AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what each one means and what to do first

In the US, searches for “generative engine optimization” grew 26% and for “answer engine optimization” 24% in the twelve months to October 2026 (Google Trends). The names are new to most buyers and agencies use them loosely. In short: SEO is about being found in search results, while AEO and GEO are two names for being the source an AI answer quotes. Most of the work is shared.

Three names, two jobs

• SEO, search engine optimisation: making your pages easy to crawl, understand and rank, so people find them in Google and Bing and click through.
• AEO, answer engine optimisation: the older of the two new names. It began with featured snippets and voice assistants, which answer a question directly, and now covers AI answers too.
• GEO, generative engine optimisation: named in a 2023 research paper on generative search engines. It means being included and cited when ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google’s AI features write an answer.

In practice AEO and GEO describe the same work. The real difference is between SEO, where success is a ranking and a click, and AEO or GEO, where success is a mention in an answer, often without a click.

What they share

Google’s own guidance for site owners says the same SEO practices apply to its AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no extra technical requirements. AI assistants need what search engines need: pages they can crawl, a clear answer to the question near the top, facts that agree with each other, and signs that other people trust you. A site that is weak at SEO is rarely strong in AI answers.

Where they differ

• The unit of success. SEO counts rankings, clicks and the leads they bring. AEO and GEO count whether your company is named, and cited with a link, when buyers ask the questions you want to answer.
• Where the answer comes from. An AI answer is built from several sources at once, and many of them are not your site: directories, review platforms, comparison articles, forums and news. In GrowAxis’s own checks of Google AI Mode in October 2026, answers about agencies often drew on directories and review sites as well as agency websites.
• How the page is written. A ranking page can build up to its point. A page that gets quoted answers first: the question as a heading, the answer in the first two sentences, then the detail.
• How you measure it. Search Console reports rankings and clicks, and counts AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic inside its normal web search totals. AI visibility needs its own check: the same questions asked each month in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode, and visits from those assistants in your analytics.

What the research says

The 2023 paper that named GEO, by researchers at Princeton, Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI and IIT Delhi, tested how changes to a page affected its visibility in generative answers. Adding citations, quotations from relevant sources and statistics raised visibility by up to 40%, while stuffing in keywords did little. The lesson is the same as for good SEO: specific, sourced, quotable content beats repeated keywords.

What to do first

1. 01Fix the SEO foundation: pages Google can index, clear titles and descriptions, fast loading, and one page per service and market.
2. 02Rewrite your key pages answer-first: one question per section, answered in the first two sentences.
3. 03Make your company facts consistent everywhere: what you do, for whom and where, on your site, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile and the directories in your field.
4. 04Earn mentions on the sites AI answers draw on: reviews, directory listings, comparison articles and guest pieces.
5. 05Measure both: Search Console for SEO, and a fixed list of buyer questions checked monthly in the AI assistants, with AI referral visits in your analytics.

How GrowAxis runs SEO, AEO and GEO

GrowAxis runs SEO and GEO from one plan inside GrowDigital, with your team: the technical base, answer-first content for the searches that lead to a sale, consistent company facts, and a monthly check of what AI assistants say about you. It goes live within 30 days, and it is measured on qualified leads, not rankings alone.