SEO vs GEO vs AEO: an honest take from an agency that sells all three.
Sceptics say GEO and AEO are SEO rebranded to sell retainers. They are mostly right, and the part where they are wrong is worth knowing.
We have a commercial interest in these acronyms. So here is the version we would give a friend.
Where they are the same
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need nothing beyond normal SEO: indexed, snippet-eligible, helpful pages. ChatGPT mostly cites what its searches retrieve, so ranking still feeds it. If your SEO foundations are weak, GEO is building on sand.
Where they genuinely differ
| SEO | GEO / AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank and earn the click | Be quoted or named in the answer |
| Unit | A page in a list | A sentence, a fact, a brand name |
| Strongest off-site signal | Links | Mentions (0.664 vs 0.218 for backlinks in Ahrefs' AI Overview data) |
| Surfaces | Google, Bing | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Ask Play |
| Measurement | Positions, clicks | Mention and citation share on a fixed prompt panel |
| Freshness | Matters for some queries | Most assistants lean newer than Google's organic results |
Our definitions
- SEO: getting pages found and ranked in search engines.
- AEO: structuring pages so engines can lift a direct answer; the page-level craft.
- GEO: being named and cited by generative AI across platforms; AEO plus brand mentions, crawl access for AI bots and measurement.
How to split effort
- Foundations, once: crawl access including AI search bots, indexing in Google and Bing, server rendering. See the robots.txt guide.
- Content, weekly: answer-first pages with original data. One piece of work serves all three.
- Mentions, ongoing: lists, videos, communities, PR.
- Measurement, monthly: Search Console and a prompt panel side by side. See AI share of voice.
For apps, add ASO: the store listing is now read by AI too. See ASO, SEO, GEO and AEO for apps. And if you are deciding whether to hire for this, read in-house vs agency.
Questions people ask
Is GEO just SEO?
Mostly. The foundations are the same. GEO adds optimising to be quoted and named, building off-site mentions, allowing AI search bots and measuring citations across AI platforms.
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO is structuring pages so engines can lift a direct answer. GEO is broader: being named and cited by generative AI across platforms, including mentions and measurement.
Should I prioritise SEO or GEO?
Fix SEO foundations first, because AI search depends on them. Then add GEO-specific work: answer-first content, mentions and a prompt panel.
Want this mapped onto your product?
See how our SEO work runs, or send your store link and a founder will reply personally.
