Key takeaways
- SEO gets you ranked in Google. AEO gets your answer quoted directly. GEO gets you recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- They overlap: a fast, well-structured site with clear answers and real proof helps all three.
- Nobody can guarantee rankings or AI citations, but you can make it much more likely.
Search has changed
A few years ago, being found meant ranking on the first page of Google. Today a growing number of buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews for a recommendation and never scroll to the blue links. If those tools don’t know who you are, you’re invisible at the moment someone is ready to buy.
The three terms, in plain English
| What it means | Where it shows up | |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search engine optimisation: helping Google understand and rank your pages | Google and Bing results |
| AEO | Answer engine optimisation: structuring answers so they can be quoted directly | Featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice assistants |
| GEO | Generative engine optimisation: helping AI tools understand, trust and recommend you | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini |
What to do: six steps
1. Get the technical basics right
A fast, mobile-friendly site with clean structure, sensible page titles and no indexing problems. This is still the foundation for everything else.
2. Answer questions directly
Write pages that answer the questions your buyers actually ask, with the answer in the first sentence or two. Clear FAQs and short answer blocks are easy for search engines and AI tools to quote.
3. Add structured data
Schema markup tells search engines what a page is: an organisation, a service, a FAQ, an article. It’s invisible to visitors and very useful to machines.
4. Be consistent everywhere
Your business name, services and location should match across your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directory listings. AI tools build their picture of you from many sources.
5. Publish real proof
Case studies, results and named expertise give AI tools something specific to cite. Generic marketing copy gives them nothing.
6. Let AI crawlers in
Check that your site isn’t blocking the crawlers AI tools use. Some website templates block them by default.
A real example
on Google for “women’s hormone app” within 30 days of launch, for a women’s hormone health app whose new website was built and optimised for SEO, AEO and GEO. Enquiries rose 200%.
How to check where you stand
Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask the questions your buyers ask: “Who are the best [your service] providers in [your area]?” or “What’s a good tool for [your problem]?”. Note whether you appear, and who appears instead. Repeat it every month, because the answers change.
Frequently asked questions
Do we need a new website for this?
Not always. Often the fastest win is improving the site you already have.
How long does SEO take to work?
Technical fixes can help within weeks. Content and authority build over months, which is why a steady publishing cadence matters.
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. Most AI tools still lean on search results and well-structured websites, so good SEO supports GEO.
Want to see where AI fits in your business?
Book a free 30-minute Time-Back Audit, or See Website & Search.