SEO, AEO, and GEO: what changes in the actual work?

Start with the deliverable

SEO generally concerns discovery and performance in search. AEO is commonly used for work around answer engines, while GEO refers to generative search experiences. These labels overlap, and different teams use them differently. An acronym alone does not define a project.

Before quoting a client, specify the pages, technical checks, content changes, answer experiences, and reporting cadence included in the work. That definition matters more than whether the proposal calls the work AEO or GEO.

Keep the shared foundations

A clear site structure, accessible content, useful internal links, and consistent business information help people and retrieval systems understand a site. Explain the product, show supporting evidence, and maintain important details as the business changes.

Google says its AI search features do not require special AI-specific optimizations. Do not sell special schema or a new text file as an automatic route to inclusion. Structured data should accurately describe visible content and use the appropriate type.

Add an observation layer

A conventional search report and an answer-engine audit answer different questions. For generated answers, collect the wording, date, sources, and relevant context. Record whether the client is mentioned and whether its website is cited.

Use that evidence to identify information gaps. For example, a buyer question about implementation requirements may reveal that the product page never explains required accounts. Fixing that gap has a clear user benefit independent of a future citation.

Set expectations in the proposal

Separate what your team controls from what it observes. You can commit to completing a technical audit, publishing approved changes, and reporting a query sample. You cannot commit to an external system choosing a particular source on every run.

If the client wants an ongoing engagement, define the monitoring scope and how new findings become approved implementation work. Keep the original baseline and document methodology changes so later reports remain interpretable.

Sources & further reading

• Google Search Central: AI features and your website

Provider guidance was checked for this edition. Our implementation recommendations are editorial guidance, not promises of provider outcomes.