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SEO, AEO and GEO

SEO vs AEO vs GEO: what's the difference?

SEO gets your page found. AEO gets the answer on it quoted. GEO gets your business named when someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation.

They aren't three separate jobs. They stack: each one depends on the one beneath it, and they all work on the same website.

By Praveen Kumar, founder of Vectura Digital · Reviewed 19 October 2026. Researched with AI tools, then checked against the sources below and written by Praveen.

  1. GEOAI assistants name your business
  2. AEOThe answer on your page gets quoted
  3. SEOSearch engines find and read your page
Each layer depends on the one below it.

Side by side

QuestionSEOAEOGEO
GoalBe found and rankedBe quoted as the answerBe named as a recommendation
Where it showsGoogle and Bing results, Maps, AI OverviewsAI Overviews, AI Mode, answers in chat and voiceChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Copilot answers
What it rests onA page search engines can open, read and trustReal questions answered plainly, near the topCrawler access, a clear identity, mentions on other sites
Free checkSchema checker and page auditFAQ builder and page auditAI crawler checker

One page, three scores

Real example: the home page of milapinternational.in, audited with SEARCH ONE on 9 October 2026, shown with the owner's agreement.

The same page did best on GEO and worst on the SEO basics. A site can let AI in and still trip over a missing heading, which is why it's worth checking all three together.

See the full sample report

Where to start

  1. SEO first. Make sure your main pages open, say clearly what they are, and are fast on a phone.
  2. Then AEO. Answer your customers' real questions on those pages, answer first.
  3. Then GEO. Let AI crawlers in, use one identity everywhere, and earn real mentions.

Questions

Are AEO and GEO just new names for SEO?

Partly. Most of the work overlaps: a page that's easy to find and clearly written does well in all three. What's genuinely new is the weight on identity and reputation across the web, because AI assistants recommend businesses, not just pages.

Which one matters most for a local shop or clinic?

Start with SEO basics and your Google Business Profile, because that's where most local customers still find you. Then AEO on your main service pages, then GEO. Doing them in that order means each step builds on the last.

Do I need three different agencies or tools?

No. It's one website and one set of fixes. SEARCH ONE scores a page on all three in one audit, and the free tools cover single checks.

Which one gives the fastest results?

SEO fixes such as titles, headings and unblocking a crawler are read as soon as the page is crawled again. AEO changes show once those pages are re-read. GEO takes longest, because it depends on what other sites say about you.

Get all three scores for your page

One SEARCH ONE audit scores a page on SEO, AEO and GEO, with the fixes written out. Your first 5 page audits are free.

Run a free audit

Read the full guides: SEO, AEO and GEO.