SEO vs AEO vs GEO: What’s the Difference and Which Strategy Should You Use?

Key Takeaways:

Online marketing evolves rapidly, with new developments emerging constantly. Websites today aren’t simply competing for rankings on Google (SERPs) anymore—they’re also contending with the significant role Generative AI plays in how consumers search for information. Recent data reveals that conversion rates in AI Search are five times higher than Google Search. For this reason, brands must grasp what is the difference between GEO vs SEO vs AEO to become the trusted reference source AI platforms cite.

Why Consumer Behaviour Has Shifted to Using AI Instead of Traditional Search

People today use AI to search for information, request recommendations, and review products, with a growing tendency to trust AI answers over searching through Google. Why has this shift occurred?

• AI can summarise information from multiple sources directly and rapidly, delivering the precise information needed immediately without additional thought required.
• Users receive hyper-personalised experiences from the prompts they enter, combined with their previous search history.
• There’s no need to click through multiple websites—purchase decisions can be made instantly.
• Local search and nearby services have become more accessible.

Convenience, speed, and immediate answers are the core reasons consumers increasingly use and trust AI.

What’s the Difference Between GEO vs SEO vs AEO?

Shifting consumer behaviour means understanding new techniques to optimise websites and online content for visibility across different search platforms.

SEO: Increase Traffic with High-Quality Content

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves improving your website and content to achieve high quality and align with the ranking criteria of search engines like Google and Bing, enabling these platforms to understand that your website content relates to keywords users search for and provides genuine value.

SEO forms the solid foundation for ranking websites across all platforms, regardless of where searches occur.

Primary Goal of SEO

Increase quality organic traffic to your website by pushing it to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) whilst effectively converting visitors into customers.

Key Advantages of SEO

• Quality, sustainable traffic without advertising costs : High rankings on Google build consumer confidence in your brand.
• Exceptional trustworthiness : Ranking highly on Google strengthens consumer trust in your brand.
• Reaches genuine target audiences : Consumers search using relevant keywords because they’re genuinely interested in those products or services.

Essential SEO Techniques

• Analysing relevant keywords
• Improving On-page/Off-page SEO
• Building quality backlinks to increase Domain Authority
• Creating quality content that serves users, ensuring Google recognises your website provides genuine value

AEO: The Power of Answering Questions in the AI Era

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is a strategy focused on optimising content to answer user questions directly, positioning that content to become the answer AI or Search Engines select to display in various formats.

AEO responds to consumer demand for answers that are direct, concise, and don’t require opening multiple websites. Crucially, they must be trustworthy. Therefore, AEO for brands goes beyond simply ranking on Search Results to being selected as the answer itself.

Primary Goal of AEO

Transform your content into outstanding, trustworthy answers that AI platforms display through channels like Google Featured Snippets, People Also Ask (PAA), Knowledge Graph, or Voice Search.

Key Advantages of AEO

• Maximum Visibility : Being Position Zero positions your brand above all other search results.
• Selected as answers for Voice Search : Devices like Google Assistant and Siri, which are growing rapidly, use your content.
• Increases Authority : Instantly builds trustworthiness in that topic in users’ eyes.

Essential AEO Techniques

Structured Data (Schema Markup), particularly FAQ Schema

Organising content structure with clear questions and answers in opening paragraphs, enabling AI and Search Engines to extract and display them as answers immediately

GEO: Becoming AI’s Trusted Reference Source

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the latest strategy emerging to support the era of Generative AI Search, specifically referring to searches using Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate new answers, such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

GEO represents the Search Optimization currently under scrutiny—a strategy designed specifically to work with Generative AI Engines, ensuring content gets selected for citation when AI creates summary answers.

Primary Goal of GEO

Build Brand Authority at the Entity level, ensuring AI systems recognise and select your brand’s content as a trusted reference source (Citation) when generating summary answers.

Key Advantages of GEO

• Elevates Authority : Builds trustworthiness in AI’s perception.
• Controls brand image : Manages how your brand appears in AI answers.
• Creates long-term advantage : Becomes memorable to both AI and users.

Essential GEO Techniques

Original Entity & Data : Create deeply insightful, unique, and original content in specialised topics (Expert Content)

Present expertise, experience, and trustworthiness clearly to reinforce to AI that you’re a genuinely reliable information source

Brand Mentions : Ensure your brand is consistently mentioned and referenced

Comparison Table: SEO vs AEO vs GEO

To visualise this more clearly, here’s a summary table of SEO, AEO, and GEO across different aspects:

Building Brand Power to Be Found Everywhere Search Happens

Creating a brand that’s known, trustworthy, and found through various channels means we can’t focus on just one technique alone—we must intelligently blend all three strategies, with SEO as the solid foundation, AEO as the accelerator, and GEO creating long-term sustainability.

Guidelines for Combining All 3 Techniques in Digital Marketing

For those wanting target audiences to find their brand across all channels, here’s the operational approach:

1. Build a Solid Foundation with SEO

Ensure your website has excellent technical structure (Technical SEO) and comprehensive content covering all business-related topics (Topical Authority), enabling Search Engines to rank and discover you easily.

2. Grow with AEO (Convert to Answer)

Transform well-structured content into clear questions and answers, with Schema Markup ready for Answer Engines, focusing on answering critical questions consumers need answered rapidly.

3. Stand Out with GEO (Build Entity Authority)

Create deeply insightful content that makes AI recognise us as genuine specialists in those areas, presenting unique information whilst continuously reinforcing Brand Authority, so AI perceives us as the most trustworthy information source in those topics and selects us for citation in summary answers.

Primal’s ElevateSEO: Combining 3 Techniques to Let Customers Find You on Every Platform

Consumer search behaviour has transformed, requiring brands to adapt and stay ahead of competitors. Understanding the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO helps make your online marketing plan directional and successful without difficulty.

Primal is ready to be your strategic partner with our AI SEO capabilities using the ElevateSEO™ technique to help your brand stand out in the new search era through optimisation specifically for AI Search & Answer Engines. As a leading AI & SEO agency in Bangkok, we combine traditional search excellence with cutting-edge AI optimisation strategies tailored for the Thai and Bangkok markets.

Contact Primal today for strategic search consultation and accelerate your brand’s

References:

1. AI Search Traffic Converts 5x Better Than Google: 2025 Conversion Data from 12M Visits. Retrieved 16 October 2025 from https://superprompt.com/blog/ai-search-traffic-conversion-rates-5x-higher-than-google-2025-data
2. GEO vs. SEO: Key Differences and Importance in Digital Marketing. Retrieved 16 October 2025 from https://www.seo.com/ai/geo-vs-seo/

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Will Traditional SEO Strategy Disappear in the era of AEO and GEO?

Absolutely not. SEO remains the most critical foundation because if a website lacks quality, speed, and Authority according to SEO principles, that content won’t be considered for use as answers (AEO) or reference sources (GEO). Excellent SEO is what enables the other two strategies to work effectively.

How Can You Know if AI Has Cited Your Content?

Tracking citations from AI is significantly more challenging than tracking traditional SEO rankings. It requires specialised tools that can monitor search results across various AI platforms like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT to see whether your brand or content is mentioned and linked as a source, which forms part of AI SEO work by specialists.

How Do You Build E-E-A-T According to SEO Principles?

Building E-E-A-T requires systematic work, as follows:

Expertise : Have genuine specialists within your organisation create or verify content

Experience : Show evidence of real-world usage, such as Case Studies and reviews

Authoritativeness : Create Original Research and get news sources or media to reference it

Trustworthiness : Have a clear About Us page, transparent policies, and maintain website security (HTTPS)

How Long Does It Take to See Results from Optimising Websites for GEO and AEO?

AEO results like Featured Snippets may appear relatively quickly within 90 days if content is strong and uses Schema Markup correctly. However, GEO results (building Entity Authority) represent a long-term strategy requiring consistent, quality information over time. Typically, Primal’s partners begin seeing results of AI citation within 60-90 days when using specially designed approaches.

How Does ElevateSEO™ Differ from General SEO?

ElevateSEO™ is a technique designed to future-proof your brand, not merely doing traditional SEO to rank on Google, but also including AEO and GEO to ensure your brand gets cited by AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. This represents a Search Everywhere Optimization approach to dominate rankings across all search platforms.