SEO, GEO and AEO: the differences in a single table
What are SEO, GEO and AEO?
What is the difference between SEO, GEO and AEO?
| Question | SEO | GEO | AEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is it responsible for? | Does the website rank highly in the search results? | Does the model specify the brand? | Is it possible to extract the answer from the text? |
| Where can you see the results? | List of search results | Model’s response text | Excerpt quoted by the model |
| Unit of measurement | Position and click | Mention, brand ranking, citation | Domain citation index |
| Who decides? | Ranking algorithm | A model based on what it finds | A model based on the text’s structure |
| Main lever | Content, technical aspects, links | References from outside one’s own domain | Structure and substance |
| Time to see results | Weeks and months | Months, particularly in the case of external signals | Another measurement following the change to the content |
| Visible in Analytics | Yes | No, because there’s no entrance | Indirectly, through traffic from citations |
| Who usually does this? | An SEO agency or a team | The marketing team, together with PR | Content Team |
What works across SEO, GEO and AEO?
Where should you start when working on SEO, GEO and AEO?
What are the most common misconceptions about SEO, GEO and AEO?
Questions about the differences between SEO, GEO and AEO
Is AEO part of GEO?
Yes. AEO relates only to the form of the content – in other words, whether a ready-made answer can be extracted from it. GEO also covers mentions of the brand outside your website.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. These are two parallel systems, each measuring something different. The search engine continues to drive traffic, whilst AI chatbots are taking over some of the queries that do not result in a click. Read more in the article What is SEO?.
Does a good ranking on Google mean visibility in AI?
No. The brand that ranks first in the results may not appear in the models’ responses, as the models also rely on signals that are not taken into account in the ranking, such as reviews without a link.
What will give the best results on a tight budget?
Work that matters across all three areas: website accessibility for search engine crawlers, company profile information, answers in the opening paragraphs, and subpages dedicated to customers’ queries. We’ve written more about how to get started in a small business at website for small businesses.
Do I need a separate agency for GEO?
No. Some of the work falls within the remit of your SEO agency or content team. What’s new is the work on mentions from outside your own domain. We discuss this in the post GEO services at an SEO agency and on the website for SEO agencies.
How can you measure GEO if it isn’t visible in Analytics?
By asking the models the same set of questions over time and by counting how many times the brand appears in the responses. We describe the method in methodology.
Is AEO enough if I don’t have time for the rest?
No, but it’s a good place to start, as it delivers results the quickest and doesn’t require anyone’s permission. However, it will only take the brand as far as the threshold of visibility. Read more in the article What is an AEO?.
Which of the three produces the quickest results?
Usually AEO, because changes made to your own website are already visible in the next measurement. At the lime manufacturer’s site, after five weeks of work, the brand appeared in 17 out of 18 questions, although it had not appeared in any of them previously. We describe this in case study of a lime manufacturer.
Can a single tool measure both SEO and GEO?
Usually not. SEO tools measure rankings and clicks, whilst AI chat responses require separate measurement. Overview AI visibility tools We have compiled them in a separate article.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
GEO covers the brand’s entire presence in AI chatbot responses, including mentions on third-party websites. AEO is a narrower aspect of this: working on the format of the content on your website so that the model can extract a ready-made response from it. GEO is measured by references, and AEO citation index.
What do the abbreviations SEO, GEO and AEO stand for?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, which is optimisation for search engines. GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation, which involves working on a brand’s presence in AI model responses. AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation, which involves working on content that the model can cite as a ready-made answer. We explore each of these concepts in our articles What is SEO?, What is GEO? and What is an AEO?.
What sources is this text based on?
- Google Search Central: A Beginner’s Guide to SEO (December 2025).
- Aggarwal et al. (Princeton University, IIT Delhi), GEO: Generative Engine Optimisation (arXiv 2311.09735, KDD 2024).
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website: AI Overviews and AI Mode have no specific requirements other than SEO (December 2025).
- Pew Research Centre: Google users are less likely to click when they see an AI summary: 8% compared with 15% visits (July 2025).
- SparkToro and Gumshoe.ai: the recurrence of brand lists in AI responses (January 2026).
- OpenAI: bots and their user agents: robot access to the website and the robots.txt file.
- Aelo reports for Wapiennik „Węże” dated 24 June and 27 July 2026 (published with the client’s consent).
