Learn · Basics
GEO vs SEO vs AEO: what is the difference?
By Cloute · Published October 1, 2026
The short answer
SEO (search engine optimization) aims to rank a page in a list of search results. GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) aim to get a business named inside the answer an AI engine writes. GEO and AEO are two names for the same goal, and both build on SEO, because AI engines search the web before they answer.
GEO vs SEO vs AEO, side by side
| SEO | GEO and AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank a page in the results | Be named or cited in the answer |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing result pages | ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| What the customer sees | About ten links to choose from | One answer that recommends a few names and puts one first |
| Unit of success | Position for a keyword | Share of answers that name you, and how often you are named first |
| How it is measured | Rank tracking, clicks, impressions | Asking the engines the same questions repeatedly and counting who is named |
| What varies | Results are fairly stable day to day | Answers change from run to run and from place to place |
What GEO, AEO and SEO share
All three depend on a site that can be crawled and understood. AI engines run web searches to find pages, then read them. A page that search engines cannot reach is a page AI engines cannot use, and Google's own guidance says the same fundamentals apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode as to Search.
What changes with GEO and AEO
- The engine reads the page, it does not just index it. Facts have to be on the page in plain sentences.
- Being found is not being named. An engine can cite a page and still recommend a competitor.
- Reading matters more than anything else we have measured. Across 64,441 AI answers about local businesses, engines named a business 84% of the time when they had opened one of its own pages while answering, and 16% when they had not.
- Third-party sources count. Engines lean on reviews, directories and local publications as well as a business's own site.
- There is no page two. On a first measurement, before any work, 70% of the AI answers Cloute analysed named a competitor or nobody.
Which should a business prioritise?
Do not choose. Keep the SEO fundamentals, because they feed both, and add measurement of AI answers so you know whether customers who ask an engine are being sent to you or to a rival. A business that gets most of its customers from a local area should measure AI answers from the towns those customers ask in.
Read next
What is AEO (answer engine optimization)? What is GEO (generative engine optimization)? GEO vs SEO vs AEO How to measure AI visibility Study: AI recommends what it has readQuestions people ask
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO depends on SEO. AI engines find pages through web search, so a site that is crawlable and ranks well gives an engine something to read. GEO adds the goal of being named in the answer.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
Very little. Generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization describe the same work. Some people use AEO to include featured snippets and voice assistants, and GEO for chat engines only.
What about AIO, LLMO and LLM SEO?
They are more names for the same idea. AI optimization (AIO), large language model optimization (LLMO) and LLM SEO all mean getting a business named in answers written by AI models.
Do I need a separate agency for GEO and SEO?
Not necessarily. What matters is that someone measures AI answers as well as rankings, reports both, and can show a before and after on identical questions.
About Cloute. Cloute is an AI visibility company for local businesses. It measures how often ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews recommend a business against its local competitors, and works every month to move it to the top.