SEO, AEO, GEO. What they actually mean and why you need all three

Most people I talk to have heard of SEO. Some have heard of AEO. Almost none have heard of GEO, even when their whole business depends on local visibility.

They're not the same problem. They don't have the same fix.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It's the practice of making your site rank in Google's list of links when someone searches a relevant term.

The fundamentals: correct heading structure (one H1 per page, logical H2s beneath it), clean URL architecture, descriptive metadata, page speed, mobile performance, internal linking, and content that targets specific search queries. When Google crawls your site, it decides where you rank relative to everyone else targeting the same terms.

SEO is still essential. Organic search traffic still exists and still matters. People still search Google, click links, and read websites. Anyone telling you SEO is dead is selling you something.

But SEO alone no longer solves the whole visibility problem.

What is AEO?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It's the practice of making your site show up in AI-generated answers.

When someone asks ChatGPT, "who builds good websites in Lisbon," or asks Perplexity, "what's the best way to get my business found online", there is no list of ten links. The AI synthesises an answer, and either cites your business or doesn't.

What makes the AI cite you: schema markup (structured data that explicitly tells AI tools what your business is, what you offer, and who you serve), direct answer structure (headings written as questions, answered immediately in the first paragraph), and topical authority (enough focused content on a specific subject that AI treats you as a credible source on it).

The difference between SEO and AEO in one line: SEO is about ranking in a list. AEO is about being named when there is no list.

What is GEO?

GEO stands for Geographic Optimisation. It's about getting found in location-based searches.

This is not just "set up a Google Business Profile", that's the surface layer. GEO at the site level means: location schema (explicitly declaring where you are and what areas you serve), local content signals, regional keyword targeting, and consistent name, address, and phone data across the site and across directories.

If your business serves a specific city or region, GEO is probably the most directly relevant of the three for your day-to-day leads. Someone searching for "web designer in Porto" is ready to hire. A site with GEO signals gets surfaced. One without them doesn't come up.

What is the difference between AEO and SEO?

SEO optimises for a ranked list of links. AEO optimises for a synthesised answer with no list.

In practical terms, SEO means writing content that targets specific search terms and earning links from other sites. AEO means structuring content so AI tools can extract and cite it, schema types, question-and-answer format, and clear topical scope.

They share foundations (clean structure, fast site, quality content) but diverge at the implementation level. A site optimised only for SEO will rank well in traditional search and be invisible in AI-generated answers. A site optimised only for AEO will be cited by AI tools but won't rank well in traditional search. You need both.

Is AEO replacing SEO?

No. AEO is an additional layer.

The argument that "AI search is killing SEO" is premature. Google still processes billions of searches a day. Organic links still get clicked. The shift toward AI-generated answers is real. AI Overviews now appear at the top of many Google results, which reduces clicks to linked sites — but traditional search hasn't disappeared.

What's changed is that a site which only does SEO is now invisible in a growing portion of searches. The question isn't "AEO vs SEO." It's "do you want to be visible in all channels or just some of them?"

How do you optimise for AI engines?

Three things:

Schema markup. JSON-LD structured data is embedded in the page. Types like ProfessionalService, FAQPage, Service, and Person tell AI tools explicitly what your business does. Without a schema, AI has to guess from your copy. With it, you're explicit.

Direct answer structure. Write every H2 as a question someone might ask. Answer it completely in the first paragraph after the heading. Don't bury the answer three paragraphs in. AI engines extract these answers, and if the answer isn't in the first paragraph, it often doesn't get extracted at all.

Clear topical scope. A site that covers one subject with depth gets cited on that subject. A site that covers fifteen subjects lightly gets cited on none of them. Pick what you're the authority on and write consistently from that angle.

What is the best approach for small businesses?

Build all three in from the start.

SEO, AEO, and GEO are structural decisions. Heading hierarchy, schema type, URL architecture, and internal linking, these are baked into the site when it's built. Adding them to an existing site that wasn't built this way is possible, but expensive and usually incomplete.

The businesses that are hardest to help are the ones that paid for a cheap website a few years ago, added content for two years, and now want to know why nothing is ranking. The foundation is wrong, and content can't fix it.

The businesses that get visible fastest are the ones that were built with all three in mind from day one.

Every Launchpad site ships with technical SEO, AEO schema markup, and GEO signals baked in, not bolted on after.

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