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

By Jo van Vuuren — Fractional CMO

The three acronyms get used almost interchangeably, which is a shame, because they describe three different jobs. SEO is about ranking. AEO is about being selected as the answer. GEO is about being the answer an AI system gives, with or without your name attached. The difference matters because each calls for slightly different work, not a different label.

What SEO, AEO and GEO actually mean

Set out plainly, each one covers a different piece of getting found:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): the established discipline of helping a page rank well in traditional search results, built on relevant content, a technically sound site and authority signals such as links from credible sources.
• AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation), being chosen as the direct answer to a question: the featured snippet, the voice assistant’s spoken reply, the boxed answer sitting above the usual results.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): being cited, quoted or summarised inside an AI-generated response from tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews, often with no click involved at all.

SEO is the oldest and the most established, with decades of practice behind it. AEO and GEO are newer answers to the same underlying question (how does a business get found) as more of that finding now happens inside an answer instead of a list of links.

How the three differ

They share a lot of groundwork, but the target and the way you measure success are different for each:

• SEO: the goal is a ranking position; success is measured in traffic and position; the surface is the search results page.
• AEO: the goal is being the featured or spoken answer; success is measured in snippet and voice placements; the surface is the answer box.
• GEO: the goal is being cited or accurately summarised inside an AI response; success is harder to measure directly, since there is often no click to track; the surface is the chat or overview itself.

Why classic SEO still matters, but isn’t enough alone

None of this makes SEO redundant. Technical health, clear content and genuine authority still underpin AEO and GEO. An AI system is far more likely to cite a page that already ranks and is already trusted. What’s changed is that ranking first no longer guarantees a visit. A growing share of searches now end with an answer on screen and no click through, which means visibility without a website visit is a real outcome to plan for, not a side effect to ignore.

What a business should actually do

Treat the three as layers, not a choice between them:

• Keep the technical and on-page SEO basics solid: they’re still the entry ticket.
• Write content that answers the real question directly and early, then explains.
• Structure pages with clear headings, short answers and FAQs an engine can lift cleanly.
• Build genuine authority (real expertise, clear sourcing, a consistent presence) since that’s what both search engines and AI systems are trying to identify.
• Start watching how your business appears (or doesn’t) in AI answers, not only where it ranks.

None of that requires abandoning what already works. It requires widening what you’re optimising for, because the search result and the AI answer are increasingly the same battle, fought slightly differently.