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SEO vs AEO vs GEO

SEO, AEO and GEO are three layers of the same job: being found when someone looks for what you sell. SEO ranks your pages in search results. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) gets a passage from your page shown as the direct answer. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) gets your business mentioned and cited by AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Written by Manoj Pandey, founder of Sitesetu, with 9+ years in SEO and performance marketing. Last updated .

The three in one table

  • SEO. Where: Google and Bing results. Goal: rank a page. Measured by: position, clicks, organic leads.
  • AEO. Where: featured snippets, People Also Ask, voice assistants, AI Overviews. Goal: be the answer. Measured by: snippets owned, impressions on question queries.
  • GEO. Where: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot. Goal: be mentioned and cited. Measured by: mentions and citations across a set of prompts.

What they share

All three reward the same foundation: a fast, crawlable site, clear writing, accurate facts, structured data and a reputation other sites confirm. AI assistants with live search mostly cite pages that already rank well, so SEO is the base the other two stand on.

Where they differ

Unit of content. SEO thinks in pages. AEO thinks in passages: a 50-word answer under a question heading. GEO thinks in facts and entities: who you are, what you offer, at what price, confirmed in several places.

Keywords versus questions versus prompts. SEO targets "seo services in india". AEO targets "how much does SEO cost in India?". GEO prepares for "recommend an affordable SEO company in India for a small clinic".

Off-site signals. SEO counts links. GEO also counts unlinked mentions, reviews, forum threads and directory entries, because language models learn from all of them.

Control. You can track a ranking daily. AI answers vary by user and change with model updates, so GEO is measured by sampling.

Which do you need?

If you have no website or a weak one, start with SEO basics; they come built into every Sitesetu website. If you get traffic but few question-type impressions, add AEO. If your buyers are the kind who ask an AI assistant for recommendations, such as software buyers, students, travellers and professionals, add GEO. Most businesses will need all three within a year or two.

A simple example

A physiotherapy clinic in Pune:

  • SEO: a page ranking for "physiotherapist in Baner".
  • AEO: a short answer to "how many physiotherapy sessions for frozen shoulder?" that Google shows above the results.
  • GEO: when someone asks an assistant "which physiotherapy clinics in Baner are open on Sunday?", the clinic is named with correct timings, because its website, Google Business Profile and directory listings all say the same thing.

Plans: SEO ₹7,999$159, AEO ₹4,999$99, GEO ₹4,999$99, or all three for ₹14,999$299 a month.

Quick answers

What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?

SEO improves a page's ranking in search results. AEO structures content so it is chosen as the direct answer. GEO improves how AI assistants understand, mention and cite a business.

Do I need AEO and GEO if I already do SEO?

Good SEO covers much of the groundwork. AEO and GEO add answer-first formatting, entity consistency, presence on sources AI reads, and monitoring of AI answers.

What does GEO stand for in marketing?

Generative Engine Optimisation.

Services mentioned in this article

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) shapes your content so that search engines and voice assistants choose it as the direct answer to a question.GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the work of making your business easy for AI assistants to understand, trust and cite.SEO servicesSitesetu is an SEO company in India, based in Gurgaon and working with businesses in every state.

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