AEO vs GEO: What’s the Difference?

Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization—where they overlap and how to win at both.

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Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) both aim to get your content selected as the authoritative answer—one for traditional “answer boxes” and direct responses in search, the other for LLM‑powered assistants that cite and summarize from multiple sources. The good news: 80–90% of the work is the same. The differences are mostly about output format, how content is ingested, and how clearly your content can be lifted and cited.

What is AEO?

  • Target: featured snippets, People Also Ask, knowledge panels, and other extractive answers in classic search (Google/Bing) and on‑SERP assistants.
  • Emphasis: concise, unambiguous definitions and steps close to the top of the page.
  • Tactics: question‑shaped headings, short answers under each, FAQ/HowTo/QAPage schema, strong internal linking to topic hubs.
  • Signals: E‑E‑A‑T (experience, expertise, author transparency), clean HTML, fast CWV, mobile readability.

What is GEO?

  • Target: assistants and “answer engines” like ChatGPT/Copilot browsing, Perplexity, Gemini, Bing Copilot, and Google’s AI Overviews.
  • Emphasis: well‑structured, “liftable” sections (lists, steps, tables), clear entities, and citability.
  • Tactics: prominent TL;DR, labeled sections, JSON‑LD (Article + FAQPage/HowTo/Product), consistent entities and “sameAs” links.
  • Signals: freshness (“last updated”), outbound citations, and permissive crawl for GEO‑relevant bots (e.g., GPTBot, PerplexityBot, CCBot, Google‑Extended) if inclusion is desired.

Where they’re the same

  • User intent first: match a clear task/question; don’t meander.
  • Structure: H2/H3s, bullets, numbered steps, small tables; semantic HTML.
  • Identity: bylines, bios, organization details, and consistent author pages; sameAs links to credible profiles.
  • Technical hygiene: descriptive titles/meta, canonicals, sitemap, robots sane, accessible and fast pages.

Key differences (in practice)

  • Output shape: AEO often surfaces one extractive snippet; GEO composes multi‑source summaries and prefers sections it can cite verbatim.
  • Ingestion: AEO relies mainly on search indexes; GEO draws from search + broader crawls (CommonCrawl) and dedicated bots (GPTBot/PerplexityBot). Robots rules for these matter if you want to be included.
  • Content blocks: AEO loves a crisp answer right under a question heading; GEO additionally rewards reusable blocks—FAQs, checklists, step lists, and comparison tables.
  • Citations: AEO may or may not display a source badge; GEO tends to cite sources explicitly. Linking out and providing verifiable details helps you get chosen.
  • Freshness bias: both care, but GEO tools often weight recency more for fast‑moving topics.

How to optimize for both (short checklist)

  • Start with a TL;DR that answers the core question in 2–3 sentences.
  • Use question‑shaped H2/H3s and place a short answer immediately under each.
  • Add a compact FAQ or “Key takeaways” block in plain language.
  • Mark up JSON‑LD: Article + FAQPage/HowTo where relevant; keep entities consistent across pages.
  • Strengthen identity: author/byline, bio page, organization schema, sameAs links.
  • Build clusters: link posts to their hub and between related pieces with descriptive anchors.
  • Keep pages fresh: show “Last updated” and revise winners instead of duplicating.
  • Don’t accidentally block inclusion: check canonicals/robots/sitemap; if you want GEO visibility, avoid disallowing GEO‑relevant bots.

Related

  • GEO deep‑dive: how to maximize visibility in generative engines — /blog/geo

Bottom line AEO and GEO are two faces of the same intent: help users get trustworthy answers quickly. Write clear, structured, source‑worthy content; make your identity and relationships machine‑readable; keep it fast and up to date. Do that, and you’ll win featured answers today and assistant citations tomorrow.