A growing share of people now type their questions into ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews instead of scrolling through ten blue links. They ask things like "best physiotherapy clinic near me" or "which CRM is good for a small sales team" and read a single written answer. If your business isn't in that answer, you don't get considered.
Two new terms describe the work of getting into those answers: GEO and AEO. Neither replaces SEO. They build on it.
SEO, GEO and AEO in one line each
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): helping your pages rank in search results.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): helping AI tools mention, recommend or cite your brand when they write an answer.
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation): shaping your content so it becomes the direct answer to a specific question, in featured snippets, voice search or AI summaries.
How AI assistants decide what to say
AI assistants build answers from two sources: what they learned during training, and pages they find with a live web search at the time of the question. The live search part leans heavily on pages that already rank well and on sources that many other sites mention. That's why strong SEO is still the foundation.
On top of that, AI tools prefer content that is easy to quote. A clear one-paragraph answer, a definition, a short list of steps or a table with real numbers is far more likely to be used than a long, vague page.
What you can do now
- List the 20 questions customers ask before buying from you. Your sales team or WhatsApp history is the best source.
- Answer each one on your website in plain language, with the answer in the first two sentences, followed by detail.
- Add FAQ and organisation schema markup so search engines understand who you are and what you offer.
- Keep your business name, address, phone and services identical across Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.
- Earn mentions on other trusted sites: local news, industry associations, partner websites and genuine review platforms.
- Publish real data and opinions, such as prices, timelines or results from your own work. Original information is what AI tools cite.
How to measure GEO
There is no single ranking report for AI answers yet. Most teams track a fixed list of prompts every month and record whether the brand is mentioned, alongside referral traffic from AI tools in Google Analytics and enquiries where customers say "I found you on ChatGPT".
The short version
Do good SEO, answer real questions clearly, keep your business details consistent, and get mentioned by trusted sites. That combination puts you in the running for both search rankings and AI answers. If you'd like help, see our SEO, GEO & AEO service or ask for a free audit.
