What is AEO vs SEO?

AEO, answer engine optimization, targets getting your content selected as the direct answer inside tools like Perplexity, voice assistants, and AI generated summaries. SEO, search engine optimization, targets ranking in the traditional organic results of a search engine like Google.

The two overlap significantly. Both reward authoritative, well sourced content and solid technical performance. Where they diverge is format: AEO favors content written to be lifted whole as a concise answer, while SEO historically rewarded comprehensive pages that kept users on site longer.

In practice, writing one clear, well supported answer near the top of a page satisfies both goals at once, which is why most teams treat AEO as an extension of SEO rather than a competing discipline.

A software for GEOscores your pages against both sets of criteria.