SEO (search engine optimisation) helps your pages rank in search results. AEO (answer engine optimisation) helps your content become the direct answer shown in featured snippets and voice assistants. GEO (generative engine optimisation) helps your business get mentioned and cited when AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews write an answer. They are not competing strategies: the same well-structured, trustworthy content supports all three.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation is the practice of making pages easy for search engines to crawl, understand and rank. It covers technical health (speed, mobile friendliness, clean URLs), relevant content that matches what people search for, and authority signals such as links from other trusted websites.
What is AEO?
Answer engine optimisation focuses on being the answer rather than one of ten links. When someone asks a direct question, search engines and voice assistants often show or read a single short answer. AEO means structuring content so that answer is yours: a clear question, a concise answer directly beneath it, and supporting detail after.
What is GEO?
Generative engine optimisation is about visibility inside AI-generated answers. Tools that write responses draw on content they can access and trust, and some show the sources they used. GEO means making your content easy for these systems to find, understand, summarise accurately and cite.
How are they different?
- Goal: SEO aims for a high ranking; AEO aims for the featured answer; GEO aims for a mention or citation in an AI answer.
- Format that wins: SEO rewards thorough, relevant pages; AEO rewards short, direct answers; GEO rewards clear, factual, well-organised content that is easy to summarise.
- Measurement: SEO uses rankings and clicks; AEO uses snippet and voice visibility; GEO is newer and is usually tracked by checking how AI tools describe and cite your brand.
A practical checklist for all three
- Lead with the answer. Open each page or section with a one- or two-sentence answer to the main question.
- Use question headings. Phrase headings the way people ask, such as "How much does a website cost?".
- Add an FAQ section. Cover the follow-up questions customers really ask, and mark it up with FAQ structured data.
- Use structured data. Schema markup for your organisation, articles, products and FAQs helps machines understand your pages.
- Show expertise. Say who wrote the content, why they know the subject and when it was last updated.
- Be specific and accurate. Definitions, steps and concrete examples are easier to quote than vague claims. Never publish figures you can't support.
- Keep the site fast and crawlable. If a page is slow, blocked or hidden behind scripts, no engine can use it.
- Decide on AI crawlers. Your robots.txt controls access for crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot, and Google-Extended controls use of your content for Google's AI models. Blocking them may also reduce your visibility in AI answers.
- Keep your business details consistent. Use the same name, services and contact details on your website, Google Business Profile and directories.
- Update regularly. Refresh important pages when facts change, and show the updated date.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO still worth it now that AI answers questions directly?
Yes. AI tools still rely on web content, and many show links to their sources. A strong SEO foundation of fast, crawlable, trustworthy pages is what makes AEO and GEO possible.
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO targets a single direct answer, such as a featured snippet or a voice assistant reply. GEO targets AI tools that write a longer response combining several sources, where the aim is for your brand to be mentioned or cited.
How can I check if AI tools mention my business?
Ask the questions your customers would ask in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, and note whether your business appears and which sources are cited. Repeat every month or two to track changes.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
llms.txt is a proposed convention for giving AI tools a summary of your site. It is not an official standard and support varies, so treat it as optional. Clear pages, structured data and a sensible robots.txt matter far more.
Want your business to be found on Google and in AI answers? See our digital marketing and SEO service or ask us for a visibility review.
