AEO vs. GEO vs. SEO: what’s the difference?

What do SEO, AEO and GEO mean?

SEO is the work of getting your pages and your Google Business Profile to rank when people search. Success is a high position, a click, a call.

AEO is the work of getting your business used as the answer: quoted in a Google AI Overview, named by ChatGPT, read out by a voice assistant. Success is being cited or recommended, whether or not anyone clicks.

GEO comes from a November 2023 research paper, “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization,” which tested how content changes affect visibility in AI-generated answers and reported gains of up to 40% in the researchers’ own test setup. In practice, agencies use AEO and GEO interchangeably. You’ll also see “AI SEO,” “LLM SEO” and “AI search optimization.” Same idea.

AEO vs. GEO vs. SEO at a glance

The terms aren’t formally defined, and agencies draw the lines differently. This is how they are generally used in 2026.

One question, three angles

Take an HVAC company in Hampton Bays and the question “how much does a new furnace cost?” SEO is its cost page ranking on the first page of Google. AEO is the page’s opening sentence, with a real price range, being quoted in the AI Overview above those results. GEO is ChatGPT naming the company when someone asks who to call in Hampton Bays, because its page, its reviews and a local directory all say the same thing. One well-built page and a consistent reputation serve all three.

Where they overlap (most of it)

AI answers aren’t built from a separate internet. Google says there are “no additional requirements” to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page has to be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet, and the best practices it lists are ordinary SEO. OpenAI says any public website can appear in ChatGPT search, and that ChatGPT search partners with outside search providers, rewriting questions into search queries. So the foundations are shared:

• Pages that search engines and AI crawlers are allowed to reach and index.
• Real text that answers real questions, not claims buried in images or PDFs.
• Structured data that matches what’s visible on the page.
• A business name, address, phone number and hours that match everywhere.
• Reviews, links and mentions from other sites.

Google also says AI Overviews and AI Mode may use “query fan-out,” running several related searches across subtopics to build one answer. A page that ranks for those smaller questions can be pulled into the answer to the big one. Good SEO feeds AEO directly.

Where they differ

• The unit of success. SEO wins a page a position. AEO wins a sentence a quotation. That changes how you write: lead with the answer, and make every section make sense on its own.
• Clicks. A 2025 Pew Research Center study found people clicked a link inside a Google AI summary on just 1% of visits. Much of AEO’s value is the mention itself: the caller who heard your name from ChatGPT and searched for you. We cover the click data in whether SEO is dead.
• Off-site weight. In our tests of Long Island prompts, AI answers leaned heavily on third-party sources: directories, “best of” lists, review sites and forums. What others say about you matters more than it does for a classic ranking.
• Measurement. There’s no Search Console for ChatGPT. You test prompts by hand and watch referral traffic from AI tools in your analytics.

Is AEO replacing SEO?

No. AI answers depend on search. Google’s AI Overviews are part of Google Search, and ChatGPT search works through search providers. A business that can’t be found in search gives AI tools little to work with. Local searches with buying intent still lean on the map: when we checked 34 Suffolk County search results in September 2026, the two with no AI Overview were “web design long island” and “local seo long island.” Both showed a local map pack instead.

What should a local business actually do?

Treat AEO as the way you do SEO now, not a second project. In order:

1. Get the local basics right. A complete Google Business Profile, a claimed Bing listing, matching business details everywhere, and a steady flow of reviews.
2. Build one page per service, and one per town you genuinely serve, each opening with a direct answer.
3. Publish your prices or typical ranges, and an FAQ that uses your customers’ own wording.
4. Earn mentions on the directories, local lists and community sites AI tools cite.
5. Test monthly what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI say about you. Our step-by-step guide to getting recommended by ChatGPT covers how.

Expect the same timeline as local SEO: listing and page fixes count once they’re re-crawled, while reviews and reputation take months. See how long local SEO takes.

Where East End Web helps

We don’t sell AEO and SEO as two products. All of our SEO work is AEO-first: we optimize to be cited by AI answer engines as well as ranked by Google. On the market, AI search optimization is usually bundled with SEO; standalone audits typically run $500–$2,500 and ongoing work $500–$2,500 a month. For our clients it’s included in our SEO work and quoted per project. See how our AI search optimization works.