# SEO, AEO and GEO

Three overlapping disciplines: ranking in results, being the answer, and being cited by generative engines.

Search visibility today is not one target: it is three related surfaces that share most of the underlying work but reward slightly different things. AgentixSEO measures and produces content for all three, but it helps to be able to name which one you are optimising for at any given moment.

## The short version

|  | Goal | Measured by |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SEO | Rank in search results | Positions, impressions, clicks, traffic |
| AEO | Be the answer that gets shown | Featured snippets, AI Overview citations, map-pack presence |
| GEO | Be recommended by generative assistants | Mention rate, share of voice, cited sources |

## SEO

The four pillars are still technical health, content that matches intent, authority from other sites, and, for local businesses, proximity and local signals. Nothing in AI search removes these; they feed it. A page that ranks poorly for classic reasons (slow, broken, thin, unlinked) is also unlikely to be picked up as an answer or a citation.

In the platform, this is the surface covered by Onsite SEO (audits, tasks, keywords, rankings, content) and most of Offsite SEO (backlinks, citations).

## AEO

Answer-engine optimisation is about winning the position that answers the question directly, rather than the position that merely ranks, a featured snippet, a map-pack listing, or the block Google generates above the results.

- Answer the question in the first two sentences, then expand.
- Use question-shaped headings that match how people ask.
- Keep facts scannable: tables, short lists, explicit numbers.
- Mark up content so machines can confirm what it is.

## GEO

Generative engine optimisation targets a different consumer entirely: an AI assistant synthesising a recommendation, not a person scanning a results page. The assistant never shows the client's URL to the searcher, it just uses (or ignores) the client as a source when it writes its own answer.

- Assistants synthesise from sources they trust. Being mentioned on those sources matters more than ranking above them.
- Specificity wins: credentials, service areas, brands, pricing structure and process detail give an assistant something to quote.
- Consistency across the web makes a business easier to describe confidently.
- Measure it: the answer-engine visibility feature exists because this cannot be inferred from rankings.

> **One program, three surfaces**: The same work (clean site, specific content, real authority, accurate data) serves all three. The difference is what you measure and report.

## Choosing where to focus

**Ecommerce / transactional**

Traditional SEO does most of the work: product and category pages, structured data, backlinks. AEO matters for comparison and "best X" queries. GEO is a growing but still secondary channel for pre-purchase research.

**Local service business**

AEO and local SEO dominate: map pack, GBP, citations and the local grid matter more than raw organic rankings for most of these businesses' revenue-driving terms. GEO is increasingly relevant for "who should I hire" style prompts.

**B2B / high-consideration**

GEO deserves early attention here, since buyers frequently ask an assistant to shortlist vendors before ever searching by name. Detailed, specific content that an assistant can quote (pricing structure, process, credentials) pays off across all three surfaces.

## Common problems

**Rankings are strong but the client says competitors are recommended by ChatGPT instead of them.**

That is a GEO gap, not an SEO gap. Check Answer-Engine Visibility for mention rate and share of voice, and look at what specific, quotable facts the competitor publishes that the client does not.

**The client ranks on page one but never appears in the AI Overview.**

AI Overviews favour content that answers the query directly near the top of the page with scannable structure. Rewrite the opening of the relevant page to state the answer in the first two sentences, and add a table or short list of the supporting facts.

**Do we need to treat GEO as a completely separate workflow?**

No, most of the same content and authority work serves all three surfaces. Track GEO separately because it is measured differently, not because it needs an entirely different production process.