You've probably seen four names for what looks like one job: SEO, GEO, AEO, and "AI SEO". Agencies use them differently, and some use them as if they were the same thing. Here's how I'd sort them out.
The short version
SEO is getting your pages to show up in the list of results that Google and Bing return. You win when someone clicks through to your site.
GEO and AEO are about getting your firm named or cited inside an answer that an AI writes, in tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. You win when the answer mentions you, describes you correctly, and links to you.
That's the real difference. One is about a list of links. The other is about a written answer.
Where the names come from
GEO has a proper origin. It's the name a group of researchers gave in a 2023 paper, later published at the KDD 2024 conference. They defined it as a way for content creators to increase how often and how prominently their content gets cited in generative engine answers.
AEO, "answer engine optimization", has no single source. People use it for winning answer boxes in classic search, for winning citations in AI tools, or for both. "AI SEO" and "AIO" are looser still.
So when someone sells you one of these, don't argue about the label. Ask what they'd actually do on your site in the first 90 days.
Where they actually differ
What you measure. In SEO you track positions and clicks. In AI answers, positions don't hold still. A 2026 SparkToro study found that the odds of getting the same list of brands twice from an AI tool were under 1 in 100. What held up better was how often a brand appeared at all. So you measure how often you're named across many questions, not where you rank.
What a win is worth. Clicks are getting rarer when an AI summary shows up. Pew Research tracked U.S. adults in April 2025 and found they clicked a traditional result in 8% of visits when a Google AI summary appeared, against 15% when it didn't. Being named in the answer matters more when fewer people click past it. (That's one U.S. study from 2025. Your own numbers may differ.)
What can be promised. Nobody controls what an AI says. Anyone who promises a specific citation is promising something they don't control.
Which one first
SEO first, in most cases. The AI tools draw on pages they can find and read, so a site that's easy for search engines to understand is easy for them too. Then you look at how AI tools describe you today, and fix what's wrong.
If you're not sure where you stand, that second step is the one worth doing early. It's cheap to check and it tells you what to fix.
Not sure what buyers see when they search for you?
Send me your firm's name and I'll check what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google say about it, and send you what I find. [Link: first look]
Sources
- Aggarwal et al., GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024.
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website.
- OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers.
- Perplexity, How does Perplexity work?
- Search Engine Land, AI recommendation lists rarely repeat, SparkToro study, January 2026.
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears, July 2025.
Common questions
Is GEO different from SEO?
Partly. The foundation is the same, because AI tools draw on pages they can find and read. The difference is the goal (being named in a written answer rather than listed among links) and how you measure it.
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
GEO has a source: a 2023 research paper, later published at KDD 2024. AEO has no single definition. People use it for answer boxes in classic search, for AI citations, or both. Ask any seller what they would actually do in the first 90 days.
Should I do SEO or AI search optimization first?
Usually SEO, since a site that is easy for search engines to understand is easy for AI tools too. Then check how AI tools describe your firm today and fix what is wrong.
Kryston's AI visibility audit gives you a dated baseline of this for your own firm: what ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews and Google say about it today, and what to fix first.
Kryston guides
Analysis for IT services and software development firms on search, AI visibility and buyer trust.
