |
| Overlap | Technical access and clear content | Builds on the SEO basics | Supplies the content that SEO and GEO rely on |
You can think of AEO as the content layer underneath the other two. A page that answers a customer question in its first paragraph is useful to a search engine choosing a result and to an AI assistant putting an answer together. SEO makes sure that page is technically reachable and well structured. GEO adds the AI search bots, the consistency of your business details and the recording of AI answers.
What does the difference look like for one customer question?
Say you sell garden furniture online under the name The Terrace Garden Shop.
Someone types “balcony garden chairs” into Google. That is a short search. With SEO you make sure your category page for balcony chairs is easy to find, with a clear title, filters that work and text that explains what you offer.
balcony garden chairs
- example.com › balcony › chairs* Balcony chairs: weatherproof and stackableFolding and stacking chairs for small balconies, with dimensions and material for each chair.
- chairs.example.comBuy garden chairs: see the full rangeAn overview of garden chairs in every style and size.
- blog.example.com › small-balconyHow to furnish a small balconyIdeas for furniture, plants and lighting on a balcony.
Someone else asks an AI assistant: “I have a small balcony with no cover. Which garden chairs can stay outside and take up little space?” That question contains wishes and circumstances. An assistant that searches live needs pages with information on materials, dimensions and whether the chairs stack. With GEO you make sure that information exists, is correct and can be found.
I have a small balcony with no cover. Which garden chairs can stay outside and take up little space?
For an uncovered balcony, chairs made of powder-coated aluminium or plastic are the easiest choice: they do not rust and dry quickly. Folding and stacking chairs take up the least space. The Terrace Garden Shop lists the folded dimensions of each balcony chair and says which models can stay outside all year.
Bronnen: example.com, blog.example.com
AEO is the work in between: answering the question “which garden chairs can stay outside?” on your website in one clear paragraph, followed by a table of materials and how well they cope with rain. That paragraph helps the customer on your site, can appear in Google and is usable by an AI assistant.
The same category page, before and after AEO
VoorDiscover our beautiful collection of balcony chairs. Quality and comfort for every outdoor space, to suit every taste and budget.
NaWhich balcony chairs can stay outside? Chairs made of powder-coated aluminium and plastic can stay out all year. Wood needs a cover or regular care. Below you will find the dimensions and weight of each chair, and whether it stacks or folds.
Where do SEO and GEO overlap?
On most points. In AI features and your website, Google says the usual SEO basics apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. A page has to be indexed and allowed to show a snippet. Google also mentions allowing crawling, internal links so content can be found, offering important content as text and making sure structured data matches the visible text. According to Google, separate AI files or special markup are not needed.
Access counts for other AI assistants too. OpenAI says in its crawler documentation that a site which blocks its search bot, OAI-SearchBot, does not appear in ChatGPT’s search answers. How to manage that access is covered in Allowing or blocking AI crawlers with robots.txt.
Where do they differ in practice?
You notice the difference in three places.
More search bots. With SEO you mainly look at Googlebot and Bingbot. With GEO, the bots of OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity and other providers come into play, each with its own rules in robots.txt.
Longer questions. People often ask an AI assistant a complete question that describes their situation. Your content needs to cover those circumstances, as in the balcony example. How to write that kind of text is covered in Writing content AI assistants can cite.
Different measurement. Search Console gives you Google’s search data. For AI answers, no platform offers a comparable report for every service. You record the answers yourself, with the same questions and a fixed time of measurement. How that works is explained in How do you measure your visibility in AI answers?
What are LLMO, AIO and the other names?
Besides GEO and AEO you will also come across LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation) and AIO (AI Optimisation). People use these names largely interchangeably for work on visibility in AI answers. No official body defines the terms. So pay most attention to what someone actually means and which work comes with it. See also the glossary entry LLMO.
Do you have to handle all three separately?
No. The technical basics, clear pages and good answers to customer questions serve all three. At Outseen, SEO and GEO are part of the same service, and answering customer questions belongs with them. We agree in advance which topics and pages we cover. You can read more about how we handle customer questions on AEO at Outseen.
What does this mean for your business?
You do not have to choose between SEO, GEO and AEO. Start with the questions customers ask before they buy from you or call you, and check for each question whether there is a page that gives the answer in its first paragraph. Also check that Google and the search bots of AI assistants are allowed to fetch those pages.
If you want to know whether it works, measure in two places: in Search Console for Google, and with a fixed set of questions in the AI assistants your customers use. That shows you which pages are found and where your business is missing from answers.