Confused by SEO, GEO, and AEO? Learn the differences between traditional internet search, AI optimization, and how to stay visible on Google, Alexa, and Perplexity.
Decoding the Alphabet Soup Behind Digital Visibility (SEO, GEO, AEO)
The digital marketing landscape used to be simple: you optimized for Google, and you called it SEO. But as we move deeper into the era of Artificial Intelligence, a new alphabet soup of acronyms—GEO and AEO—has emerged.
At KateRaffertySEO.com, I believe that while the “Engine” is changing, the goal remains the same: connecting humans with the knowledge they need. Here is your guide to understanding these terms, how they overlap, and where they diverge.
The Definitions: SEO, GEO, and AEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The foundation. It focuses on optimizing entire webpages to rank in traditional search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google and Bing. It relies on content, crawlability, backlinks, and domain authority.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): This is the newcomer. GEO focuses on being cited within AI-generated responses. Instead of ranking a whole page, GEO is about “sub-document processing”—optimizing granular snippets of data so an AI (like Perplexity or Gemini) can “chunk” your information into a synthesized answer.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): A subset of both, AEO is specifically designed for “answer engines” and voice assistants. It’s about providing direct, concise answers to specific questions.
Similarities and Differences
The debate in the industry is whether GEO and AEO are “real” or just SEO with a fresh coat of paint.
- The Similarities: All three rely on high-quality content, structured data (Schema), and authority. As Microsoft recently noted, success in AI search still starts with SEO fundamentals: crawlability and metadata.
- The Differences: Traditional SEO ranks pages; GEO and AEO rank information. In GEO, the AI might pull a single sentence from your site and combine it with a sentence from another site to create a “fused” answer. AEO and GEO are both part of AI search, but AEO is used for quick, factual answers (the “What”), whereas GEO is for conversational, complex summaries (the “Why” and “How”).
Platforms: Where the Magic Happens
While traditional SEO lives on Google and Bing, GEO and AEO expand your reach into several different digital “surfaces”:
- AI Answer Engines & Chatbots: Platforms like Perplexity AI, SearchGPT, ChatGPT, and Claude synthesize answers from multiple sources to create a single response.
- Voice Search: Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant rely heavily on AEO to provide a single, direct, spoken answer to the user.
- Social Search: Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are increasingly used as search engines for discovery, especially for younger demographics and visual searches.
- Google Discover: Unlike traditional search, Discover is “query-less.” It pushes content to users based on interests rather than specific searches, requiring a unique mix of high-quality imagery and topical authority.
Adding the Power of PPC
While organic strategies (SEO/GEO/AEO) take time to build, PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and advertising provide immediate visibility. In a world where AI summaries might push organic links further down the page, a balanced strategy uses PPC to “buy” the top spot on Google or Bing, ensuring your brand is seen even if the AI is busy “chunking” your content elsewhere.
SEO, GEO, and AEO All Point to One Goal: Be the Best Answer
Some experts, like industry veteran Greg Boser, suggest we should just change the “E” in SEO from “Engine” to “Experience.” Whether you call it GEO or SEO, the mission is to provide an authoritative, clear, and structured experience for the user.
The machines we optimize for are evolving—they retrieve and weight trust differently than they did ten years ago—but the core remains: be the best answer on the internet.
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