Artificial intelligence is transforming the SEO landscape. AI snippets show up in Google and people are turning to chatbots to search and ask questions. Does this mean SEO is a dying game?
As an award-winning digital marketing agency, we’d say absolutely not. That being said, it’s obvious that the game is changing.
Terms like AEO, GEO, AI SEO, and other variations of this alphabet soup are taking the marketing industry by storm. Camps are forming behind each acronym.
But here at CHAMP, our SEO strategy has always been to build it for where search is going, not where it’s been.
AEO and GEO aren’t replacements for SEO; they’re simply new focus areas of a strong, modern SEO strategy. The goal of all these things is still to:
- Improve brand visibility
- Deliver value in the form of content and answers to potential customers
Now, let’s dive into the differences between AEO, GEO, and SEO.
What Is SEO?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your website content to rank on traditional search engine results pages, such as Google and Bing. Doing so typically requires a focus on keyword research, local search, and understanding search intent. In other words, what words are your customers typing in when searching for your product or service?
When you have that answer, you start integrating those keywords, phrases, and questions into elements of your website, such as:
- Meta tags
- Headings
- Body copy
- Internal links
- And so on
This content is ultimately the foundation of data that feeds into AI systems and platforms like Siri or Alexa.
There’s also a technical aspect that involves making sure your website is fast and easy to use, so visitors have the best experience. You can do this by optimizing:
- Page speed
- Mobile design
- Core Web Vitals
- Crawling and indexing
- And more
Even with AI changing how and where customers go for answers, SEO still drives the majority of high-intent (i.e., ready-to-buy) traffic. That means it’s still one of the best investments for long-term visibility for products, services, and local searches.
What Is AEO?
AEO, or answer engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your content to appear in answers from AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews or Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.
Before ChatGPT, AEO was primarily defined by voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Voice search usually provides a single authoritative answer, meaning the goal of AEO is to be the “chosen one” that the assistant reads aloud (or shares in an AI overview). The basics are no different than SEO: you still want to create valuable content with keywords, but there’s an added focus on clear, concise answers to real questions.
In SEO, there’s a framework called EEAT, or Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. These are the signals search engines use to evaluate how credible and reliable your content is. In simple terms, your content must demonstrate those signals to have a chance of showing up in search results.
Those who feel AEO is a “new” phenomenon might be primarily focusing on FAQ-style content, structured data/schema markup, and listicles or tutorials. (If this sounds familiar, it’s because it’s usually a part of an SEO strategy…)
For example, instead of just ranking for “Best custom jeweler in the USVI,” you also answer questions like “How do I clean my engagement ring?”
What Is GEO?
GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the process of getting your brand and content mentioned around the web in contextually relevant places in an effort to be cited and recommended by AI chatbots like:
With GEO, you’re focusing more on building your brand and industry authority so that when these AI tools (also known as large language models, or LLMs) are scraping the web to answer a user’s question, they mention you.
Similar to AEO, voice search is an important foundation for GEO. Voice searches that use tools like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and more started the trend toward “conversational” queries by users. As a result, GEO is the evolution where the engine doesn’t just read an answer but creates a synthesized narrative based on multiple sources.
Your efforts might include:
- Earning high-quality backlinks
- Getting more brand mentions from relevant websites
- Creating long-form educational content
- Sharing original insights
- Building a strong brand identity
Again, if this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. These are all core principles of an SEO strategy. The main difference with the term is that the goal is to be a trusted source that AI pulls information from.
SEO vs. AEO vs. GEO
In simple terms, SEO gets you found, AEO gets you mentioned in answers, and GEO gets you recommended.
| Feature | SEO | AEO | GEO |
| Primary Goal | Rank in traditional search results | Appear in answers | Be cited by AI chatbots |
| Where You Show Up | Google, Bing search results | Google AI Overviews, Siri, Alexa, and LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc. |
| User Behavior | User types a query and clicks | User asks a question, AI returns an answer | User asks AI for recommendations |
| Content Style | Keyword-driven, optimized pages | Clear, concise, Q&A content | Long-form, authoritative content |
| Key Tactics | Keywords, technical SEO, backlinks | FAQs, schema, structured answers | Brand mentions, backlinks, and authority |
| Focus | Visibility and conversions | Visibility without needing clicks | Brand recognition inside AI outputs |
| Measurement | Rankings, impressions, traffic, conversions | AI visibility tools | AI visibility tools |
| Best For | Driving organic website traffic | Capturing high-intent search moments | Owning your niche in AI discovery |
| Relationship | Foundation of everything | Built on strong SEO | Built on SEO, brand authority, and PR |
The Truth: AEO & GEO Are Built on Great SEO
AEO and GEO are generating new interest because of the way AI is changing how we all search for answers and products. However, a strong SEO strategy ensures that whether your customers are searching on Google, ChatGPT, or elsewhere, you’re showing up.
That’s why at CHAMP, our SEO approach has always included fundamentals, like:
- EEAT principles
- Question-based content
- Structured data
- Long-form, insightful education
- Authority-building
We’ve always designed content calendars to establish your brand as a legitimate, trustworthy source of information to both customers and search engines. That approach alone mitigates risk to any changes in the way people search.
So, when AI snippets rolled out in May 2024, our clients were showing up because of the work we’d already done. Our own site was coming up in chatbot answers because we had invested in our strategies, knowing it was a long-term game.
AEO and GEO aren’t “new trends”. They’re just terms for specific disciplines within SEO.
CHAMP’s SEO Services
Our SEO services are built to help your brand show up everywhere your customers are searching across local, mobile, and competitive search landscapes. We…
- Start with deep keyword and content strategy
- Optimize the on-page elements of your site
- Optimize technical elements like crawling, indexability, and site performance
- And strengthen your authority through off-page SEO and local signals that attract the right traffic
Our approach ensures your website is discoverable, credible, and aligned with how search engines and AI systems evaluate relevance and trust. We help drive organic visibility that converts.
Get AI-Backed SEO Strategies for Your Business
Showing up is key, no matter what you want to call it – whether that’s in Google organic listings, in LLMs as a recommendation, or in a Google AI Overview.
SEO has always been about becoming the most helpful, trusted source in your space. At CHAMP, we’ve been doing exactly that since 2009, long before AI made it trendy.
If you want #1 rankings, AI visibility, and a long-term competitive advantage, let’s build your authority now (before your competitors beat you to it). Learn more about SEO services or get a free strategy session with our experts by contacting us today.