What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) makes information easier to use in direct answers to customer questions. Generative engine optimization (GEO) focuses on how AI search systems understand, mention and reference a business. The terms overlap: both build on SEO, clear business facts and useful content. Neither gives a business control over the answers or recommendations a platform produces.
SEO, AEO and GEO overlap
These are ways to describe related search work, not three separate technologies you need to buy. Search engine optimization remains the foundation. Answer engine optimization emphasizes direct answers. Generative engine optimization emphasizes how generative search systems may describe, mention or cite a business.
| Term | Focus | Practical example |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Discoverable, useful search pages | A crawlable page explaining your actual roof repair service. |
| AEO | Clear answers to real questions | A direct explanation of what a roof inspection includes. |
| GEO | Accurate representation in generated answers | Consistent facts about your business, service area and expertise across accessible sources. |
Google’s guidance says its existing SEO practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. There is no special AI schema required. Different products retrieve and assemble information differently, so a check in one system does not establish performance in another.
Google’s guidance on AI features and websites →
Our earlier SEO vs AEO vs GEO explainer, AI Overviews playbook and notes on appearing in Perplexity answers remain available as background. They describe specific products and terms. They do not guarantee inclusion in any assistant.
What a local business can improve
Make the business unmistakable
Use a consistent business name. Explain what you do, who you serve and the actual places you work. Connect services to the business in visible page content, navigation and appropriate structured data. Keep profile and listing details accurate.
Answer the questions that affect a purchase
Write about service scope, process, preparation, suitability, availability and pricing factors where you can be specific. Put a concise answer near the question, then explain the details. Avoid invented numbers and generic claims that could describe any competitor.
Make expertise inspectable
Use original, accurate project examples when you have permission to publish them. Describe the work and its limits. Include genuine credentials where relevant and verifiable. An AI-written claim is not evidence simply because it sounds confident.
Keep important content accessible
Render business and service information as readable HTML. Use descriptive internal links, sensible page titles and canonical URLs. Check crawler access, but do not assume that allowing a crawler guarantees a citation. A text manifest is not a substitute for a useful website.
What AI search looks like for Bend businesses
Ask an assistant for the best roofer in Bend or a plumber near Sunriver and it builds an answer from sources it can reach: business websites, Google Business Profiles, review sites, directories and articles that compare local businesses. In the checks we have run on Bend questions about local marketing and search services, the cited sources included “best of” roundup articles, directory listings and businesses’ own service pages. A business that appears in none of those places is hard for an assistant to recommend.
What that means in practice
- Say where you work in plain text. Name the towns you serve, such as Bend, Redmond, Sisters and Sunriver, on the pages that describe each service, not only in a footer or an image.
- Keep your facts the same everywhere. Business name, phone, website and service area should match across your Business Profile, Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and local directories.
- Earn a place in local roundups honestly. Local “best of” lists, chamber directories and community coverage are sources assistants read. Ask to be considered where you genuinely qualify. Never pay for reviews or invent an award.
- Answer the question the customer asks. “Do you service heat pumps in Redmond?” deserves a direct sentence near the top of the relevant page.
We track a fixed set of Bend questions over time and record which sources each answer cites. Answers change between products, sessions and dates, so a single check proves little. A dated series shows direction.
How to check AI-search visibility honestly
Start with a small set of questions a potential customer would actually ask. Include the service and location where those affect the answer. Record the exact question, product, date, location context and sources shown. Separate a business mention from a link or citation.
Repeat comparable checks over time, while recognizing that answers can change across sessions, versions and search contexts. If a product cannot be inspected, mark that check unavailable. If no AI answer appears, record that observation rather than making up a rank.
Keep these checks separate from website search data. Our Search Console export guide explains why anonymized queries and missing rows are limits to report, not proof that an AI system recommended your business.
Three things that are not the same
A crawler visiting your website, a search engine indexing a page, and an AI answer recommending your business are different events. Reports should identify which one was actually observed.
Common AI-search questions
Can WildRun make my business appear in ChatGPT?
WildRun AI helps local service businesses improve the website content and public information that search and answer systems may use. Based in Bend, Oregon, WildRun combines that work with dated checks of accessible AI answers. ChatGPT and other platforms decide what to include; no ranking, mention or citation is guaranteed.
Does AI search need different pages or special schema?
Start with useful pages that explain your real business, services and service area in readable HTML. Google says its existing SEO practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no special AI schema required. Accurate structured data can describe visible facts, but it cannot substitute for evidence, force a citation or guarantee inclusion in another platform’s answers.