Explainer
What are GEO and AEO?
GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) are the techniques that get AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews to mention your business as the answer to a search. Where classic SEO targets a position in the results list, GEO targets a mention inside the answer itself.
What is GEO (generative engine optimization)?
GEO means optimizing your website and content so generative AI systems, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity, use your business as a source when they compose an answer. These systems don't crawl the web the way a classic Google crawler does. They read content, summarize it, and choose which sources to mention. A page that reads well for a human and for a language model, with a clear structure and a direct answer up top, has the best chance of becoming that source.
What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?
AEO is closely related to GEO and focuses specifically on question-and-answer content: pages built around the exact question someone asks, with a short, direct answer followed by context. Think of an FAQ block with structured data (FAQ schema), or a page that opens with "What is..." and answers it in the first sentence. AEO and GEO overlap heavily. In practice, you work on both at the same time.
The difference between SEO, AEO, GEO, and LLMO
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| SEO | Optimizing for a position in Google's classic, organic search results. |
| AEO | Optimizing for a direct answer to a specific question, often in a featured snippet or an AI answer box. |
| GEO | Optimizing so generative AI systems (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) use and cite your content in a composed answer. |
| LLMO | Large language model optimization: a broad term for optimizing toward language models, overlapping mostly with GEO. |
In practice, this isn't a choice between four disciplines. A page that scores well on the classic SEO basics (speed, structure, authority) and is written answer-first automatically performs better on AEO and GEO too. We treat it as one approach under the label AI-SEO, not as four separate tracks.
Want the full comparison, with a table showing which term fits which situation? Read the difference between SEO, AEO, GEO, and LLMO.
Want to know what to actually do? Here is AI search optimization in six steps.
Why this matters for growing businesses
Customers who used to type "plumber Rotterdam" into Google increasingly ask that question directly to ChatGPT, or see an AI summary in Google before the classic results even load. If your business isn't in that answer, you lose the first, and sometimes only, point of contact, even if your website ranks well in the classic search results. This matters early for any growing business, because being cited by AI systems is still new territory: most competitors haven't optimized for it yet. Start now, and you claim a position that will be much harder to take a year from now.
How we approach this
We apply the same approach we sell to clients on our own site: writing answer-first, a technical foundation AI crawlers can actually read, and structured data on every page. This page is an example of that itself. Our AI-SEO service combines that with ongoing measurement: not just Google rankings, but whether your business actually gets mentioned in ChatGPT's answer or a Google AI Overview for the question your customer asks.
Curious how that works for your business? View our AI-SEO service.
Frequently asked questions
What does GEO mean in marketing?+
GEO stands for generative engine optimization: optimizing content so generative AI systems like ChatGPT and Google Gemini use and mention it in their answers.
What's the difference between SEO and GEO?+
SEO targets a position in the classic, organic search results. GEO targets a mention inside an AI system's answer itself, regardless of whether a classic results list follows after it.
What does AEO mean?+
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: optimizing content to give a direct, short answer to a specific question, often used in featured snippets and AI answer boxes.
How do I know if my business is already visible in AI answers?+
Ask ChatGPT the exact question your customer would ask, or look at the AI summary above the Google results. If your business is mentioned, you're already visible. We can measure this for you, and repeat it over time, through our AI visibility scan.
Is GEO worth it for a small business?+
Yes. Because few small businesses have set this up yet, competition for AI citations is still limited. Starting early gets you a lead that would often take years to build with classic SEO.
How long before my business is visible in AI answers?+
That varies by situation and depends on your site's current technical state and how much content already exists. An AI visibility scan gives a concrete estimate for your own site.
Ready to start?
Curious where your business stands in AI answers?
Book a no-obligation call. We'll show you what GEO can mean for your findability.