Glossary
AEO
What AEO, answer engine optimization, means and how it relates to GEO.
Updated
AEO: AEO stands for answer engine optimization: shaping web pages so that tools which reply with a written answer, rather than a list of links, can find a page and quote it correctly. It covers the same ground as GEO, and the two names are often used for the same work. Google's own guidance treats both as part of SEO, since its AI answers rest on its ordinary index and ranking systems, while engines such as ChatGPT search and Perplexity read the web through their own crawlers.
Where it shows up
You meet the term in agency offers and in articles about AI search, usually beside GEO. Google's guide to its generative AI features names both and says that, from its side, optimizing for those features is still SEO, with no special tricks required.
In practice, AEO work means a short, direct answer near the top of each page and facts on the page that agree with the rest of the web, so an engine can lift a passage without getting it wrong.
Related terms
- GEOWhat GEO, generative engine optimization, means and what it can and cannot do for a small business website.
- Answer engineWhat an answer engine is and how it changes the way customers find a small business online.
- FAQ markupWhat FAQ markup is, and what changed when Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in 2026.
- Every term in the glossary
Start with a written plan
Tell us about the business and what you need. We reply with questions, then a written plan that lists the work and its price, and nothing starts until you have read it.