What is AEO / GEO?
Answer Engine Optimization in two minutes: how it differs from SEO and why the stakes are different.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization, also called GEO — Generative Engine Optimization) is the practice of improving how AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity represent and recommend your brand.
AEO vs SEO
SEO competes for position in a list of links; AEO competes for presence inside the answer itself. An AI response typically names only two to five brands — there is no page two. Either the engine knows and trusts your brand, or you are absent from a conversation your buyer is actively having.
The GEO score for pages
At the page level, AEOquest's Site Audit produces a GEO score: how ready a specific URL is to be read, trusted, and quoted by answer engines — content structure, technical health, AI-specific signals, and authority.
Why it matters now
A growing share of buying journeys starts with an AI answer and ends without a traditional search. Brands inside those answers inherit the demand; everyone else never sees the buyer at all. For the full treatment, read the complete guide in our Resources section.