Impulsa · Understand it without jargon
SEO, GEO and AEO: the three odd acronyms explained with a bakery
You use AIs to ask for recommendations on everything. But have you ever wondered why they never recommend you?
What you'll take from this
- SEO, GEO and AEO in 1 sentence each, no fluff
- What changed: people used to choose alone, now they ask and accept the recommendation
Picture the bakery on the corner. SEO is the sign on the sidewalk and the well-set storefront: it is what makes whoever walks by decide to come in. For years it was the only way to be found, showing up well placed when someone searched on their own.
AEO makes your business that unique, spot-on answer, and not just one more name lost among many.
GEO is another thing. It is like that neighbor everyone asks: 'where do I buy good bread around here?'. Today that neighbor is artificial intelligence. When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot for a recommendation, GEO makes sure your name is on the tip of the AI's tongue. According to Search Engine Land, Microsoft itself has publicly confirmed that Bing and Copilot use organized data about your business to better understand what you offer.
Source: Search Engine Land on Bing, Copilot and structured dataAEO is the exact moment of the answer. The person does not want a list of ten options, they want a single, direct one: 'go to that bakery, it is the best in the area'. AEO makes your business that unique, spot-on answer, and not just one more name lost among many.
Notice what changed. Before, people searched and chose on their own. Now they ask and accept the recommendation. If the AIs do not know you exist, they recommend the neighbor, even if your bread is better.
The good news: you do not need to understand the technical part of any of this. You only need to make sure the AIs know your business well, what you do, where you are and why it is worth it. The first step is simple: find out what they know about you today.
Did that land?
In the bakery story, what does GEO represent?
See right now what ChatGPT, Gemini and the leading AIs really know about your business: run the MerbIQ diagnosis and find out whether you are in the answer or left out of it.
Continue the course
What is GEO? The storefront that AIs see
GEO is the way to get AIs to know and recommend your business. It is like that old job of showing up on Google, but now the search happens inside the AIs. When someone asks them who to recommend, you want to be the answer. That is what GEO is about.
AEO: when someone asks an AI, your business is the answer
AEO is optimization for answers. Showing up in a list is one thing. Being THE answer the AI gives is something very different. When someone asks the AIs who to recommend in your city, the goal is for your business to be the first name that comes up. This is the new game of being found.
Where do AIs get what they say about your business?
When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or the leading AIs about a business like yours, they do not make it up. They read your Google listing, your reviews, your social media and your website. If those sources are empty or messy, the AI does not know what to say about you. And it does not recommend what it does not know.