Guide · Getting started
GEO vs AEO vs AI SEO
Understand what AEO, GEO and AI SEO describe, how the work overlaps and what to ask before paying for it.
What is the difference between GEO, AEO and AI SEO?
AEO means answer engine optimisation. GEO means generative engine optimisation. Both describe work on how information appears in answers.
AEO often refers to direct answers, including featured snippets, voice responses and AI answers. It is broader than getting a passage quoted.
GEO focuses on visibility in generated answers. That can include source citations, accurate descriptions and business mentions, rather than only recommendations.
The terms overlap. AI SEO can mean AI search optimisation or using AI tools for SEO, so ask which meaning is intended.
These are useful labels, not separate stages every answer passes through. Choose a measurable task before choosing a label.
- SEOHelp people and search systems find and understand useful pages.
- AEOHelp information answer a question clearly and accurately.
- GEOReview content visibility within generated answers.
- AI SEOClarify whether this means AI search work or SEO done with AI tools.
| Term | Common focus | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Visibility in search results | Access, indexing, relevant searches and recorded visits |
| AEO | Information presented in direct answers | Answer accuracy, context and any supporting links |
| GEO | Visibility in generated responses | Mentions, citations and descriptions under a stated method |
| AI SEO | An ambiguous label | The specific service, surface and evidence being described |
What is AEO?
Answer engine optimisation describes work to help information appear usefully in direct answers. Quotation is one possible outcome, rather than its definition.
The term is used for featured snippets, voice responses and AI answers. A generated answer may paraphrase information instead of quoting it.
Write a clear answer to the customer question. Use headings that describe the subject and keep the relevant facts together.
A passage should make sense outside the rest of the page. Use a table or list when it makes the information easier to understand.
These are writing choices, not a formula for selection. Google says its AI features need no special optimisation beyond its existing Search requirements.
| Less specific | More specific | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Opening hours vary, so give us a call. | Open every day except Sunday. Closed on bank holidays. | Confirm the current opening hours |
| We are the area's favourite bakery. | A family-run bakery in Harrogate that bakes all its bread on site. | Confirm the location and baking claim |
| Ask in store about cakes for events. | We make celebration cakes to order with five days' notice. | Confirm the ordering notice period |
What is GEO?
Generative engine optimisation describes work on content visibility in generated responses. It is not limited to getting a business named or recommended.
The GEO research paper studies visibility of sources within generated answers. Its experimental results do not establish an outcome for a particular business.
A review can record which sources are cited, which businesses are named and whether their descriptions are accurate. Keep each observation separate.
An answer can cite your page without naming your business. It can name your business while citing another source, or show no citation.
Your own website may be one source among several. Review the links actually shown before drawing conclusions about where a description came from.
- Your websiteThe pages you control.
- ReviewsWhat customers write about you.
- DirectoriesListings that carry your name, address and services.
- Press and blogsArticles written by other people.
- ForumsCustomer discussions and community threads.
- Comparison pagesPages that weigh up several businesses.
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO has more than one meaning. Some people mean visibility in AI search. Others mean using AI tools to carry out SEO tasks.
Neither meaning creates a fixed hierarchy above AEO and GEO. Ask what work, systems and measurements a service actually covers.
For AI search work, keep the prompt, service, answer and date together. Check accuracy, mentions and citations separately.
For SEO done with AI tools, ask what the tool produces and who checks it. Using AI to draft content is different from observing an AI citation.
Google says its existing Search practices remain relevant to its AI features. That guidance describes Google, rather than every assistant.
Other labels include LLM optimisation and ChatGPT optimisation. Their scope depends on the service using them, so the name alone is not enough.
| Label | Question to ask |
|---|---|
| AEO | Which answer experiences are included? |
| GEO | Which generated responses and visibility measures are reviewed? |
| LLM optimisation | Does this concern training, retrieval or observed answers? |
| AI optimisation | Which specific task does the service perform? |
| ChatGPT optimisation | Which ChatGPT experience and collection method are used? |
| AI SEO | AI search visibility, or SEO work done with AI tools? |
How do the activities overlap?
Readable pages, accurate information and useful explanations can support several kinds of search. Describe the actual improvement rather than counting labels as separate products.
Clear, useful content can matter to both search and AI answers. Check each system on its own terms instead of assuming a universal sequence.
A citation is not evidence that a business was recommended. A business mention does not show that its own website was used.
A visit needs a website measurement record. The presence of a link in an answer does not show that anyone followed it.
Record each finding beside its source and limits. If evidence is missing, leave that part unknown rather than filling it from another measurement.
| Observation | Evidence to keep | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Page access | The tested client, response and date | Selection for an AI answer |
| Citation | The saved answer and linked source | A business recommendation |
| Mention | The name and surrounding answer text | A visit to the business website |
| Referral | A visit record and attribution method | An enquiry or sale |
Does GEO replace SEO?
For Google’s AI features, no. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews, and no special optimisations are needed.
Its newer guide adds one condition, inclusion in Search generative AI features in Search Console.
To be shown as a supporting link, Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet.
Google also says both features may run several related searches to build one answer. It calls this query fan-out.
So SEO still counts. What changed is what you look for afterwards, a quote, a mention or a citation, not only a click.
Google is also clear that meeting every requirement does not mean a page will be crawled, indexed or shown.
Google also says crawling can take from several days to several months, depending on how often its systems decide a page needs refreshing. A review soon after an edit may still reflect the old page.
- Search eligibilityCheck indexing, snippet eligibility and access for the Google page.
- Observed answerSave the answer and the source links it actually shows.
Do AI text files or special markup help?
Some services sell AI text files or extra markup as part of GEO work. Ask what each one is for and which assistant is meant to read it.
For its own AI features, Google says you don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files or markup. It also says no special schema.org structured data is needed.
The llms.txt file is one example of an AI text file. Its own site describes it as a proposal for a file that gives AI tools brief background and links to clean text versions of pages.
Structured data still has a job in ordinary Search. Google's policies say not to mark up content that is hidden from readers of the page.
So treat these files as optional technical work with a stated purpose. None of them stands in for accurate pages that a customer can read.
Which crawlers does the work involve?
Access work under any of these labels depends on which crawler you mean. Each AI company documents its own, and the rules differ.
Google says AI is built into Search, so robots.txt rules for Googlebot govern crawling for its AI features too. It names Google-Extended as the control for AI training and grounding in some of its other systems.
To limit what Search shows from a page, Google points to nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex. These are page settings, separate from robots.txt.
OpenAI's documentation lists separate agents. OAI-SearchBot is for search in ChatGPT and GPTBot is for training, and each robots.txt setting is independent of the other.
It also says ChatGPT-User visits pages for certain user actions, and that robots.txt rules may not apply because a person started the request. So ask any provider which agents its access checks cover.
Why does a good ranking not mean an AI mention?
A position in ordinary search results does not prove that an AI answer used the page. The answer may involve other searches and sources.
Google says AI Overviews may use different models and techniques. Their responses and links can vary for the same question.
A mention, a citation and a recommendation are different findings. Read the surrounding text before describing the role a business plays in an answer.
A prompt naming your business tests its description. A prompt about a service tests whether it appears in that particular answer.
Keep those prompt groups separate. Neither one establishes what every customer sees, and a single absence does not explain why the business was omitted.
- Search resultA saved result shows a page in a particular search.
- AI citationA saved answer links to the page.
- Business mentionThe answer names the business. Read whether it recommends it.
What should you check first?
Start with a confirmed problem. An acronym cannot identify why an answer omitted your business or described it incorrectly.
If a page is missing from search, check indexing and access with your website maintainer. An absence alone does not identify a crawler problem.
If an answer contains a wrong fact, compare it with current business records and the cited page. The error might be in either source or answer.
If the business is absent, save the answer and inspect its scope and source links. Do not infer a cause from one response.
Choose one task supported by the evidence. Record the owner, proposed change and publication date, then repeat the same review later.
Google's introduction to robots.txt says the file mainly stops crawlers overloading a site. It is not a way to keep a page out of Google, which needs noindex or a password.
| What you see | First check |
|---|---|
| Your page is missing from search results | Inspect the page status, indexing and relevant query |
| Your page is cited but a fact is wrong | Compare the answer, source passage and current business record |
| Other businesses are recommended | Review the prompt scope and cited sources without assuming a cause |
| Your business appears only in branded questions | Keep branded and unbranded answer sets separate |
| You have no saved answers | Record a small question set before making a comparison |
What mistakes should you avoid?
Treating the labels as separate technical stages. AEO and GEO overlap, and an answer need not quote a page to describe a business.
Judging from one screenshot. Save the prompt, answer, links and context so another person can assess the same observation.
Treating a mention as a recommendation. A passing reference, a criticism and a recommendation can all name the same business.
Assuming an absent citation identifies a website fault. The answer alone may not reveal the cause.
Confusing AI writing tools with AI search measurement. Drafting a page and recording an answer are different activities.
Assuming an edit caused a later answer. Record both events without claiming a causal connection the evidence cannot establish.
Buying a label instead of a method. Two services can both say GEO and measure entirely different things.
Rewording prompts between reviews. A changed prompt is a new test, so the earlier record no longer compares with it.
What should you ask before buying AEO or GEO work?
Ask what will be checked, what you will receive and what remains outside the supplier's control. A ranking promise is not an audit method.
Ask who chooses the prompts and whether the list stays fixed between reviews. A list that changes every month can't show a trend.
Ask how a mention and a citation are each counted, and what happens when an attempt fails. A failed attempt should be reported, not counted as an absence.
Ask who drafts any proposed change and who publishes it. You should see the exact wording before anything goes on your website.
Then read what the service says it can't promise. No provider can promise a mention, citation or recommendation, because the AI companies decide what their answers say.
How do you measure progress?
Write a fixed set of prompts your customers would actually ask. Include some that name your business and some that do not.
Run them on each assistant on a schedule, with the same wording each time. Record the date, the assistant and the country.
For each answer, log whether you were named, which pages were cited and which other businesses appeared.
Compare against your first record. The trend across many answers is the evidence, never one good or bad result.
Report failed attempts beside the complete answers. An attempt that returned nothing is missing evidence, not an answer that left you out.
Keep visits in their own record. A count of mentions and a count of website visits measure different things, even when they move together.
A worked example
A kitchen fitter in Leeds checks one prompt that does not name the business.
| Detail | Observation | Review or next step |
|---|---|---|
| Found | Its services page shows in search results for kitchen fitting in Leeds. | Keep the search observation separate from the AI answer. |
| AI answer | The AI answer names two other fitters and cites a directory. | Save the prompt and cited pages. This does not explain the omission. |
The search result and AI answer are separate observations. Their difference does not identify a cause.
Common questions
Is GEO the same as AEO?
They overlap. AEO concerns direct answers and GEO concerns generated responses. Neither term is limited to quotations, mentions or citations.
Do I need anything special to appear in Google's AI answers?
Google's newer guide says the site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console. No special AI files are required.
Is GEO the same as AEO?
They overlap. AEO concerns direct answers and GEO concerns generated responses. Neither term is limited to quotations, mentions or citations.
Do I need anything special to appear in Google's AI answers?
Google's newer guide says the site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console. No special AI files are required.
Check your understanding
An answer cites your page and names other businesses. What can you conclude?
Read the answer and explanation
- The citation proves your business was recommended.
- The recorded answer links your page and names those businesses.
- A website change caused the answer.
Answer. The recorded answer links your page and names those businesses.
The saved answer supports those observations. It does not identify the cause or establish a recommendation for your business.
Answer and explanation
The recorded answer links your page and names those businesses.
The saved answer supports those observations. It does not identify the cause or establish a recommendation for your business.
Your next steps
Sources and method
A Carqo review method. Provider statements link to the relevant documentation.
- Google guidance on AI features Link checked 4 November 2026
- GEO research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues Link checked 4 November 2026
- Google introduction to robots.txt Link checked 13 October 2026
- Microsoft Advertising guide to AEO and GEO Link checked 26 October 2026
- llmstxt.org, The llms.txt file proposal Link checked 29 October 2026
- Google structured data policies Link checked 4 November 2026
- OpenAI crawler documentation Link checked 4 November 2026
- Google, optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search Link checked 4 November 2026