Search behavior is changing. A lot of people no longer "google" things: they ask an AI. If your business doesn't show up in those answers, you're invisible to them.
From search engine to assistant
For 20 years, the game was showing up on Google. Today a new arena is added: showing up in the answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's own AI answers.
What AEO is
Answer Engine Optimization means optimizing for answer engines: instead of competing for a slot in a list of links, you aim to be the answer. This rewards clear, direct, well-structured content.
What GEO is
Generative Engine Optimization goes a step further: it aims to get generative AI models to cite your brand as a source when they respond. To pull that off, your content has to be easy to understand and easy to attribute.
How to optimize for AEO and GEO
- Answer real questions in a self-contained way (like this section).
- Mark up your FAQs with
FAQPageschema. - Publish an
llms.txtthat summarizes your site for the models. - Structure your content with clear headings and extractable paragraphs.
The future has already started
Optimizing for AI isn't science fiction: these are concrete practices we apply today in every project. The sooner you adopt them, the bigger your edge when they become the norm.