GEO and AEO explained
AEO focuses on being the direct answer in featured snippets, voice results and answer boxes. GEO focuses on being cited or referenced in responses from AI tools such as Google’s AI features, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT and Perplexity. Both reward the same fundamentals: clear, accurate, well-structured content from a trusted source. Nobody controls what an AI model says, so the goal is to make your content easy to understand and worth citing.
GEO and traditional SEO compared
| Aspect | Traditional SEO | GEO and AEO |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in a list of links | Be cited or used as the answer |
| Content | Pages optimized for keywords | Clear answers, definitions and structured facts |
| Key signals | Links, relevance, technical health | Entity clarity, accuracy, authority, structure |
| Measurement | Rankings, clicks, traffic | Citations, brand mentions, answer visibility, plus traffic |
What I do
Entity optimization
Making sure your brand, people, services and locations are described consistently across your site and profiles.
Answer-first content
Leading with a direct answer, then the detail, so passages can be extracted cleanly.
FAQ content
Real customer questions answered concisely, supported by FAQ schema where appropriate.
Schema markup
Organization, Service, Article, Person and FAQ markup that clarifies meaning.
Topical depth
Covering a subject thoroughly through connected pages instead of isolated posts.
Trust signals
Author details, sources, dates, reviews and consistent facts that support credibility.
Crawler access
Checking that search and AI crawlers can reach your content and are not blocked by accident.
Visibility testing
Regularly asking AI tools your customers’ questions to see how your brand appears.
A practical GEO and AEO process
Question research
Find the questions your customers ask using People Also Ask, Search Console and sales conversations.
Entity audit
Check how your brand is described across your site, profiles and the wider web.
Restructure
Rework key pages with clear headings, direct answers, definitions and tables.
Mark up
Add accurate structured data and tidy the technical foundations.
Test and refine
Review AI answers and search results periodically and close the gaps.