- GEOAI assistants name your business
- AEOThe answer on your page gets quoted
- SEOSearch engines find and read your page
In plain words
Someone asks: "How much does a root canal cost in Jaipur?" One clinic's page opens with three paragraphs about its history. Another opens with: "A root canal here costs Rs 4,500 to Rs 8,000 depending on the tooth, including the X-ray." (Example figures.)
The second page is the one an answer engine can quote, and the one a busy patient trusts. Same clinic quality, very different chance of being the answer.
It works the same way in Chicago or Bengaluru. Ask "Do you take walk-ins on Saturday?" and the page that starts with "Yes, from 9 am to 1 pm" is far easier to quote than one that starts with "Welcome to our family practice".
What AEO looks at
The answer near the top
A first paragraph that answers the page's main question on its own, usually in 30 to 80 words.
Questions as headings
Section headings written the way customers ask: "Do you deliver on Sundays?", not "Delivery information".
Facts in lists and tables
Prices, timings, steps and comparisons set out so they can be read at a glance and lifted cleanly.
One clear topic per page
A page about root canals answers root canal questions. Mixing ten services on one page makes every answer weaker.
A visible FAQ for the questions left over
The questions people ask on calls and WhatsApp, answered on the page. FAQ code is optional: Google stopped showing FAQ results on 7 May 2026.
Who wrote it and when
A named person and a real date tell readers and engines the answer is current and has an owner.
From our own work
What a real audit found
Real example: the home page of milapinternational.in, audited with SEARCH ONE on 9 October 2026, shown with the owner's agreement. Answer readiness (AEO): 83 out of 100.
The home page opened with a 34-word paragraph that stood on its own: a good, direct start. It also had two question-style headings.
The gap was format. Across 546 words there wasn't a single list or table, so the key facts sat inside paragraphs where they're harder to lift.
The fix is small: turn the most asked-about facts into one short list, and give each common question its own heading with the answer straight under it.
See the full sample reportWhere to start this week
- Write down ten questions customers really ask you, from calls, WhatsApp chats and reviews.
- Put each one on the right page as a heading, with the answer in the first sentence under it. Free FAQ builder
- Turn prices, timings and steps into short lists or a small table.
- Add the name of the person responsible and the date the page was last checked.
- Run the audit again to see which answers now read clearly. Run the free audit
Free checks for this
- FAQ section builderWrite questions and answers, with tips as you type.Open
- SEARCH ONE page auditChecks the opening answer, headings and format.Open
- 24-point website checklistIncludes the answer-readiness questions.Open
SEO, AEO and GEO side by side
| Question | SEO | AEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Be found and ranked | Be quoted as the answer | Be named as a recommendation |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results, Maps, AI Overviews | AI Overviews, AI Mode, answers in chat and voice | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot answers |
| What it rests on | A page search engines can open, read and trust | Real questions answered plainly, near the top | Crawler access, a clear identity, mentions on other sites |
| Free check | Schema checker and page audit | FAQ builder and page audit | AI crawler checker |
More detail in SEO vs AEO vs GEO, see the glossary for any term, or read the SEO and GEO guides.
Guides on AEO
- Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: what they mean for your website
- AEO in 2027: being the answer
- Search in 2027: what the numbers say
Questions
How is AEO different from SEO?
AEO sits on top of SEO. SEO gets the page found; AEO makes the answer on it easy to lift. Without SEO there's nothing for an answer engine to quote.
Do I need FAQ schema for AEO?
No. Google stopped showing FAQ results on 7 May 2026 and says no special markup is needed for its AI features. The visible questions and answers are what count.
Won't a quick answer mean fewer clicks?
It can, for simple facts. That's why the questions worth answering well are the ones that lead to a visit, a call or a booking: price, availability, location and comparisons.
How do I know it's working?
Watch Google Search Console for question searches that start showing your pages, and check your main questions in Google and AI assistants each month. SEARCH ONE paid plans can check your questions every week.
See where your page stands
SEARCH ONE checks one page for SEO, AEO and GEO and writes out each fix. Your first 5 page audits are free.
Run a free audit