The short version
- AEO, GEO and LLM SEO describe largely the same work: being mentioned and cited in AI answers.
- The terms differ in origin and emphasis: answers, content changes or brand presence.
- Any complete service covers access, answer-ready pages, brand facts, mentions and measurement.
- Judge a provider by its tasks and reporting, and avoid anyone who guarantees AI rankings.
AEO, GEO and LLM SEO are three names for largely the same work: getting a business mentioned and cited when AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews answer questions. The terms differ in where they came from and what they stress, not in the core tasks. Pick one name for your team and judge any service by what it actually includes.
If you are comparing agencies or proposals, the label on the service tells you very little. One agency's "GEO package" can be another's "AEO retainer" with the same checklist inside. This guide explains each term, where they really differ, what the work includes under any name and what to ask before you pay for it. For the basics, start with what AEO is.
The terms at a glance
| Term | Stands for | Where it came from | What people usually mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| AEO | Answer engine optimization | Used before ChatGPT for featured snippets and voice assistants, then applied to AI answers | Getting your content used as the answer to a question, in search features and AI tools |
| GEO | Generative engine optimization | A 2023 research paper on AI-written search answers | Getting cited and mentioned in answers that generative AI writes |
| LLM SEO | Large language model SEO | Industry shorthand that spread from 2023 | Making a brand visible to tools built on large language models, including what the models know about it |
| AI SEO | AI search optimization | General marketing term | The same goal, often used by agencies as an umbrella name |
| LLMO | Large language model optimization | Less common variant | Same as LLM SEO |
You will also see GSO (generative search optimization) and AIO (AI optimization). They describe the same idea. Our SEO and AEO glossary covers more of these terms.
Where each term came from
AEO is the oldest. Marketers used it when Google started showing direct answers in featured snippets and when voice assistants read one answer aloud. The aim was to be that single answer. When AI tools began writing answers with sources, the same term carried over, because the goal was the same: be the source the answer is built from.
GEO comes from a 2023 research paper, GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. The authors tested how changes to page content, such as adding quotes, statistics and cited sources, affected how often a page appeared in AI-written answers. In their test setup, some methods raised visibility by up to 40%. That is a lab benchmark, not a promise for any website, but the paper gave the industry a name and some early evidence.
LLM SEO grew from everyday use. As people started asking ChatGPT and similar tools for recommendations, marketers wanted a plain name for "SEO, but for language models". It tends to include brand presence in the wider web, since that shapes what a model knows about a business, as well as the pages it can find when it searches live.
Are they actually different?
Only in emphasis. If you line up what each term stresses, the differences are small:
- AEO leans toward questions and direct answers: question headings, short answer paragraphs, FAQs and featured snippets as well as AI answers.
- GEO leans toward content changes that make a page more likely to be quoted: specific facts, statistics, sources and clear structure.
- LLM SEO leans toward the brand: consistent facts across the web, mentions on other sites and how models describe the business.
In real projects, all three end up doing the same set of tasks, because AI tools need all of them. A page that answers clearly but sits on a site AI crawlers can't reach won't be cited. A well-known brand with no clear answers on its site will be mentioned, but someone else's page gets the link. That is why we use AEO as our main term and treat the others as names for the same program. Our comparisons of AEO vs SEO and SEO vs GEO cover how this work relates to normal SEO.
What the work includes, whatever it is called
Under any of these names, a complete service should cover these areas:
- Access: AI search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are allowed, and key pages are indexed in Google and Bing.
- Answer-ready pages: direct answers at the top of pages and sections, question-style headings, tables and FAQs. See how to structure content for AI answers.
- Brand and entity facts: a clear description of the business, Organization schema and the same details on every profile.
- Mentions and citations: presence on the review sites, directories and articles that AI tools cite. See how to improve brand visibility in AI search.
- Measurement: a fixed list of buyer questions checked monthly in each AI tool. See how to measure AI search visibility.
Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews beyond normal SEO best practice. So a service that skips the SEO basics and sells only "AI tricks" is missing the part that matters most.
Which term should you use?
For your own team, it doesn't matter. Pick one, define it in a sentence and stick to it in plans and reports. Switching terms every quarter only confuses people about what is being done.
On your website, write for how your buyers search. Some search for "AEO", some for "GEO" and many simply ask how to "show up in ChatGPT". Use your main term in headings and mention the others naturally where they help a reader, as this article does. There is no ranking benefit in repeating every label on every page.
What to ask an agency selling AEO, GEO or LLM SEO
Because the labels are loose, ask about the work, not the name:
- Which tasks are included each month, and which are one-time?
- Which questions will you track, in which AI tools, and how often?
- How will you report mentions, citations and leads separately?
- What happens to our normal SEO? Is it included, or a separate cost?
- How do you earn mentions on other sites, and which sites?
- What results have you seen, and over what time frame?
Be careful with any offer that guarantees a position in ChatGPT, promises results in days, sells "secret prompts" or treats an llms.txt file as the whole service. No one controls what AI tools say, and the work that moves results takes months.
How to start
Before choosing a name or a provider, find out where you stand. Our free AI visibility prompt generator gives you a list of buyer questions to test, with a tracking sheet. Run them in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google, and note when you are named or cited. That baseline tells you which of the five areas above needs work first. If you want a team to run it, that is what our AEO and AI SEO services cover.
FAQ
Is GEO the same as AEO?
Mostly, yes. Both aim to get a business used in AI-generated answers. AEO is the older term and also covers featured snippets and voice answers, while GEO focuses on answers written by generative AI. The day-to-day work is largely the same.
What does LLM SEO mean?
LLM SEO means optimizing for tools built on large language models, such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It covers the pages those tools can find when they search, and the wider brand presence that shapes what the models know about a business.
Is AEO or GEO replacing SEO?
No. AI tools rely on pages they can crawl, index and trust, which is what SEO builds. AEO and GEO add steps on top of SEO, such as answer-first content, brand consistency and tracking AI answers.
Which is better for my business: AEO, GEO or LLM SEO?
None is better, because they describe the same goal. Judge a plan by the tasks it includes and how it measures results, not by the label.
Where did the term GEO come from?
It was introduced in a 2023 research paper titled "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", which tested how content changes affect visibility in AI-written answers. The term then spread across the marketing industry.
Want to see whether AI tools mention your business today? Our free AI visibility check runs your customers' questions through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews and shows when you are named, cited or missing.
