AEO vs GEO vs SEO
SEO optimizes for search engine rankings; AEO (answer engine optimization) for direct answers; GEO (generative engine optimization) for AI-generated answers; LLM SEO for large language model products. In 2026 the last three describe nearly the same work, built on SEO foundations. Google calls optimizing for its generative AI features “still SEO.”
How do the terms compare?
| Term | Target | Success unit | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search result rankings | Position, impression, click | Predates AI search |
| AEO | Direct answers (snippets, voice, AI answers) | Being the answer or a cited source | Featured snippet and voice era |
| GEO | Generative engine responses | Visibility inside the response | Aggarwal et al., arXiv, November 2023[1] |
| LLM SEO / LLMO | LLM products | Mentions, citations | Industry usage |
| AI / LLM visibility | The outcome metric | Mention and citation rates | Industry usage |
What do search engines say?
Google’s guide: AEO and GEO “are both terms you may see used to describe work specifically focused on improving visibility in AI search experiences. From Google Search’s perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO.”[2] Microsoft gives site owners a dedicated report for AI citations (AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools), describing it as showing how content “appears across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing, and select partner integrations.”[3]
What does research say?
The GEO paper claimed classic SEO methods “are not directly applicable” to generative engines.[1] C-SEO Bench found the reverse in its tests: retrieval order dominated citation outcomes and current content-rewrite methods were “largely ineffective.”[4] See GEO replications.
So which should you use?
Use whichever term your audience uses, and do the same work: access, retrieval, clear sourced content, entity clarity, corroboration and measurement.
Frequently asked questions
Which came first, AEO or GEO?
AEO. It was used for featured snippets and voice answers before generative AI search; GEO was coined in a November 2023 paper.
Is LLMO different from GEO?
Not meaningfully. LLMO (large language model optimization) and LLM SEO are industry terms for the same goal.
Does Google penalize GEO?
Google does not penalize the label. It does enforce spam policies, for example against scaled content created mainly to manipulate rankings or AI responses.
See also
References
Sources accessed October 14, 2026 unless another date is given. See all sources.
- “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”. arXiv (Aggarwal, Murahari, Rajpurohit, Kalyan, Narasimhan, Deshpande). v1 submitted November 16, 2023; published at KDD ’24.
- “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search”. Google Search Central. accessed October 14, 2026.
- “Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview”. Bing Webmaster Blog. February 2026.
- “C-SEO Bench: Does Conversational SEO Work?”. arXiv (Puerto, Gubri, Green, Oh, Yun). June 2025; NeurIPS 2025 Datasets & Benchmarks.