AEO vs SEO vs GEO vs LLMO vs AIO
SEO optimizes for search results; AEO, GEO, LLMO and AIO are overlapping labels for optimizing for AI-generated answers. GEO has an academic origin (a 2023 paper), AEO dates back to featured snippets and voice search, and LLMO and AIO are informal industry terms. In practice they describe the same work, which Google calls "still SEO".
Comparison table
| Term | Stands for | Origin | Primary target | Typical success metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search engine optimization | 1990s industry term | Ranked web results | Rankings, organic clicks |
| AEO | Answer engine optimization | Industry term from the featured-snippet and voice era | Direct answers: snippets, voice, AI answers | Citations, answer inclusion |
| GEO | Generative engine optimization | Named in the 2023 paper by Aggarwal et al.[1] | Generative engines that synthesize sources | Visibility inside generated responses |
| LLMO | Large language model optimization | Informal industry term | LLM chat assistants, with or without search | Brand mentions, accuracy of descriptions |
| AIO | AI optimization (sometimes “AI Overviews optimization”) | Informal; ambiguous | Google AI Overviews or AI generally | Varies |
“AIO” is ambiguous: some use it for Google’s AI Overviews, others for AI optimization broadly. Say which you mean.
What the vendors call it
- Google uses “AEO” and “GEO” only to say they are “still SEO,” and warns against third-party “AEO/GEO hacks.”[2]
- Microsoft Bing added GEO to its Webmaster Guidelines, defined as work on “content eligibility for grounding and reference in AI responses.”[3]
- Academia: the GEO paper formalized “generative engines” and proposed a benchmark and visibility metrics.[1] See research.
Where the practices overlap
All five share the same foundations: pages that can be crawled and indexed, content that answers the question, credible authorship, consistent entity data and third-party corroboration. The differences are mostly in emphasis:
- SEO weighs ranking factors across a whole query space.
- AEO puts the answer first and targets question-shaped queries (see content structure).
- GEO focuses on how a synthesizing model selects and quotes sources. The GEO paper tested edits such as adding citations, quotations and statistics.[1]
- LLMO also cares about what a model “knows” from training data, which you influence only indirectly through public coverage (see mentions).
Which term should you use?
Use whichever your audience understands, and define it once. This wiki uses AEO as the umbrella term because it covers AI answers, snippets and voice. When a vendor or study uses a different term, we quote it as written.
Red flags when a service is sold under these names
- Guaranteed citations or rankings. Neither Google nor Bing guarantees inclusion.[4][3]
- Claims of access to “internal” AI metrics. Google says “no third-party tool has access to our internal ranking or AI systems.”[2]
- Mass-producing a page for every fan-out variation, which Google says violates its scaled content abuse policy.[2]
- Selling llms.txt or “AI schema” as a visibility lever (see myths).
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO the same as AEO?
In practice, yes. GEO comes from a 2023 research paper about generative engines; AEO is an older industry term that grew from featured snippets and voice search. Both describe optimizing to be used as a source in answers.
Does Google use the term AEO?
Only to explain it. Google’s 2026 guide says optimizing for generative AI search is “still SEO” and lists AEO/GEO hacks you can ignore.
What is LLMO?
Large language model optimization: an informal term for improving how LLM assistants mention and describe a brand, including what they learned in training.
See also
References
Pages accessed September 28, 2026 unless a date is given. See all sources and our editorial policy.
- ^ "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (arXiv:2311.09735; Aggarwal, Murahari, Rajpurohit, Kalyan, Narasimhan, Deshpande)". arXiv / KDD 2024. Submitted November 16, 2023; revised June 28, 2024.
- ^ "Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search". Google Search Central. Added May 15, 2026; last updated July 10, 2026.
- ^ "Bing Webmaster Guidelines". Microsoft Bing Webmaster Tools.
- ^ "AI features and your website". Google Search Central. Last updated December 10, 2025.