The short answer
If one agency sells you “AEO” and another sells you “GEO”, compare what they deliver, not the label. Both should cover the same ground: whether AI crawlers can read your site, whether your Google profile and directory listings are complete and consistent, whether your pages state facts plainly, whether reviews keep coming in and whether the AI answers about you are measured properly. Both terms are newer names for parts of SEO; neither requires special files or markup.
Four labels, one job
| Term | Stands for | Usually emphasizes |
|---|---|---|
| AEO | Answer engine optimization | The questions people ask and the direct answers they get; older use covered featured snippets and voice assistants |
| GEO | Generative engine optimization | Engines that write answers: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Perplexity |
| AI SEO / LLM SEO | SEO for AI search | Continuity with existing SEO; technical access for AI crawlers |
| SEO | Search engine optimization | The umbrella: being found in search, links and maps included |
The words travel differently, too. In our keyword research, “aeo vs geo” is searched about 1,600 times a month in the US and growing, while “voice search”, once the core of AEO, fell about 70% year on year. In German, “AEO” is mostly read as a customs term, so German speakers say GEO or KI-SEO.
Where the emphasis differs in practice
An AEO-minded project starts from questions: the twenty or forty things customers ask before they call, price ranges, insurance, hours, service area, languages, credentials, and makes sure each has a plain, citable answer on your site and in your profiles. A GEO-minded project starts from engines: which sources ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode read for your industry and country, and how often each one names you.
A good project does both, because they meet in the same place. When we asked engines about 21 specific businesses by name, the errors were about exactly those question-level facts, hours, phone numbers, prices, and in 12 of the 21 cases the business’s own website, Google profile or booking system contradicted each other (our check, 3 Oct 2026, small sample; data).
One example, three labels
Take a dental practice that wants to be named for “a dentist in Austin who takes Delta Dental”. The SEO view asks whether its insurance page ranks. The AEO view asks whether there is a plain, current sentence anywhere, website, Google profile, directories, that answers “yes, we are in network with Delta Dental”. The GEO view asks which of those sources ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode read for that question, and how often each engine names the practice across several runs.
All three end in the same to-do list: publish the insurance facts on the site, add them to the Google profile and the dental directories, keep them identical, and check the answers again in 60–90 days. The label only changes which question you ask first. That is why we suggest judging any proposal by its deliverables and its measurement, and ignoring the acronym on the cover.
What differs: the engines, not the acronyms
Whatever the label, the engines behave very differently for the same local question. From our pilot round on 3 October 2026 (8 questions, several runs each):
| Engine | Businesses named per answer | Websites cited per answer | What the answer is built on |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (app) | 4.7 | 1.8 | Business cards plus a search for review sites |
| Gemini (app) | 3.9 | 1.3 | Google Maps listings |
| Google AI Mode | 2.9 | 2.9 | Google place cards and business websites |
| Perplexity (API) | 3.0 | 7.8 | Directories and portals |
The lists barely overlap: across our three rounds, ChatGPT’s and Gemini’s names for the same question overlapped by only 0.17–0.22 (Jaccard similarity). Larger studies agree: 91% of URLs cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews were cited by only one of them (Growth Memo, May 2026). And Google AI Overviews appeared on only 3 of the 29 “service + city” searches we ran, for local questions Google mostly showed its map results, and AI Mode is the AI surface to watch.
That is the practical lesson behind both acronyms: measure each engine separately, ask the same question several times, and report it as “named in k of n answers”. How we measure.
See how ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Mode answer for your business
Choosing someone who sells AEO or GEO
Ask these five questions, whatever the label on the proposal:
- How do you measure? Expect fixed questions, several runs per engine, dates, and fractions. Be wary of a single “AI visibility score” or a “position in ChatGPT”.
- What exactly will be delivered? Each item should have a check you can verify: profile verified, listings corrected, pages published, crawlers not blocked.
- Do you sell things Google says aren’t needed? llms.txt, special “AI schema”, FAQ markup for rich results (Google stopped showing them on 7 May 2026, changelog).
- Whose name are the accounts in? Your Google profile, listings and website should be yours from day one.
- What does it cost, and can I stop? Published prices and month-to-month terms are a good sign.
If you think in questions and answers, our AEO services page shows what we do, what we don’t charge for, and the prices. For the basics of the other label, read what is GEO or GEO vs SEO.
FAQ
Is AEO the same as GEO?
For practical purposes, yes. Both mean getting AI assistants and AI search to give a correct answer that includes your business. AEO puts the emphasis on questions and answers; GEO on generative engines such as ChatGPT and Gemini. The work and the measurement are the same.
What is the difference between GEO, AEO and SEO?
SEO is the umbrella: getting found in search. AEO and GEO are the part aimed at answers written by AI rather than lists of links. Google says optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO, so treat AEO and GEO as an extension of SEO, not a replacement.
Which term should I search for when hiring?
Either. Agencies use whichever their buyers use. Judge them on substance instead: how they measure AI answers (runs, engines, dates), what they deliver with acceptance criteria, whether accounts stay in your name, and whether they publish prices.
Is AEO only about voice search?
It used to be closely tied to featured snippets and voice assistants. Today it covers AI assistants and AI search modes. Voice search as a term is fading: in our keyword research, searches for “voice search” fell about 70% year on year.
Do AEO and GEO need different technical work?
No. Neither needs special “AI schema” or an llms.txt file, Google says these aren’t needed, and a 300,000-domain study found no link between llms.txt and citations. Both need crawlable pages, plain facts, a correct Google profile and consistent listings.