SEO vs AIO vs AEO vs GEO: The 2026 Glossary
Four overlapping disciplines, one goal: getting found. Here is a plain-English explanation of SEO, AIO, AEO and GEO and how they fit together.
The acronyms are multiplying. Here is what SEO, AIO, AEO and GEO actually mean — and how they fit together rather than compete.
SEO — Search Engine Optimisation
The foundation: making your site rank in traditional search results through technical health, content and authority.
AIO — AI Optimisation
Making your brand discoverable and citable by AI engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, through entity signals, structured data and citable content.
AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation
Winning the direct answer — featured snippets, voice results and AI overviews — by answering buyer questions clearly and concisely.
GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation
Building the underlying entity authority that makes AI engines recognise and trust your brand enough to recommend it.
How they fit together
SEO gets you ranked, GEO makes you a recognised entity, AIO makes your content citable, and AEO wins the specific answer. Together they cover how buyers now discover vendors — across search and AI.
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