SEO in the age of AI search: GEO and AEO explained

Search is changing, not disappearing

Many Google searches now show an AI Overview: an AI-generated summary at the top of the results, with links to the pages it drew on. Google also offers AI Mode, a conversational search experience for longer, multi-step questions. Outside Google, people ask AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude, which can search the web and cite sources in their answers.

For a business this changes three things:

• Some simple questions are answered without a click.
• Being mentioned or cited inside the AI answer is a new kind of visibility.
• People who do click through often arrive better informed and closer to a decision.

People still search, compare, visit websites and call businesses. The opportunity is to be one of the sources these systems trust.

How AI answers choose their sources

The details differ by product and change often, but the broad picture is:

• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode use Google's own index and ranking systems. Google says there are no special extra requirements: a page needs to be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet in normal Search. So if your page does not rank or is not indexed, it is unlikely to be used.
• AI assistants combine what their models learnt during training with live web search. They retrieve pages, read them and cite some of them.

In both cases, the sources that tend to be used are crawlable, clear, specific, consistent and trusted by others. That is a description of good SEO.

GEO and AEO in plain words

• AEO, Answer Engine Optimisation: structuring content so it can be used as a clear, direct answer to a question.
• GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation: improving the chance that AI-generated answers mention, recommend or cite your brand and pages.

Neither is a replacement for SEO. A slow, unindexed or untrusted site will not be cited however cleverly its paragraphs are written. Be wary of anyone selling secret "AI ranking hacks" or guaranteed AI placements.

Get the SEO foundations right first

Before thinking about AI answers, check the basics covered in our SEO module:

• Crawling and indexing: important pages are in your XML sitemap, not blocked by robots.txt, not set to noindex, and appear in Google Search Console.
• On-page SEO: a clear title tag, meta description, one H1, logical headings, descriptive internal links and helpful content that matches search intent. Our free title and meta description checker helps with the first two.
• Technical health: HTTPS, mobile-friendly pages, sensible canonicals and redirects, and good Core Web Vitals.
• Authority: genuine links and mentions from relevant, trusted websites, earned rather than bought.
• Local SEO: a complete, accurate Google Business Profile with the right categories and genuine reviews, if you serve customers in an area.

Practical AEO and GEO techniques

1. Answer clearly and early

Put a direct, plain answer in the first one or two sentences under a heading, then add detail. Compare:

• Weak: "Prices depend on many factors and every case is different, so please contact us."
• Stronger: "At our clinic, a basic cleaning usually costs between ₹X and ₹Y; the exact price depends on…" (using your real prices).

The stronger version helps people and is easy to quote. Use your real numbers, and keep them up to date.

2. Use question-style headings

Turn real customer questions into H2 and H3 headings: questions from calls, WhatsApp chats, reviews and Google's "People also ask" box. For example, "How long does delivery take?" or "Do you offer EMI?". This mirrors how people phrase questions to AI assistants.

3. Add genuine FAQ sections

An FAQ section answers follow-up questions in one place. Keep answers short, accurate and consistent with the rest of the page. Google currently shows FAQ rich results only for a limited set of sites, so add FAQs because they help readers and answer engines, not to chase a search feature.

4. Share original information and first-hand experience

AI systems and the sites they cite lean on specific, original information: your own process photos, real timelines, local prices, results you can share with permission, and expert commentary from named people. Text that repeats what every other page says gives no reason to cite you. This is Google's E-E-A-T idea (experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust) in practice.

5. Make your entity clear

An entity is a clearly identifiable thing: your business, your founder, your product. Help machines understand exactly who you are:

• Use the same business name, address, phone number and description everywhere.
• Publish a clear About page: who you are, where you are, what you do and do not do.
• Add Organization or LocalBusiness structured data with sameAs links to your official profiles.
• Show named authors with short bios on expert content.

6. Keep your details consistent across the web

AI assistants build their picture of a business from many places: your website, Google Business Profile, directories, marketplaces, review sites, news, YouTube and forums. Old addresses, conflicting prices or outdated service lists lead to wrong answers. Review your main listings regularly.

7. Earn mentions from trusted sources

Digital PR, expert quotes in news stories, industry associations, local media and genuine customer reviews all increase how often trusted sources talk about you. AI answers often reflect what those sources say.

8. Keep content readable by machines

Structured data (JSON-LD) helps machines read facts such as prices, opening hours and authors, and can make pages eligible for rich results. It is not a guaranteed route into AI answers. Keep key content in the HTML rather than only inside images or behind logins, and check your robots.txt before blocking any crawler so you understand what each rule does.

Measuring AI visibility honestly

Measurement is still immature, so set expectations carefully:

• Google Search Console includes clicks and impressions from AI features within overall web search data, without a clean separate report for every AI feature.
• AI assistants share little data with website owners. You may see some referral visits from AI tools in GA4. Tagging links you control with UTM parameters (try our UTM link builder) keeps the rest of your reporting clean.
• Regularly ask AI assistants the key questions your customers ask, and note whether you are mentioned and whether the details are correct.
• Ask new customers "How did you find us?" and watch branded searches and enquiries over time.
• Third-party "AI visibility" tools exist, but results vary with the prompts used and over time, so treat them as rough indicators.

A simple monthly routine

1. Check Search Console for indexing problems and pages losing clicks.
2. Update one important page with a clearer opening answer, question headings and current facts.
3. Add one piece of original information: a process explanation, a local price range or a case example shared with permission.
4. Check your Google Business Profile and two or three main listings for outdated details.
5. Ask three AI assistants your top customer questions and record the answers.

Common mistakes

• Treating GEO or AEO as a replacement for SEO.
• Burying the answer under a long introduction.
• Mass-producing AI-written pages with no original value, which risks Google's scaled content abuse policy.
• Inconsistent business details across platforms.
• Believing structured data or special files guarantee AI citations.
• Promising clients exact "AI ranking" results.

To learn this step by step, start with the SEO module, then Content & Copywriting and AI for Marketers. You can try Module 1 free or see plans and pricing.