Customers no longer find businesses only through a list of blue links. They ask AI assistants for recommendations, read AI-generated summaries at the top of search results and expect direct answers to specific questions. That shift has introduced two new terms alongside SEO: GEO and AEO.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is the practice of making your website easy for search engines to crawl, understand and rank. It covers technical health (speed, indexing, structured data), on-page relevance (titles, headings, content) and authority (links and mentions from credible sources).
What is AEO?
Answer Engine Optimization focuses on giving clear, direct answers to the questions people ask. In practice that means well-structured headings, concise answer paragraphs, FAQ sections and schema markup that labels questions and answers explicitly.
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimization is about making your content easy for generative AI systems to understand, summarize and attribute. These systems favour content that is factual, well organized, consistent across the web and clearly connected to a specific brand or entity.
How they fit together
- SEO is the foundation. Content that cannot be crawled or trusted is unlikely to be used by any search experience.
- AEO sharpens the answers. It structures your expertise so it can be lifted into answer boxes and assistants.
- GEO strengthens the entity. It ensures AI systems can accurately describe who you are and what you offer.
Practical first steps
- Fix technical issues that block crawling or slow your site down.
- Make sure your business name, services and location are described consistently everywhere.
- Add a genuinely useful FAQ to key service pages, written in plain language.
- Use structured data such as Organization, Service and FAQPage where it accurately reflects the page.
- Check how AI assistants currently describe your business, and correct inaccurate sources.
No one can guarantee rankings or AI citations. But businesses that publish clear, credible and well-structured information give every search experience the best possible material to work with.
Learn about our AI Visibility (GEO + AEO) service or book an AI Visibility Audit.