Insights · Get found · AEO and GEO
What are AEO and GEO? AI search optimisation explained for UK businesses
By Stacey G, Senior SEO and Account Manager
Published · Updated · 4 minute read
The short answer
AEO (answer engine optimisation) makes your content the direct answer Google and voice assistants show. GEO (generative engine optimisation) gets your business cited and recommended by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Both build on good SEO, and both depend on clear answers, consistent facts and being mentioned by other trusted sources.
The way people find businesses is changing. Many now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini for a recommendation, or read the AI Overview at the top of Google, instead of scrolling a list of links. These tools do not show ten options. They name a few businesses, sometimes one, and often cite where they found them. If your business is not among them, the client may never know you exist.
What do AEO and GEO stand for?
AEO stands for answer engine optimisation: structuring your content so search engines and voice assistants can use it as the direct answer to a question, for example in featured snippets and People Also Ask boxes. GEO stands for generative engine optimisation: getting your business cited and recommended in answers written by AI tools. Together they are often called AI SEO.
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in Google’s results | Be the direct answer | Be cited and recommended by AI |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results | Featured snippets, People Also Ask, voice | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews |
| Main levers | Pages, technical health, links | Question headings, short answers, FAQ markup | Consistent facts, mentions, reviews, expertise |
How do AI tools decide which businesses to recommend?
AI tools recommend businesses they can describe confidently from several sources that agree with each other. They search the web in real time, pull short passages that answer the question, and favour businesses that are clearly described, consistently mentioned and well reviewed across many sites.
- A passage that answers the questionA page that answers the question in its first sentence or two, under a clear heading.
- A clear, consistent identityThe same name, services, locations and description on your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories.
- Agreement between sourcesOther sites, such as directories, lists, press and reviews, saying the same things about you.
- Evidence of expertiseNamed experts, specific results, cited sources and recent dates.
- Access to your siteAI crawlers allowed in, and important content in plain text rather than hidden in images or sliders.
What should a UK business do about AI search?
- Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your clients ask, and note who is recommended and what is said about you.
- Rewrite your service pages so each section answers one question in its first one or two sentences.
- Make your business details identical everywhere: website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, LinkedIn and sector directories.
- Add structured data that labels who you are, what you offer and your FAQs.
- Check robots.txt and your firewall are not blocking AI crawlers such as GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.
- Earn genuine reviews and mentions on other trusted sites in your sector.
Is it worth investing in AI search now?
For most service businesses, yes. The work overlaps heavily with good SEO, so it is rarely wasted, and fixing wrong or missing facts can change what AI tools say about you within weeks. Being recommended regularly for competitive questions usually takes three to six months of work on and off your website.
No one can guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend a business, because answers vary from person to person and day to day. What you can do is make your business the clearest, most consistent and best supported option, and measure how often you are named each month.
About the author
Stacey G, Senior SEO and Account Manager. Stacey leads organic growth: SEO, local SEO, AEO and GEO. She gets clients found and chosen on Google, in Google Maps and in AI answers from ChatGPT and Google.
Meet the team →