AEO vs GEO: are they the same, and how do both compare with SEO?

AEO and GEO are two names for nearly the same work: getting AI to name your brand in its answers, though AEO grew from answer boxes and voice answers, while GEO names generative AI answers. SEO is a different job. It gets your pages ranked in Google’s list of links, and it still feeds both. Below, we compare all three with numbers from our 10,000-keyword study of Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT.

The short answer

AEO and GEO are the same work under two names. SEO is related, but it aims at a different prize. Here is each term in one line:

• SEO (search engine optimization) gets your pages to rank high in Google’s normal results, so people click.
• AEO (answer engine optimization) gets your brand picked as the answer. It started with the answer boxes at the top of Google and the spoken answers from voice assistants.
• GEO (generative engine optimization) gets your brand named in answers that AI writes, like Google’s AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and ChatGPT.

Today, AEO and GEO aim at the same AI answers and use the same steps. The name you pick doesn’t change the work. So the more useful question is how both differ from SEO.

AEO vs SEO: what’s different?

AEO and SEO differ in what counts as a win. SEO wins when your page ranks high and gets the click. AEO wins when the answer names your brand, often before anyone clicks.

That changes three things:

• The prize. SEO gives you one of ten spots in a list. An AI answer might name three brands and leave out the rest.
• The pages that matter. SEO work happens mostly on your own site. AEO also depends on other sites that talk about you, like reviews, “best of” lists and comparisons.
• The score. SEO tracks rankings and clicks. AEO tracks how often AI names you, and which brands it names next to you.

AEO does not replace SEO, though. It builds on it, most of all on Google. In our study, 49.83% of the pages linked in AI Overviews also ranked in Google’s top 10 for the same keyword. For ChatGPT, only 10.87% did. Rankings feed Google’s AI answers far more than they feed ChatGPT.

New to the term? Start with what is AEO. If you know it by its other name, our GEO vs SEO guide covers the same ground.

SEO, AEO and GEO side by side

This table puts all three next to each other. Notice how little the AEO and GEO columns differ.

The row that surprises most people is own site vs other sites. In our study, 80.69% of the links next to brand mentions in AI Overviews went to other websites, not the brand’s own site. In ChatGPT, it was 57.58%. Under either name, much of the work happens on pages you don’t own.

The timeline row needs a note too. SEO results build slowly, and a ranking tends to stay put from day to day. AI answers can change each time you ask. So progress in AEO or GEO is something you track over time, not something you check once.

What is AI SEO called now?

AI SEO goes by many names. They all mean about the same thing: getting your brand named in AI answers. Here is the naming map:

• GEO (generative engine optimization): the name for showing up in answers that generative AI writes. Learn more in what is GEO.
• AEO (answer engine optimization): the older name. It began with answer boxes and voice answers, and now covers AI answers too.
• LLMO (large language model optimization): the same idea, named after the AI models that write the answers.
• LLM SEO: a blend of the two, for people who think of it as SEO for AI models. Our LLM SEO guide explains it.
• AI SEO: the plain catch-all name many business owners use.
• AI visibility: the result, not the method. It is how often AI names your brand when buyers ask.

Every name on this list aims at the same three places: Google’s AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and ChatGPT. Pick the name your team understands best. The work stays the same.

Which one should you focus on?

Focus on one plan, not a label. Choosing AEO over GEO, or GEO over AEO, changes nothing about the work. What matters is covering every AI your buyers use.

That plan has to cover more than one AI, because each one reads different pages. In our study, Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT shared only 3.33% of their linked pages on average, across 6,482 keywords where both had links. The answers also move. When we ran the same keywords in Google three times, the brands named overlapped only 60.06% on average.

So one good plan has three parts:

1. Rank for your buyers’ questions. Google’s AI leans on pages that already rank. In our study, a page at #1 in Google was linked in that search’s AI Overview 49.19% of the time.
2. Get named on the pages AI trusts. Reviews, “best of” lists, comparisons and industry pages speak for you. Make sure they all describe your brand the same, correct way. Skip cheap guest posts: only 2% of the sites AI Overviews linked to were in a catalog of sites that sell them.
3. Track the answers over time. Check whether AI names you for each buyer question, and which competitors it names instead. One check is not enough, because answers shift.

This is the same plan whether you call it AEO, GEO or AI SEO.

Get your free AI visibility audit

AEO and GEO are one job with two names, and SEO still feeds both. As an AEO agency, we get your brand onto the pages that rank and the pages AI trusts, and we obsessively track the answers in Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT. To see where you stand first, get a free AI visibility audit. It shows whether AI names you or your competitors, what your buyers ask, and how to close the gap.