# AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO: One Comparison Table Four acronyms, one budget, and a pile of conflicting advice. The AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO debate gets louder every month, and most explainers hand you four definitions with no plan for Monday. This guide puts all four in one table by goal, channel, and measurement. It also shows where they overlap, which one to start with, and how we scope the work at AEOcite Lab when a brief lands on our desk. **TL;DR**- SEO earns rankings and clicks, AEO earns the direct answer, GEO earns a mention inside AI-written responses, and LLMO shapes how language models describe your brand. - The AEO vs GEO vs SEO split is about where you appear and how you measure, because the underlying work overlaps heavily. - Google says its AI search features build on the same fundamentals as regular search, so SEO is the base for the other three. - GEO and LLMO have no standard definitions, so ask any agency to explain its version in plain words before you compare quotes. - Most brands should start with crawlable pages and answer-first content, then add third-party mentions and AI visibility checks. - One well-built page can serve all four disciplines when it answers clearly, loads fast, and belongs to a brand other sites mention. ## **AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO: What Each Term Means** Definitions first, since people use these words loosely.- ### **SEO (search engine optimisation)** It earns rankings and clicks in search results on Google and Bing. It covers technical health, content, links, and local signals. Success looks like traffic and leads.- ### **AEO (answer engine optimisation)** AEO makes your page the direct answer. That includes featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, voice results, and AI Overviews. You write the answer first and the explanation after it.- ### **GEO (generative engine optimisation)** This gets your brand mentioned or cited inside answers that AI tools write, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI features. The mention matters more here than the click.- ### **LLMO (large language model optimisation)** It is the broadest term. It covers how language models describe your brand, including which facts they repeat and which sources they trust. Many people use it as another name for GEO. None of these terms has an official definition, so agencies draw the lines in different places. When you compare AEO vs GEO vs SEO proposals, ask each team to define its terms before it quotes a price.## **AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO in One Table** Here is the whole comparison on one screen. | | **SEO** | **AEO** | **GEO** | **LLMO** | |---|---|---|---|---| | **Where you appear** | Classic results on Google and Bing | Snippets, People Also Ask, voice, AI Overviews | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and other AI answers | Language models in general | | **Main goal** | Rankings, clicks, leads | Be the direct answer | Be mentioned or cited in generated responses | Shape how models describe your brand | | **Core work** | Technical health, helpful content, links, local signals | Answer-first writing, clean structure, question coverage | Clear brand facts, third-party mentions, quotable content | Consistent brand facts, entity clarity, credible mentions | | **What you measure** | Rankings, organic clicks, conversions | Snippet ownership, AI Overview appearances | Mentions and citations across repeated prompts | Accuracy and frequency of brand descriptions | | **Common mistake** | Chasing keywords with no clear page purpose | Short answers that add nothing new | Treating one lucky prompt as proof | Running tactics that can't be tested | Read across the Core work row to see how much the four share.## **Where the Four Overlap and Where They Split** In the AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO conversation, the overlap is bigger than most pitches suggest. All four need pages that search systems can crawl, understand, and trust. A slow, confusing, or inaccurate page fails at every one of them, and Google's own guidance backs that up. *Google's AI search guide says site owners can skip llms.txt files, rewriting content into small chunks, and seeking inauthentic mentions for Google Search (*[*Google Search Central*](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide)*, 2026).* That guidance covers Google. ChatGPT and Perplexity run their own systems, so test what works there before you assume anything. The split shows up in three places:- **Format.** AEO rewards a clear answer at the top of the page, while an SEO page can take more room to explore a topic. - **Presence.** GEO and LLMO depend on what other sites say about you, so reviews, directories, partner pages, and press become part of the job. That work is slower, and it's what helps you[ improve brand visibility in AI search engines](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/improve-brand-visibility-in-ai-search-engines/) beyond your own site. - **Measurement.** Rank tracking can't tell you whether an AI tool names you, so teams run the same prompts on a schedule and[ track brand mentions in AI search](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/best-ways-to-track-brand-mentions-in-ai-search/) over time. *The AEO vs GEO vs SEO label matters less than the job. Ask what a page needs to do, whether that's rank, answer, or get named, and the right work usually becomes obvious. ─── **The AEOcite Lab Team**## **Which One Should You Start With?** Pick by symptom, since AEO vs GEO vs SEO is really a question about what's going wrong today.- **Your pages barely rank or get indexed.** Start with SEO. Nothing else works on a page that search systems can't read. - **You rank, but clicks are dropping.** Add AEO. Snippets and AI answers may be taking the click, so rewrite the top of your key pages to carry the answer. - **Buyers ask AI tools for vendor lists, and you're missing.** Add GEO and LLMO work on mentions and brand facts. - **You can't tell which one applies.** Run a check first. The fastest check is to[ audit your website for AI search readiness](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/audit-your-website-for-ai-search-readiness/), which shows whether crawling, content, or brand mentions are holding you back. Money for AEO vs GEO vs SEO follows the same order. Fund the foundation first, then[ split the SEO and GEO budget](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/seo-vs-geo-budget/) between answer work and presence work.## **How We Scope AEO vs GEO vs SEO Work** We're a lab, so we test before we recommend. Every engagement runs the same four steps:1. **Audit your presence.** We check how AI engines see the brand today, which queries trigger a citation, which ones skip you, and where the biggest openings sit. 2. **Build the strategy.** We map an AEO, GEO, and LLM optimisation plan around your industry, your audience, and the AI engines they use. 3. **Optimize everything.** We restructure content and build the authority signals that make AI engines reach for your brand when they answer. 4. **Refine and grow.** We track citation performance across the major AI platforms every month and keep adjusting until visibility compounds. The audit decides which discipline leads, and our client work shows how that plays out. A pricing page shows how one asset can do all four jobs. The opening lines state the price range, which serves AEO. Clean headings, internal links, and fast loading serve SEO. A few quotable lines with clear brand facts give GEO and LLMO something to repeat. Start there if you want to[ optimize content for Google AI Overviews](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/how-to-optimize-content-for-google-ai-overview/).- *Teams get stuck when they buy an acronym. Start with the page, the question it should answer, and the place where the buyer asks it, then choose the work. - **People at AEOcite Lab** ## **Final Thoughts** The AEO vs GEO vs SEO vs LLMO question gets easier once you treat the labels as jobs a page has to do. Build a crawlable foundation, write answers first, earn mentions elsewhere, and check your AI visibility on a schedule. AEOcite Lab is an AEO, SEO, and GEO creative agency, and we plan AEO vs GEO vs SEO work as one workstream through our[ AI SEO services](https://aeocitelab.com/services/ai-seo-services/). If you want to see which discipline should lead for your site, we'll start with the audit. **Ready to turn the right acronym into pages that perform? Talk to AEOcite Lab about a plan built around the searches and AI answers your buyers use. [**Book a Call**](https://calendly.com/aeocitelab/30min) Questions about which discipline fits your site? Write to .## **FAQ** - ### **How do AEO vs GEO vs SEO differ in practice?** SEO earns rankings and clicks, AEO earns the direct answer, and GEO earns mentions in AI-written responses. The goal and measurement for each sit in the table above.- ### **Can I run AEO vs GEO vs SEO at the same time?** Yes, and one page can often serve all three when it answers clearly and loads fast. Sequence still matters, so fix the foundation before you invest in presence work.- ### **Do small teams need all four?** Start with the SEO foundation and answer-first writing on the pages that bring in leads. Add presence work and AI visibility checks as your capacity grows.- ### **Is LLMO different from GEO?** The two are often used interchangeably. Some teams use LLMO for how models describe your brand overall and GEO for visible citations in AI answers, so ask for each team's definition.- ### **Does llms.txt help?** Google says site owners can skip llms.txt for Google Search. Other AI tools may behave differently, so test before you invest time in it.- ### **Can one agency handle all four?** Whether[ an SEO agency can do GEO](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/can-seo-agencies-do-geo/) comes down to how it measures AI mentions and handles off-site presence. Ask to see its reporting.- ### **How do I compare GEO providers?** Ask each of the[ companies offering generative engine optimization](https://aeocitelab.com/blog/companies-for-generative-engine-optimization/) how it defines GEO, which prompts it tests, and how often it reports.