GEO and AEO: what's the difference and why your business needs both
Two new names, one shared goal: showing up when someone asks an AI.
In short
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) are the versions of SEO built for generative AI. GEO is about how your content is understood and cited by models like ChatGPT and Gemini. AEO is about how your information answers directly to the question someone is asking. A local business needs both to get recommended.
What GEO is
GEO is the work of making your business easy for a generative AI to understand: structured, consistent and verifiable information about who you are, what you offer and where you're located. The clearer that foundation, the more confident the AI feels citing and recommending you.
A good FAQ-style answer has a much better chance of being cited than a loose paragraph.
What AEO is
AEO is the work of structuring information to answer a question directly, in a format an AI can use effortlessly: real FAQs, straightforward answers, organized data. A good FAQ-style answer has a much better chance of being cited than a loose paragraph.
Why you need both together
GEO builds the underlying trust, the track record that helps AI understand who you are. AEO delivers the right answer at the right moment. A dentist with well-structured information (GEO) but no clear answers about hours or insurance (AEO) still loses the recommendation to someone who has both.
Frequently asked questions
Do GEO and AEO replace traditional SEO?
No, they add to traditional SEO, they don't replace it. Google is still an essential channel, and many of the signals that already help regular SEO, like clear information, real reviews and consistent online presence, also help generative AI trust your business and recommend it. GEO and AEO are a new layer, not a change of strategy.
Do I need a website to do GEO and AEO?
Not necessarily. A website helps, but what AI really needs is structured, consistent information about your business, not a pretty page. A profile built specifically for AI, like MerbIQ's IDAI, covers that ground even if you've never had a website, and it can even work as your first professional presence online.
How long does it take to see results?
It varies a lot from business to business, and depends mainly on how consistent your information already is today across the different places it appears online. There's no single timeframe we could honestly promise without first seeing your actual situation. That's why the first step is always finding out where you stand now, with a scan, instead of guessing a number in the dark.
Our take
GEO and AEO sound like terms made for people who already have a marketing team. But we don't think a dentist, a hairdresser or a small restaurant should need to hire an expensive agency just to get AI to understand them. That's why we translate this into simple steps, in the language of people who run a business day to day, not the jargon of people who sell consulting.
See how your GEO and AEO presence looks today.
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