


| Traditional SEO | AEO (Answer Engine) | GEO (Generative Engine) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank your pages in search results | Be the direct answer in Google | Be recommended by AI assistants |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing organic results | AI Overviews, featured snippets, voice | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude |
| Main levers | Keywords, content, links, technical SEO | Question-led content, structured answers, schema | Entity clarity, third-party mentions, reviews, quotable expert content |
| Success metric | Rankings, traffic | Snippets and AI Overview citations | AI recommendations, citations, share of voice |
| Relationship | The foundation | Builds on SEO | Builds on SEO and AEO |
AEO focuses on being the direct answer in Google: AI Overviews, featured snippets and voice. GEO focuses on being recommended by AI assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity. See our AEO services for the Google side.





