AI search fix
GEO vs AEO vs SEO: how the terms differ
SEO (search engine optimisation) focuses on ranking and indexing in traditional search, especially Google Search. AEO (answer engine optimisation) emphasises appearing in direct answers — featured snippets, AI Overviews, and assistant responses — through clear, citable pages. GEO (generative engine optimisation) prepares your site for AI crawlers and retrieval: robots.txt for GPTBot-class bots, accurate schema.org JSON-LD, optional llms.txt, and answer-first copy. The three overlap on crawlability and trustworthy HTML, but none guarantees citations or a fixed position in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google.
Teams should not chase three separate playbooks. Fix shared fundamentals first — public 200 URLs, unblocked crawlers, Organisation and FAQ schema where truthful — then add GEO-specific bot rules and optional llms.txt if non-Google assistants matter to you.
| Term | Primary focus |
|---|---|
| SEO | Rankings, keywords, backlinks, Google Search indexing and technical SEO. |
| AEO | Answer surfaces: snippets, AI Overviews, assistant citations when retrieval picks you. |
| GEO | AI crawler access, WAF or robots policy, schema, optional llms.txt, machine-friendly facts. |
| Shared base | Fast, crawlable HTML, honest claims, no bot blocks on pages you need discovered. |
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See what AI crawlers hit on your site
Technical blockers, missing context, weak AI-readiness signals — in one HTML report.
You'll get an HTML report mapping your site to GEO readiness signals — not a guarantee of AI answers.
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO just rebranded SEO?
No. GEO adds AI user-agent policy, parser-oriented structure, and optional llms.txt on top of SEO fundamentals. Strong SEO helps but does not replace AI-specific crawl checks.
Is AEO the same as GEO?
Related but not identical. AEO stresses answer formatting and citation potential; GEO stresses whether AI systems can fetch and interpret your site at all.
Which should a small business prioritise?
Baseline SEO and crawl health first, then GEO checks for AI bots if you rely on ChatGPT-class discovery. Track each channel separately without guaranteed-outcome claims.
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