AEO & GEO. Get recommended by AI, not just ranked.
Answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization are the work that gets your brand named, cited and recommended inside AI answers — in ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and Claude. We do that work, and we measure it every week.
What AEO is made of
AEO stands on two legs: SEO and your brand.
An AI engine recommends a brand in two steps. First it has to find you — that's search. Then it has to trust you enough to name you — that's reputation. Miss either step and you don't appear.
Leg one
SEO, so AI can find you
ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews and Perplexity answer from pages they retrieve through search indexes and their own crawlers. If your site isn't crawlable, indexed and relevant for the question, you never make the candidate list — however good your product is.
- Crawl access for search engines and AI bots
- Rankings for the questions buyers ask
- Clear structure and schema engines can parse
Leg two
Brand, so AI chooses you
AI engines recommend what the web agrees on. Reviews, comparison articles, industry publications and communities shape which brands get named and what they're “best for”. Digital branding makes sure that consensus exists, is accurate and points to you.
- Mentions on the sources AI already cites
- Consistent brand facts across the web
- The attributes you want to be recommended for
SEO vs AEO vs GEO
Same foundation. A different finish line.
| Aspect | SEO | AEO & GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank your pages in search results | Be the answer — named, cited and recommended inside AI responses |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing result pages | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude |
| Unit of success | A position for a keyword | A mention, its place in the answer, and the sources cited |
| Main levers | Technical health, relevance, links | Answer-ready content, citations on trusted sources, a consistent brand |
Why start them together
One effort. Two results.
SEO and AEO aren't two budgets competing for attention. They're the same work seen from two places — which is why we start both on day one and include AEO in our SEO package at no extra charge.
Run SEO alone and you rank but don't get named. Run AEO alone and there's nothing for the engines to find. Together, every page and every placement works twice.
One placement on a trusted publication becomes…
- 1
A backlink that lifts your Google rankings
- 2
A citation source that AI engines read and quote
- 3
A brand attribute that shapes what AI recommends you for
What we do
What you get. Week one, then every month.
01
Audit of you, your market and your rivals
Your content and its gaps, your competitors' off-page footprint and — the AEO part — the exact sources AI cites when it answers, including the ones that recommend competitors while leaving you out.
02
A category map with a decision for each
Invest, maintain or set aside, with the reason. Focus means saying no to some categories so the rest can win.
03
Target questions and keywords
The questions buyers ask AI and search, prioritised by demand and competition. The content calendar and every report are built on this list.
04
Numeric targets for 3 and 6 months
Set on the same metrics we record at the start, so progress is judged by numbers, not adjectives.
05
An action plan your team can ship
Technical and on-page fixes, schema, llms.txt and answer-ready structure — each with an owner and an expected impact.
06
Monthly execution
Content written to be quoted, placements on the publications and lists AI already cites, and brand presence where buyers and models look.
Every week
- AI visibility, share of voice and position — for you and your competitors, by engine and by category
- The attributes AI recommends you for, against your rivals
- Rankings, impressions and clicks, plus your competitors' new content and links
Every month
- A work report: what was published and shipped
- A performance review against the starting point and the targets
- Next month's priorities, content calendar and placement budget for your approval
What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?+
AEO is the work of making your brand the answer that AI assistants and AI search features give. It covers content written to be quoted, structured data, presence on the sources engines cite, and the brand signals that make an engine comfortable recommending you.
What is GEO (generative engine optimization)?+
GEO is the same goal seen from the generative side: getting included and cited when models like ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude write an answer. In practice AEO and GEO are one discipline with two names, and we treat them that way.
What's the difference between GEO and SEO?+
SEO earns positions in a list of links. GEO earns a place inside one written answer. GEO builds on SEO — engines retrieve from search indexes — and adds the content, citation and brand work that decides whether you're named once you're found.
Do I still need SEO if I'm doing AEO?+
Yes. AEO stands on SEO: if search engines can't crawl and trust your pages, AI engines usually can't find them either. That's why we run both together and include AEO in the SEO package.
How long does AEO take to work?+
Technical fixes can show up within weeks. Content and citation work usually takes two to three months to appear consistently in AI answers, which is why we track weekly and set 3- and 6-month targets.
Can you guarantee my brand will be recommended by ChatGPT?+
No honest provider can — the engines themselves say placement isn't guaranteed. We commit to the work, the targets and transparent weekly measurement of what changed.
What is llms.txt and do I need one?+
llms.txt is a plain-text file that points AI tools to your most important pages. It's cheap to add and part of our standard technical checklist, alongside robots.txt rules for AI crawlers and structured data.
Find out where AI leaves you out. The audit is free.
Run a free AI visibility check, or talk to us about doing the work with you.
Prefer a conversation? Book a strategy call