Is GEO the same as AEO?

Yes. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) describe the same practice under two names.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. SEO still drives the link-based search experience. GEO is the new layer for AI-generated answers, and the two coexist.

By citation count and share of voice across AI engines, not by classic keyword rankings.

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of preparing a website so generative AI engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews, cite your pages inside the answers they generate to users. GEO is the new layer on top of classic SEO.

Quick answer

GEO makes your content quotable by generative AI. Structure each page around a one-sentence direct answer, mark it up with FAQ, HowTo and Article schema, and publish an llms.txt that names your most citable URLs.

How GEO works

Retrieval. The engine fetches candidate pages for the user's question.
Ranking. It scores them on clarity, structure and authority.
Quoting. It lifts the cleanest one or two sentences into the generated answer, with a citation.

GEO vs SEO

Dimension	SEO	GEO
Surface	Search results page	AI-generated answer
Win	Top 3 link	Cited inside the answer
Signals	Keywords, backlinks, speed	Schema, llms.txt, answer formatting, entity clarity

What a GEO-ready page looks like

Lead sentence answers the question directly.
H2s phrased as buyer questions.
FAQ and HowTo schema on every page.
Brand name used in citable sentences, not pronouns.
llms.txt at the root of the domain.

SiteSonar applies GEO to your live site with one script tag →