AEO vs SEO vs GEO: what is actually different?

SEO (search engine optimisation), AEO (answer engine optimisation), and GEO (generative engine optimisation) are three names for work that helps people find your business. They aim at different places, and the lines between them are still argued over.

What is the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?

SEO aims at a list of search results. AEO and GEO aim at the written answer an AI engine gives.

• SEO. Google defines it as "helping search engines understand your content, and helping users find your site and make a decision about whether they should visit your site through a search engine" [1].
• AEO. It stands for answer engine optimisation [2]. It is used for making content easy for an engine to pull a direct answer from.
• GEO. It stands for generative engine optimisation. Researchers introduced it in a paper accepted to KDD 2024 as a framework for improving how visible your content is in generative engine responses [3].

The terms are used loosely, and writers do not always agree on where one ends and the next begins. Check how a source defines them before you compare advice.

What is WEO?

WEO stands for website engine optimisation. It is SEO, AEO, and GEO done together on one website. This page uses the term for that combined work. It is not an industry standard, and none of the sources cited here defines it.

The reason to group them is practical. Google says SEO best practices still apply to its AI features [2], so one site that answers the questions customers ask can serve all three.

Is GEO just SEO with a new name?

For Google's AI features, mostly yes. Google says that from its perspective, optimising for generative AI search is optimising for the search experience, and thus still SEO. It says the best practices for SEO continue to apply because its generative AI features are rooted in its core Search ranking and quality systems [2].

Not everyone frames it that way. Microsoft Advertising writes that "SEO is how you won in search" and that GEO is how you win the recommendation in AI-powered discovery [4]. Microsoft sells advertising, so weigh that framing with its interest in mind.

Where the work does differ is by engine. ChatGPT search has its own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, with its own robots.txt control [5]. Each engine can have its own rules, so being reachable for Google does not settle it for the others.

Will GEO replace SEO?

Nothing used on this page says it will. Google says SEO best practices still apply to its AI features [2], and Microsoft frames GEO as the next step beyond SEO, not a replacement for it [4]. Treat GEO as an addition to SEO.

What do you not need to do differently?

For Google Search, quite a lot stays the same. Google's guide says you do not need any of these for its generative AI features [2]:

• Special structured data. "Structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special schema.org markup you need to add."
• AI text files. "You don't need to create new machine readable files, AI text files, markup, or Markdown to appear in Google Search."
• Content chunking. "There's no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces for AI to better understand it."
• A special writing style. "You don't need to write in a specific way just for generative AI search."

The same guide adds that seeking inauthentic "mentions" across the web isn't as helpful as it might seem [2]. It covers Google only. It says nothing about ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Copilot.

How is AEO different from local SEO?

Local SEO is one part of SEO. It decides which businesses show up for nearby searches. Google says local results are ranked by relevance, distance, and prominence [6].

AEO and GEO are about whether an AI answer names your business. A business that serves a local area can need both.

Which should you work on first?

Start with SEO basics, which Google says still apply [2]. Make sure engines can reach your pages, that the pages are indexed, and that each one answers a clear question. Then check what AI engines say about your category and fix the gaps you find.

Sources

1. SEO Starter Guide, Google Search Central. Accessed 2 Oct 2026.
2. Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, Google Search Central. Accessed 2 Oct 2026.
3. GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024 (arXiv). Accessed 2 Oct 2026.
4. From Discovery to Influence: A Guide to AEO and GEO, Microsoft Advertising. Accessed 2 Oct 2026.
5. Overview of OpenAI crawlers, OpenAI. Accessed 2 Oct 2026.
6. Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help. Accessed 2 Oct 2026.

First published 2 Oct 2026

Umashanker Gupta Chowdhury is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ravenence, leading the company’s direction and its client partnerships.

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