If you own a business, someone has probably tried to sell you AEO or GEO by now. Maybe it came up in a sales call, an email, or a post in your feed warning that your business is about to disappear from search because AI is taking over.
Take a breath. Some of that is true, and some of it is packaging. Here is the plain-language version of what these terms mean, how much of it you are probably already doing, and what is actually worth your money.
What Is AEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It means structuring your content so it can be pulled out and shown as a direct answer. Think of Google’s AI Overviews at the top of a search, a featured snippet, or a voice assistant reading an answer out loud.
In practice, AEO is mostly about clarity. A clear question as a heading, a clear answer right underneath it, and the kind of structure a machine can read easily.
What Is GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It means helping AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Mode understand your business well enough to recommend it when someone asks.
So when someone types “who is a good kitchen remodeler near Worcester?” into ChatGPT, GEO is about whether your business is part of the answer.
Is AEO Different From GEO?
Barely. In practice they describe the same approach, and there is no agreed-on industry definition yet. Different agencies use the terms differently, and some use them interchangeably.
That matters for your wallet. If someone is selling AEO and GEO to you as two separate products with two separate price tags, you are mostly paying for packaging. The real question is simpler: can AI tools find your business, understand it, and trust it?
Do I Still Need SEO?
Yes, and this is the part that gets lost in the hype. Good SEO is the foundation, and it does most of the work.
AI tools pull from sources they can already find and verify. A website that ranks well, loads quickly, and explains your services clearly is usually the same website that gets cited in AI answers. Most of the industry agrees on this: traditional SEO comes first, because an AI tool cannot recommend a business it cannot find in the first place.
That is why we treat AEO and GEO as layers built on top of solid SEO, not as a replacement for it.
How Do I Get ChatGPT to Recommend My Business?
Mostly by being credible everywhere else.
This is the part that surprises people. Studies suggest roughly 85 percent of the sources AI tools cite come from third-party sites, not from the business’s own website. Reviews, directories, local news, community mentions, and social profiles all count. Research also shows that brand mentions across the web now line up with AI visibility much more strongly than backlinks do.
Your website establishes what you do. Everything around it convinces the machine you are real.
In practice, that looks like:
- A complete, active Google Business Profile
- The same name, address, phone number, and services listed everywhere you appear
- Real reviews that mention what you did and where
- Social profiles that describe your business the same way your website does
- Local mentions, like a chamber listing, a sponsorship, or a feature in a local paper
What Actually Helps AI Understand Your Business?
Beyond the basics above, a few specific things make a real difference.
Schema markup. This is code that labels the information on your pages so machines can read it correctly. It tells search engines and AI tools which text is your address, your hours, your services, and your reviews. It does not change how your site looks. It changes how clearly it is understood.
Question-and-answer content. An FAQ section with real customer questions and direct answers is exactly the format AI tools pull from. Keep each answer short and specific.
Clear service pages. One page per main service, written in plain language, beats one page trying to cover everything.
Consistency. When your website, your profile, and your listings all say the same thing, AI tools can confirm the information. When they contradict each other, they have to guess.
Can Anyone Guarantee AI Will Recommend My Business?
No, and be careful with anyone who promises it.
AI citations are much less stable than search rankings. Research shows that between 40 and 60 percent of cited sources change from month to month in tools like Google AI Mode and ChatGPT. Even the people who study this closely admit it is less predictable than traditional search.
What a good agency can do is build the conditions that make recommendations more likely, and then track how you show up over time.
What You Do Not Need to Buy
Here is the honest checklist, so you know what to push back on.
- Two separate AEO and GEO packages. It is one body of work.
- Guaranteed AI rankings. Nobody can promise them.
- AEO or GEO without SEO. If your website is not solid, there is nothing for the AI layer to stand on.
- Tools that promise to “submit” your business to ChatGPT. That is not how these tools find businesses.
What is worth paying for is the foundation done well: a strong website, real SEO, a complete Business Profile, and consistent information everywhere. Get the soil right, and the rest has something to grow from.
Where to Start
If you are not sure how AI tools currently see your business, that is completely normal. Most business owners have never checked.
We keep up with all of this so you do not have to. We can look at your website, your Business Profile, and how consistent your information is across the web, then tell you honestly what will make the biggest difference first.
See how we approach SEO services.
