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What is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the process of optimising a website to improve its ranking in search results. Everything that matters in this context is measured from the moment a link is clicked: ranking, traffic and what the user does once they land on the page.
Last updated: 7 September 2026 · reading time: approximately 6 minutes
Definition

What is it all about?

A search engine collects web pages, organises them and compiles a list of results for every query. SEO involves working to ensure that your website appears as high up as possible on that list, because the top results receive the majority of clicks.
For twenty years, this was the main answer to the question of how to be visible online. It remains important: a website that ranks highly in search engines usually has more content, which AI models can also draw on.
Something else has changed. Some searches now result in a response generated by a model, without the user visiting any webpage. SEO does not measure this stage, as there is no click involved. It is handled by GEO.
SEO in a nutshell

Working to ensure that the website appears high up in search results for queries from your customers.

TechnologySpeed, indexing, address structure, mobile version
ContentPages that respond to the search queries people enter
AuthorityLinks from other websites and trust signals

Full name: Search Engine Optimisation. The term has been in use since the late 1990s.

Scope

The three pillars of SEO

This classification has been used in the industry for years. It’s worth being familiar with it, as two of these pillars also have an impact on visibility in the models.
TechnicalFoundationCan a search engine visit, understand and index the website? Speed, URLs, mobile version, no errors.
ContentAnswersWebpages that address what people are looking for, written in their own language rather than in-house company jargon.
AuthorityTrustLinks from other websites and indicators that you can be trusted. The slowest part and the hardest to forge.
The last two pillars translate into visibility in the models: content provides material to quote, whilst authority – that is, mentions and links from outside one’s own domain – is what the models use to base their recommendations on. Technical SEO plays a part, to the extent described as AEO.
Change

What has changed in recent years?

It’s not that SEO has stopped working. It’s that, alongside the metric it measures, another one has emerged that none of the ranking tools measure.
The classic route
1Search query
2List of results
3Clicking on the link
4Visiting your website

SEO works here. Everything can be measured, because there are clicks and page views.

The path through the model
1Question asked of the model
2A ready-made answer with company names
3A decision without clicking on the link

SEO can’t see anything here. There are no visits, so there’s nothing to measure in the statistics.

That is why we are increasingly seeing situations where search engine rankings remain stable, whilst organic traffic declines. The ranking report looks good because it only measures the left-hand side of this picture.
Comparison

SEO and GEO: Six Questions

A brief summary. A full comparison of the three schemes, including the AEO scheme, can be found in a separate article.
A Comparison of SEO and GEO
QuestionSEOGEO
What does it optimise?The website’s position in the search resultsThe brand’s presence in response
Where can you see the results?List of search resultsModel’s response text
Unit of measurementPosition and clickReference and quotation
Who decides?Ranking algorithmA model based on what it finds
What creates a competitive edgeContent, technical aspects, linksContent, technique, references from outside the domain
Can this be measured in Analytics?YesNo, because there’s no entrance
Neither one nor the other precludes the other. We compare these three systems side by side in the article SEO, GEO and AEO.
To be honest

What SEO does not cover

This isn’t a criticism of SEO, but rather a way of highlighting its limitations. Four things it simply doesn’t measure.
It does not measure the models’ responsesThe ranking tools display a list of results. They cannot tell whether the model mentioned the brand in its response, as there is no click there.
It does not include references outside the domain in this senseBacklinks count towards the ranking, but the model’s recommendations are also based on reviews and publications that do not contain backlinks.
Position does not equal visibility in AIThe brand that ranks first in the search engine may not appear in the model’s responses, and vice versa.
A drop in traffic does not necessarily mean a drop in rankingSome search queries now result in a response without the user visiting the page, and the position report will not show this.
FAQ

Questions about SEO

The questions that come up most often when discussing search engine visibility and AI.
What is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the process of optimising a website to improve its ranking in search results. It covers three areas: technical aspects, content and authority – that is, backlinks and trust signals.

Does SEO still make sense?

Yes. Search engines remain the main source of traffic for most businesses, and a website that ranks highly in search results usually has more content that AI models can also draw on.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. These are two parallel metrics that measure different things: SEO ranking and clicks, and the brand’s GEO presence in model responses. What is GEO?.

Positions are holding steady, whilst trading volume is falling. Why?

This is usually because some searches now result in an answer generated by a model, without the user visiting any website. The position report won’t show this, as it only measures the list of results.

Does SEO work help with visibility in AI?

To some extent. Content and mentions from outside one’s own domain have an impact on both rankings. The position in the results alone does not have a direct impact.

Is AEO part of SEO?

It is a separate concept, although in practice it relates to the same elements of a webpage: structure, headings and specific content. What is an AEO?.

How do you measure visibility in models?

By asking the models questions from their own category without mentioning the brand name, and repeating the same set of questions over time. We describe the method in methodology.

See how you fare in the third order

You’re already tracking your search engine rankings. You get 250 AeloCoins to start with, no card required. That’s enough to start tracking and test the modules. Once you’ve used them up, you switch to a paid plan. The measurements work straight away, and a full report on your brand is included from the Starter plan onwards.
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Related: What is SEO?, What is GEO?, What is an AEO?, methodology, dictionary.
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