What is AEO vs SEO

Answer Engine Optimisation vs Search Engine Optimisation — and Why It Matters Now

If you've been hearing the term AEO or GEO pop up lately, you're not alone. As AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s SGE (Search Generative Experience) become more common, businesses and creators are starting to ask:

“Do I still need SEO—or is it time to focus on AEO instead?”

In this post, we’ll break down the difference between AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), and help you understand how to prepare your content for both.

What Is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the practice of improving your content and website so that it appears higher in search engine results pages (SERPs)—primarily Google Search.

The goal of SEO is to rank highly on relevant keywords, drive organic traffic to your site, and ultimately convert that traffic into leads, sales, or other actions.

SEO focuses on:

• Keyword research and placement

• Metadata (title tags, descriptions)

• Backlinks

• Mobile responsiveness

• Page speed

• Structured data (schema)

• Content relevance and quality

What Is AEO?

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) also called GEO is a newer strategy that focuses on optimising content for AI-powered search engines and assistants—like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity.

Methods to optimize your content for AEO focus on:

• Clear, concise answers to specific user questions

• Structured, factually accurate content

• Verified sources and citations

• Schema markup to help machines understand context

• FAQ-style formats and plain-language writing

• Referencing your posts and proving trustworthiness
  

AEO vs SEO: What’s the Difference?

Feature	SEO	AEO
Platform	Google Search, Bing, etc.	AI tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, SGE)
Goal	Appear in top search results	Be quoted or cited as the answer
Format	Keyword-rich, often longform	Direct, factual, and concise
Ranking Factor	Page authority, backlinks, relevance	Clarity, trustworthiness, structure
Outcome	Clicks to your site	Brand visibility / citations in answers

Why AEO Matters More Than Ever

AI tools are no longer just assistants—they’re becoming primary search destinations. Tools like Perplexity cite sources directly. ChatGPT now has browsing capabilities. Google SGE answers questions before showing any links.

That means your brand, product, or insight might appear in an AI-generated answer even if users never click a search result—if your content is optimised for AEO.

How to Optimise for AEO

If you're already doing SEO, you’re halfway there. But here’s how to go further with AEO:

✅ Write in Q&A format

Break down content into clear, answerable sections (like this blog post!).

✅ Use schema markup

Add FAQ, HowTo, and Article schema so AI systems can understand and pull your content easily.

✅ Prioritise clarity over fluff

No long intros or storytelling—just clean, direct answers to real questions.

✅ Be trustworthy

AI models pull from accurate, reputable sources. Make your content factual and up-to-date.

✅ Include sources

If you’re publishing data, link to your sources. This builds credibility with AI tools.

Final Thoughts

It's not really a batter of AEO VS SEO as now you have to do both. SEO isn’t going anywhere—but AEO is the future of search. As people shift from typing keywords into Google to asking full questions in ChatGPT or Perplexity, your content needs to adapt. If you want your business to show up in tomorrow’s search results, start thinking like an answer engine—not just a search engine.

If you'd like to learn more we have a case study on optimising for AI search.

You can also reach out to louisamay@callmintelligence.com

AEO VS SEO