SEO vs GEO vs AEO: what's the difference?
SEO, or search engine optimization, gets your pages ranked on Google's results page. GEO, or generative engine optimization, gets your business named when people ask ChatGPT and other AI assistants who to hire. AEO, or answer engine optimization, gets your page used as the answer itself, from an AI reply to the short answer at the top of Google.
Three names for getting found. They differ in where you show up and how you count a win.
Last updated October 20, 2026
- SEOSearch engine optimization
- The work of getting your pages to rank on Google's and Bing's results pages for the searches your customers type. It covers pages that match those searches, a site search engines can crawl and understand, structured data, and your Google Business Profile. Measured by position, impressions, and clicks.
- GEOGenerative engine optimization
- The work of getting your business named, and named first, when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, or Google's AI Mode instead of searching. The term comes from a 2023 research paper by Aggarwal et al. Measured by how many runs of a question name you.
- AEOAnswer engine optimization
- The work of getting your page used as the answer itself: quoted in an AI reply, cited in Google's AI Overview, or shown in a featured snippet at the top of Google. It shares GEO's goal, and many people use the two terms for the same work.
- AI SEOAI SEO
- A loose umbrella term. Most people use it for GEO and AEO together: getting found in AI answers as well as on Google's results page. Some use it for SEO done with AI tools, so ask which one is meant.
SEO, in one paragraph
SEO, short for search engine optimization, is the work of getting your pages to rank on Google's results page, and Bing's, for the searches your customers type. Google's own starter guide describes it as helping search engines understand your content and helping people find your site. The work is a page for every service you sell, titles and headings in your customers' words, structured data that says what each page is, a site that's fast and easy to crawl, and, for a local business, a complete Google Business Profile with reviews. You measure it by position, impressions, and clicks, which Google Search Console, a free Google service, reports.
GEO, in one paragraph
GEO, short for generative engine optimization, is the work of getting your business named when someone asks an AI assistant instead of searching: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, or Google's AI Mode. An answer names a few businesses instead of a page of ten links, so being named, and named first, is what counts. Most of the work is good SEO. OpenAI uses its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to surface sites in ChatGPT's search, and Google's AI answers link only to pages in Google's index. What's new is the measuring. Answers change from one ask to the next, so you ask each question several times and count how often you're named.
The term comes from a 2023 research paper by Aggarwal et al., “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, first posted to arXiv on November 16, 2023 and accepted to KDD 2024. In the authors' tests, their methods raised a source's visibility in AI-generated answers by up to 40%.
AEO, in one paragraph
AEO, short for answer engine optimization, is the work of getting your page used as the answer itself: quoted in an AI reply, cited in Google's AI Overview, or shown in the featured snippet at the top of Google. It shares GEO's goal, and many people use the two words for the same thing. Where they differ, it's emphasis: AEO is about the sentence that gets quoted, and GEO is about the business that gets named. The work is writing each page to answer one question, with the answer in its first two sentences, in plain sentences that still make sense when lifted out alone. Google says you can't mark up a page to make it a featured snippet. Its systems decide which page makes a good one.
SEO vs GEO vs AEO, side by side
SEO, GEO, and AEO share most of the work. They differ in where you show up, what counts as a win, and how you measure it.
| SEO | GEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Get your pages ranked on the first page of results for what customers search | Get your business named, and named first, when people ask an AI assistant who to hire | Get your page used as the answer to a question |
| Where it shows | Google's and Bing's results pages, and the map results | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and Google's AI Mode | AI replies, Google's AI Overviews, and featured snippets at the top of Google |
| What wins | Pages that match the search, a site search engines can read, and reviews and links that show you're real | Being on the pages assistants read: your site, your listings, your reviews, and the lists in your industry, with the same facts on all of them | One question per page, answered in the first two sentences, in plain words that still make sense quoted alone |
| How it's measured | Position, impressions, and clicks, in Google Search Console | How many runs of a question name you, and name you first, since answers change from one ask to the next | Whether your page is the source an answer quotes or links. Search Console counts AI Overview and AI Mode traffic in its Web data, mixed in with the rest. |
| How long it takes | Fixes can show within weeks, once Google crawls the pages again. Competitive searches take longer and depend on who else wants them. | Can move once the engines re-read your pages. Broad “who should I hire” questions take longer, because they also depend on what other sites say about you. | Can move as soon as an engine re-reads a page that answers the question more clearly than the others. |
Do you need all three?
Most businesses do, and it's mostly one job. The pages and consistent facts that get you ranked on Google are also what AI assistants read when they answer.
Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet in Search. OpenAI says sites that block its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, won't be shown in ChatGPT's search answers. So SEO is the base. Without pages search engines can find and read, there's nothing for an AI answer to quote.
What GEO and AEO add is a different target and a different count. Each page answers one question in its first two sentences, the facts about you match on every site an assistant might read, and you count how often you're named, because one check tells you little. Where to start depends on your gap, and our SEO, GEO, and AEO page explains how we find it.
One page that did all three
A page we built for a Houston wealth management firm, for widows looking for a financial advisor, came up first on Google, was the page ChatGPT linked when it named the firm first, and was the first source when Google's AI Mode listed the firm first. All of it happened within four days of the page going live on October 12, 2026.
That's SEO, GEO, and AEO from one page: ranked on the results page, linked when an assistant named the firm, and used as the source an answer cites. Before it, the firm had written about losing a spouse only in scattered articles. The new page brought those articles together under one question and went live after the firm approved it. See the full project, with every date and source.
Here is what each check found. They are single, dated checks, and AI answers change from run to run, which is why 6AI Analytics repeats them on a schedule.
- Google: On October 12, no page from the firm was in Google's top ten for “financial advisor for widows houston”. On October 16, the widows page was first, checked from Houston.
- ChatGPT: Asked by a widow for a financial advisor in Houston, ChatGPT named the firm first and linked the widows page, on October 13 and again on October 16.
- Google's AI Mode: Asked “Is there a financial advisor in Houston who works with widows?”, AI Mode listed the firm first under “Houston Financial Advisors Specializing in Widowhood”, with the widows page as its first source, on October 16.
- Google's AI Overview: The same day, Google's AI Overview for “financial advisor for widows houston” named the firm, with the widows page first in the results under it.
How 6AI does all three
6AI does SEO, GEO, and AEO as one job: we build and fix the pages, and 6AI Analytics checks whether they come up first on Google and in AI answers.
About every 72 hours, around 300 AI agents check what your customers search and ask, who comes up first on Google and in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and Google's AI Mode, what works on your site, and what to fix. The founders make the changes: Roman Lubetzky leads the client side, and Nyan Balaji leads the build side. Any change you ask for is made within 48 hours, you get a report every 1 to 3 weeks, and a client dashboard is rolling out to clients now. See how 6AI Analytics works.
Projects start at $1,000, and most land around $3,000. Monthly support typically runs $100 to $500, and can run higher with scope. You get a quote after the first call. See what our SEO, GEO, and AEO work includes, or book a demo.
Questions about SEO, GEO, and AEO
Is GEO the same as AEO?
Close to it. Both aim to get your business into AI answers, and many people use the two words for the same work. Where they differ, it's emphasis: AEO is about your page being the answer that gets quoted, and GEO is about your business being the one that gets named. You do both with the same pages.
Does SEO still matter if people ask AI instead of searching?
Yes. Google says a page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet in Search to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode, and OpenAI says sites that block its search crawler won't be shown in ChatGPT's search answers. The pages search engines can find and read are the pages AI answers draw on, so SEO is the base that GEO and AEO stand on.
What is AI SEO?
Usually, GEO and AEO together: getting your business found in ChatGPT and Google's AI answers as well as on the results page. Some people use it to mean SEO done with AI tools instead. If an agency sells you AI SEO, ask which one it means and how it measures the result.
Do I need an llms.txt file for GEO or AEO?
Not for Google. Google says you don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files, or markup to appear in its AI Overviews or AI Mode. An llms.txt file costs little to add, but pages that answer your customers' questions in plain sentences matter far more.
Can Google Search Console show my AEO results?
Partly. Google includes traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search Console's Performance report, under the Web search type, mixed in with the rest of your search traffic. It can't show what ChatGPT, Perplexity, or other assistants say about you. For those, ask each one your customers' questions several times and count how often you're named.
Want to see who comes up first?
On a demo, we ask Google and ChatGPT your customers' questions live, show you who comes up first today, and walk you through 6AI Analytics.