GEO vs AEO vs AIO
What Makes a Great SEO in 2025?
Engine
Optimisation
Engine
Optimisation
Optimisation
Optimising content to be retrieved, summarised, or cited by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google SGE.
Structuring content for Google and Bing to extract direct answers, often powering featured snippets and voice results.
Making your content AI-ready so it can be ingested, understood, and reused by LLMs and AI systems.
These tools don't rank, they generate. GEO makes your content a source they choose to include.
Zero-click and voice-based results dominate traditional SERPs. You must win those answer boxes.
AI is the new interface. If you're not present in AI training or outputs, you're invisible to future searchers.
− Write for AI answers using clarity, structure, and intent.
− Add schema markup and format content for summarisation tasks.
− Provide direct answers using FAQs, How-Tos, and clear intros.
− Target zero-click results and optimise for featured snippet boxes.
− Include content in trusted sources, training datasets, and citations.
− Use structured formats with clear language, facts, and consistency.
The New SEO Landscape
The New SEO is a level-up game. Optimise everywhere, not just Google.
The CITE Framework™ for AI Success
Apply these principles to dominate AI visibility in your industry
Pro Tips from Our AI SEO Team
GEO, AEO, and AIO aren't competing strategies—they're complementary layers. GEO optimizes for general AI citations, AEO focuses on answer box visibility, AIO targets AI-powered search interfaces. Companies that layer all three achieve 4-6x higher AI visibility than those focusing on just one approach. Start with GEO fundamentals, add AEO for Google AI Overviews, then extend to AIO for platform-specific optimization.
ChatGPT prefers encyclopedic, comprehensive content. Perplexity favors fresh, cited sources. Google AI Overviews weight established authority. Your content needs platform-specific variations—same topic, different tone and structure. Build a base article (GEO), then create variants optimized for each platform's retrieval patterns. This multi-variant approach increases total AI citation coverage by 3-5x.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between GEO, AEO, and AIO?
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) targets AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) targets featured snippets and voice search in Google/Bing. AIO (AI Optimisation) ensures content is structured for AI systems to ingest and reuse. Each targets different AI touchpoints in the user journey.
Do I need all three optimisation strategies?
For comprehensive visibility in 2025, yes. Users discover brands through multiple channels—traditional search, AI assistants, voice search, and AI-powered tools. Ignoring any channel means missing potential audience segments. The strategies overlap in practice, so implementing one often supports the others.
Which optimisation should I prioritise first?
Start with AEO—it has the most immediate impact on existing Google traffic through featured snippets. Then add GEO tactics to capture AI search visibility. AIO is foundational—it ensures your content structure supports both. Most AEO-optimised content is already partially GEO and AIO ready.
What does "AI-ready content" mean for AIO?
AI-ready content is structured, factual, and consistent. It uses clear headings, defined entities, schema markup, and straightforward language. AI systems can parse and extract information reliably. Unstructured narrative content, inconsistent terminology, and missing context make content difficult for AI to process accurately.
How do I know if my GEO strategy is working?
Test key queries in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Track whether your brand appears, how accurately it's described, and whether you're cited with links. Tools like Otterly.AI automate this tracking. Success looks like consistent, accurate mentions when users ask questions your content answers.
What are the main AEO tactics for featured snippets?
Structure content with clear question-and-answer formats. Use FAQ schema markup. Write concise definitions (40-50 words) that directly answer queries. Include numbered lists and tables for process-based questions. Target "what is," "how to," and comparison queries where snippets commonly appear.
How is AIO different from technical SEO?
Technical SEO optimises for search engine crawlers. AIO optimises for AI system ingestion. While both care about accessibility, AIO focuses on content structure, entity clarity, and factual consistency—factors AI uses to decide whether to include your content in training data or retrieval databases.
What tools help with GEO, AEO, and AIO?
For GEO: Otterly.AI, AI Search Grader, manual testing in AI tools. For AEO: SEMrush snippet tracking, Google Search Console, schema validators. For AIO: Schema.org markup tools, content structure analysers, entity extraction tools. Many traditional SEO tools are adding AI-specific features in 2025.
Ready to Dominate AI Search Results?
Our SEO agency specializes in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) strategies that get your brand cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. We combine traditional SEO expertise with cutting-edge AI visibility tactics.