Is LLM SEO the same as AEO and GEO?

Yes. All three describe optimizing content for AI answers; LLM SEO is just the engineer-friendly name.

Do classic SEO best practices still apply?

Most of them, yes. Clean HTML, semantic headings, fast pages and good internal links help both classic search and LLM retrieval.

LLM SEO: how to optimize for large language model search

LLM SEO is the practice of optimizing a website so large language models — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — retrieve it, trust it, and quote it inside their answers. It is the same goal as AEO and GEO, framed from the model's perspective.

Quick answer

LLM SEO rewards retrievable, well-structured, entity-clear content. The fastest wins are answer-first writing, FAQ and HowTo schema, an llms.txt index, and brand mentions on sources the model already trusts.

What changes versus classic SEO

Classic SEO	LLM SEO
Unit of ranking: page	Unit of ranking: sentence
Output: 10 blue links	Output: one paragraph with citations
Currency: backlinks	Currency: trusted mentions + structure
Win: top 3	Win: cited inside the answer

The LLM SEO checklist

Crawl access. Allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, PerplexityBot in robots.txt.
Answer-first format. Open every section with a one-sentence answer.
Schema. FAQPage, HowTo, Article, Organization with sameAs.
llms.txt. A curated plain-text index of your best pages.
Entity clarity. Use the brand name in every citable sentence.
Trusted mentions. Earn one paragraph on Wikipedia, Reddit, G2 or a category publication.

How to measure LLM SEO

Track citation count and share of voice across engines, not classic keyword rankings. SiteSonar surfaces both in one dashboard. See how →