Quick Definitions
What is SEO? SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving a website's visibility and ranking on search engines like Google to attract more organic traffic. It involves optimizing content, technical elements, and user experience so search engines rank your site higher for relevant searches.
What is GEO? GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is optimizing content for visibility in AI-generated answers , like Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT responses, and Perplexity results. Unlike traditional SEO that focuses on ranking pages, GEO focuses on creating content that AI models can synthesize into clear, direct answers.
What is AEO? AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is optimizing content to be the source for AI-generated summaries and immediate answers. It targets zero-click searches where users get their answer directly from voice assistants, chatbots, or AI search results , without clicking through to a website.
What is AI Search? AI search uses artificial intelligence , especially Large Language Models (LLMs) , to understand what you're really asking, pull information from multiple sources, and give you a direct, conversational answer with citations. Instead of showing you a list of links, AI search synthesizes the answer for you.
Why This Debate Exists
If you've been anywhere near digital marketing conversations lately, you've seen the alphabet soup: SEO, GEO, AEO, LLMO. Some people say it's all the same thing with new acronyms. Others insist we're in a completely new era that demands completely new strategies.
Here's the reality: both camps are partially right, and the confusion is costing business owners money.
The industry is split into two camps:
Camp 1: "It's just SEO with new acronyms." These folks argue that good SEO has always meant clear content, strong authority, and technical excellence , nothing has fundamentally changed. They see GEO and AEO as marketing buzzwords invented by people selling new services.
Camp 2: "The retrieval systems are different enough that it deserves its own discipline." This group points out that AI engines don't just rank pages , they retrieve fragments, synthesize answers, and personalize results in ways traditional search never did.
Here's where we land: The foundations are shared, but the retrieval mechanisms, personalization layers, and answer surfaces are changing what matters most.
If you're a local business owner, you don't need to pick a side in the terminology war. You need to understand what's actually changing, what's staying the same, and what to do about it.
How Classic SEO Works (The Baseline)
Traditional search engines like Google use whole-document indexing. They crawl your website, evaluate each page as a complete unit, score it against hundreds of ranking factors, and file it in their index. When someone searches, Google retrieves the most relevant pages and ranks them as a list of results.
The core levers that have driven SEO success for years:
- Technical health , Can search engines crawl and index your site? Fast load times, mobile-friendly design, clean code, secure connections.
- Crawlability and structure , Clear site architecture, logical internal linking, XML sitemaps, proper heading hierarchy.
- Relevance signals , Keywords in the right places, content that matches search intent, semantic relationships between topics.
- Authority signals , Backlinks from reputable sites, brand mentions, consistent NAP for local businesses, positive reviews.
- Content quality , Useful, accurate, well-written content that actually helps the person searching.
Here's the key point: None of this goes away in the AI era. AI systems still need to find your content before they can use it. They still evaluate authority and trustworthiness. The businesses that mastered SEO fundamentals are already halfway to AI visibility.
How AEO/GEO Engines Work Differently
Here's where it gets interesting , and where the "it's all just SEO" argument starts to break down.
Two Architectures for "AI Search"
GEO-style retrieval (the simpler version): Some AI search tools are essentially "4 Bing searches in a trenchcoat." They take your question, run traditional searches, grab the top 10-50 results, and have an LLM summarize them. This is closer to traditional SEO with an AI layer on top.
AEO-style retrieval (sub-document processing): The more advanced AI search engines do something fundamentally different. Instead of indexing whole pages, they break content into granular snippets and retrieve the most relevant fragments to fill the AI's context window , roughly 130,000 tokens worth of the most relevant passages from across the entire index.
Why This Matters for Your Business
Ranking happens at the passage level, not just the page level. In sub-document retrieval, individual paragraphs compete against fragments from thousands of other sources. A single well-written answer can get retrieved even if the rest of your page is mediocre.
Personalization changes everything. Two people asking the exact same question can get completely different answers based on their location, search history, and previous conversations with the AI. "Ranking #1" becomes less meaningful when there's no single #1 anymore.
The context window needs to be filled. AI systems perform best when they have abundant, relevant information. This creates an incentive for AI systems to retrieve from multiple high-quality sources. Being one of several trusted sources on a topic is valuable.
Where SEO and AEO/GEO Overlap
Here's the part that frustrates the "GEO is totally new" evangelists: many of the tactics being sold as revolutionary AI optimization are just... good SEO that people should have been doing all along.
If you've been doing SEO well, you've been doing most of this already. The difference isn't the tactics , it's the reason behind them.
The Honest Take: A lot of what's being marketed as "GEO services" is repackaged SEO sold at a premium. That said, dismissing GEO/AEO entirely is also a mistake. The retrieval mechanics are different. The answer surfaces are different. Pretending nothing has changed is just as wrong as pretending everything has changed.
Where AEO/GEO Truly Diverges from SEO
So what's actually different? Where does the "it's all just SEO" argument fall apart?
Retrieval and Ranking Work Differently
In traditional Google search, you're competing for position on a results page. In AI answer engines, there often isn't a "results page" at all. There's just the answer , synthesized from multiple sources, citing some directly, paraphrasing others, and ignoring most entirely.
Output Surfaces Are Fundamentally Different
Traditional SEO optimizes for a list of ten blue links. AI search returns synthesized answers. Getting cited isn't the same as getting clicked. Being part of the answer isn't the same as being the top result.
For local businesses especially, this matters. When someone asks "who's the best plumber in Quincy," they might get a single recommendation , not a list of options. Being that one recommendation is fundamentally different from being #1 in a list of ten.
New Emphasis Areas That Genuinely Matter
Citation-worthiness beyond backlinks: AI systems also consider mentions , including in content that wouldn't pass link equity in traditional SEO terms. That nofollowed sponsored post? The directory listing? AI systems can still retrieve and cite these.
Multi-platform visibility: Traditional SEO meant optimizing for Google. AI visibility means considering ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, Siri, Alexa, and whatever launches next.
Passage-level optimization: Traditional SEO evaluated pages holistically. AI retrieval evaluates passages individually. Every section of your content needs to be able to stand on its own as a potential retrieved snippet.
The Taxonomy Problem , Is GEO/AEO "Real" or Just SEO?
Let's address the elephant in the room: does any of this deserve new acronyms, or is the industry just inventing jargon to sell services?
The Skeptic's Case
- "Everything being called GEO is just SEO we should have been doing anyway."
- "The loudest GEO advocates are often the least experienced."
- "Why not just expand the definition of SEO?"
The Pro-GEO Case
- The retrieval mechanics genuinely differ , sub-document indexing fundamentally changes what gets surfaced.
- The output surfaces are new , optimizing for lists of links differs from optimizing for synthesized answers.
- Measurement and attribution differ , traditional SEO metrics don't fully capture AI visibility.
Where We Land
The honest answer: the taxonomy debate is unresolved because the systems are mid-transition. There's no clean line between SEO and GEO/AEO. They share foundations, diverge in mechanics, and will probably continue to blur together.
What matters more than winning the acronym war: Understand the mechanics. Adapt your strategy. Measure what matters. Whether you call it SEO, GEO, AEO, or "visibility optimization" is less important than whether you respond intelligently to what's happening.
Practical Playbook , What Stays the Same
Here's the actionable part. Let's start with what isn't changing , the fundamentals that matter regardless of which acronym wins.
Double Down on Technical SEO
AI systems need to access your content before they can retrieve it. The basics still apply:
- Crawlability , Is your site accessible to bots? Check robots.txt, fix crawl errors, ensure sitemap is current
- Page speed , Fast-loading pages get crawled more efficiently
- Mobile optimization , Most searches happen on mobile
- Secure connections , HTTPS is baseline expectation
- Clean architecture , Logical site structure, clear URL patterns, proper internal linking
Use Schema Markup
Structured data helps all systems understand your content better:
- LocalBusiness schema for local businesses (name, address, hours, service area)
- FAQ schema for question-and-answer content
- HowTo schema for instructional content
- Service schema for specific services offered
What Local Businesses Need to Do Differently
Most of the SEO vs. GEO vs. AEO debate is happening at the enterprise level. But this shift hits local businesses differently, and in some ways, harder.
When someone in Quincy asks their phone "who should I call for a burst pipe," they're not getting ten blue links anymore. They're getting one answer. Maybe two. If your plumbing client isn't in that answer, they don't exist in that moment.
The "Near Me" Query Is Now an AI Query
Voice assistants and AI tools are increasingly handling local intent queries , "best Italian restaurant near me," "emergency electrician open now," "pediatric dentist accepting new patients." These aren't keyword searches. They're conversational requests that expect a direct recommendation.
What this means practically:
- Your Google Business Profile isn't just for Google Maps anymore , it's training data for AI systems
- Consistent NAP across every directory isn't just an SEO checkbox, it's how AI verifies you're a real, trustworthy entity
- Reviews aren't just social proof for humans , they're authority signals AI uses to decide who to recommend
Local Citations Are AI Citations Now
For local businesses, "branded mentions" look different than for national brands:
- Local news coverage , Getting quoted in Patch, local business journals, or community news sites
- Industry directories , Angi, Yelp, Houzz, Avvo (for lawyers), Healthgrades (for medical)
- Chamber of Commerce and local business associations , Old-school? Yes. Still counts as a mention AI can find? Also yes.
- Local blogger and influencer mentions , That mom blogger who reviewed your restaurant? That's a citation waiting to happen.
Your Service Pages Need to Answer Questions
Here's where "answer-first, passage-centric" writing matters for local businesses:
Before (traditional service page): "ABC Plumbing has been serving the Greater Boston area for over 25 years. We offer a full range of residential and commercial plumbing services..."
After (AI-retrievable structure): "What should I do if my pipe bursts? Shut off your main water valve immediately, then call an emergency plumber. In the Boston area, ABC Plumbing offers 24/7 emergency response with typical arrival times under 60 minutes for [list of towns served]."
The second version can be extracted as a standalone snippet. It answers a real question. It includes location signals. It's ready to be "the answer."
Google Business Profile Optimization Is Non-Negotiable
Your GBP is now doing triple duty:
- Traditional local SEO , Showing up in map packs and local search results
- AI Overview eligibility , Google's AI Overviews pull heavily from GBP data for local queries
- Voice assistant answers , When someone asks Google Assistant or Siri for a local recommendation, GBP data is a primary source
The GBP moves that matter most for AI visibility:
- Complete every field (services, attributes, business description)
- Use the Q&A feature , answer common questions directly on your profile
- Post regularly (signals freshness/activity)
- Respond to reviews (signals engagement and gives AI more context)
- Add detailed service descriptions with specific towns/neighborhoods you serve
Reviews Are Training Data
AI systems don't just count your reviews , they read them. The language customers use in reviews becomes part of how AI understands what you do and who you serve. If your reviews consistently mention "great with kids," "showed up on time," "explained everything clearly" , that's the reputation AI is learning.
Practical move: When asking for reviews, prompt customers with specifics. Instead of "leave us a review," try "we'd love to hear about your experience with [specific service] , it helps other homeowners know what to expect."
What to Intentionally Adapt for AEO/GEO
Beyond the foundations and local-specific tactics, here's what to consciously shift in your approach:
Write in Answer-First, Passage-Centric Chunks
Every section of your content should be able to stand alone as a potential retrieved snippet:
- Lead with the answer , Don't bury the key point at the end of a paragraph
- Make passages self-contained , Each chunk should make sense without requiring context from surrounding content
- Include relevant entities , Names, locations, services should be clear within each passage
- Keep paragraphs tight , 2-4 sentences that deliver value, not 8-sentence walls of text
Build Citation-Worthiness
AI systems cite sources they trust. Build that trust by:
- Creating original research , Even simple data (response times, customer satisfaction rates) makes you citable
- Getting quoted elsewhere , When other sites mention your expertise, AI systems notice
- Earning mentions in authoritative content , Industry publications, news sites, established blogs
- Publishing content worth referencing , Guides, how-to's, and FAQs that other content might link to
This Isn't Theory , It's What We Do
When we write content for clients like Boston Hair Restoration, we structure it to win exactly these visibility spots. Their educational content now appears in Google's AI Overviews for local queries and featured snippets for informational searches , putting them in front of potential patients at the exact moment they're researching solutions.
The tactics in this guide aren't abstract. They're the same approach we use every day for local businesses across Greater Boston.
Closing Perspective
If you've made it this far, here's what to take away:
SEO Is Not Dead
Under the hood, AI search systems still rely heavily on traditional SEO signals. Crawlability, authority, content quality, structured data , all of it matters for AI visibility just as it does for traditional rankings. Anyone telling you to abandon SEO for a shiny new AI strategy is selling you a house without a foundation.
AEO/GEO Is Not Hype (But It's Not Magic Either)
The retrieval mechanics are changing. The answer surfaces are new. Personalization is shifting how results work. AEO/GEO is best understood as optimization for new retrieval and answer layers , not a replacement for SEO, and definitely not a shortcut that lets you skip the fundamentals.
What Actually Matters
Your customers are searching for solutions, and you want to be visible when they do. That means building the technical foundation that lets any system access your content. Creating content clear and useful enough to be worth retrieving and citing. Establishing authority through consistent presence, quality work, and earned mentions.
It means being visible wherever search happens , not just in traditional rankings, but in AI answers, voice responses, and surfaces that haven't been invented yet.
How We Think About It
We practice SEO that's architected for answer engines , grounded in the fundamentals that have always mattered, adapted for how modern AI systems retrieve, assemble, and personalize responses.
Because your customers don't care which acronym wins. They care about finding a solution when they need one. Our job is to make sure that solution is you , wherever they search.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between SEO, GEO, and AEO?
SEO optimizes for traditional search engine rankings , getting your pages to appear in Google's list of results. GEO optimizes for generative AI systems that synthesize answers from multiple sources. AEO optimizes specifically for being "the answer" in zero-click searches, voice assistants, and AI summaries. All three share foundational tactics but target different retrieval systems and output surfaces.
What is the difference between Google Search and AI search?
Traditional Google Search shows you a ranked list of links and lets you click through to find your answer. AI search (like Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity) reads multiple sources, synthesizes the information, and gives you a direct answer , often without requiring you to visit any website.
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO builds on SEO fundamentals , crawlability, content quality, authority, and structured data all still matter. AI systems need to find and trust your content before they can cite it. Think of GEO as an additional layer of optimization, not a replacement.
Is local SEO still relevant?
Absolutely , and it's arguably more important than ever. Local SEO determines whether your business appears in map packs, "near me" searches, and increasingly, AI-generated local recommendations. When someone asks their phone for a plumber or restaurant recommendation, the AI pulls from the same signals local SEO builds.
Is AI SEO worth it?
Yes , if you understand what it means. One study found visitors from AI-generated answers convert 4.4x better on average than traditional organic traffic. The investment is worth it when you approach it as an extension of solid SEO fundamentals, not a separate magic trick.
How to optimize search for AI?
Start with strong SEO fundamentals: technical health, quality content, clear structure, and authority signals. Then adapt for AI retrieval: write answer-first content, use clear headings and structured data, maintain consistent information across platforms, and build citation-worthiness through mentions on authoritative sites. For local businesses, Google Business Profile optimization and reviews are especially critical.
What is the best AI search?
The major AI search platforms include Google AI Overviews (built into Google Search), ChatGPT with web browsing, Perplexity AI (designed for sourced research), Microsoft Copilot, and Claude. Each has different strengths , Perplexity emphasizes citations, ChatGPT excels at conversational follow-ups, and Google AI Overviews integrate directly into traditional search results.
Do local businesses need GEO and AEO?
Yes , and arguably more urgently than national brands. When someone asks their phone "who should I call for a burst pipe," they're getting one recommendation, not a list of ten. Local businesses that optimize only for traditional Google rankings miss visibility in voice search, AI assistants, and conversational queries.
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