SEO vs GEO: differences, shared foundations and the order of work
Data: Google results for 30 SEO-industry keywords (DataForSEO, November 4, 2026), tests of AI model answers (November 4–5, 2026).
Short answer
SEO is work on the position of your page in Google results, while GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is work on whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews name your company in their answers. The foundations are shared, but in our measurement only one in four domains cited in an AI Overview was also in the top 10 for the same keyword.
What GEO is
GEO is optimization for generative search engines, meaning work on getting AI models with internet access to name your company and cite your site when they answer your customers' questions. In SEO, the goal is a place in the list of results and a click. In GEO, what counts is whether the model mentions the company at all, in what context and with what source.
This applies to ChatGPT with search, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, and in Google also to AI Overviews and AI Mode. Each of these tools uses different sources, so being present in one does not guarantee being present in the others.
How this work looks with us is described on the page AI search optimization (GEO).
GEO has two meanings in marketing
The abbreviation GEO can be misleading. In marketing, it has long meant geolocation activities: geotargeting of ads and local SEO. Since November 2023, after the publication of a research paper on generative search engines (arXiv 2311.09735), it increasingly means optimization for AI model answers. Even the models get it wrong: in our tests of November 4 and 5, 2026, the GPT-4.1 mini model (OpenAI, via API, with search enabled) twice described GEO as geolocation marketing and gave no source, while Perplexity answered correctly and gave 10 sources. On this page, GEO always means optimization for AI answers.
If you run a local business, both meanings apply to you: customers look for you in Google Maps, and some of them also ask AI models whom to choose.
AEO, AIO, LLMO and AI SEO: are they the same thing?
All these abbreviations describe the same phenomenon: a company should appear in a model's answer, not just in a list of links. AEO, or Answer Engine Optimization, is older than GEO and emerged with featured snippets in Google and voice assistants. AIO and LLMO are newer names, and "AI SEO" is a commercial term used by agencies, including us.
| Feature | SEO | GEO | AEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it means | Optimization for search engines | Optimization for generative search engines, meaning AI models | Optimization for answer engines |
| Goal | Position in results | A mention in the model's answer | A direct answer: a snippet, a voice assistant, an AI answer |
| When the term caught on | Since the 1990s | Since 2023 (the GEO research paper) | Earlier than GEO, with featured snippets and voice assistants |
| Note | – | AIO, LLMO and "AI SEO" are in practice synonyms | In Google, the bare abbreviation "aeo" leads to the customs status of Authorised Economic Operator |
Customs status for the query "aeo": Google results (Poland, desktop, DataForSEO) from November 4, 2026.
SEO vs GEO on 8 criteria
| Criterion | SEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Page position and a click from search results | A mention or citation of the company in an AI model's answer |
| Where it works | Google and Bing: organic results and Maps | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, as well as AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google |
| Measure of success | Position, CTR, clicks, inquiries from forms and phone calls | Share of answers naming the company, cited URLs, place in the model's list of recommendations |
| Measurement tools | Google Search Console, GA4, position monitoring | A fixed list of questions put to the models every week, traffic from AI services in GA4 |
| What affects the result | Content that matches intent, technical work, links, business profile | Mentions in sources the models read (directories, media, forums, video), direct answers with numbers, consistent company data and, for AI Overviews, indexing in Google |
| Stability | Positions change over days and weeks | Answers differ between queries and weeks; the same request can return a different list of companies |
| Source of the result | The top 10 for a single keyword | In our measurement, 28% of AI Overview citations came from domains in the top 10 for the same keyword |
| Cost with us | SEO packages from PLN 1,900 (€450) net per month | AI audit PLN 990 (€235) net; measurement and work included in SEO Premium or +PLN 490 (€115) net per month on top of SEO Standard |
Sources: our measurement of AI Overview sources (Google, Poland, desktop, DataForSEO, November 4, 2026) and our price list (November 2026).
The takeaway from the table: the foundations are shared, but the measure of success is different. A page that is not indexed or does not answer the question directly will reach neither the results nor the model's answer. On the other hand, a high position does not guarantee that a model will name the company, because models also draw on directories, media, forums and video.
Our measurement: where AI Overviews get their sources
On November 4, 2026, we checked 30 keywords from our industry in Google (Poland, desktop, DataForSEO data). An AI Overview appeared for all of them. For 20 of them, we compared its sources with the first ten organic results. Of 141 citations (85 domains), only 40, or 28%, came from domains in the top 10. A high ranking helps, but it is not enough.
Method: for every keyword, we saved the list of AI Overview sources and the domains from the first ten free results. We expanded Google redirect addresses into domains and left out individual results that could not be expanded. We excluded the keyword "aeo", because Google links it to a customs status, not to marketing.
The result varies. For the keyword "seo vs geo", across 3 collections from November 4 and 5, between 0 and 5 of 9 AI Overview sources were in the top 10, even though the Overview's own sources did not change. YouTube was among the sources for 5 of 20 keywords, so a video can also make it into the answer.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Keywords checked | 30 |
| Keywords with an AI Overview | 30 |
| Keywords compared (with a source list, without "aeo") | 20 |
| Citations in AI Overviews | 141 |
| Different domains among the citations | 85 |
| Citations from domains in the top 10 for the same keyword | 40 (28%) |
One measurement (November 4, 2026), one location and one device. Google results and AI Overviews change from day to day. We update this monthly.
What works in both: indexing, brand entity, answers worth quoting
- Indexing. Google says that a source in an AI Overview can be a page that is indexed and eligible to be shown in results with a text snippet. ChatGPT with search and Perplexity also read pages from the web, so sound technical work and indexing in Google and Bing are the starting point.
- Brand entity. The same company name, address and description on your site, in your Google Business Profile and in directories. In our test of November 4, 2026, Perplexity, asked about an SEO agency in Warsaw, cited company directories: Clutch, Sortlist and DesignRush.
- Answers worth quoting. A heading phrased as a question, and below it a paragraph that answers directly, with a number and a source. Such a fragment is easy to lift and quote, both in Google results and in a model's answer.
- Bot access. The crawlers of AI search engines (OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot) and Googlebot must be able to fetch the page without being blocked in robots.txt or in the server firewall.
These same actions are the foundation on which we build SEO services, so with a limited budget you do not have to choose one or the other.
What not to do "for GEO"
- Do not stuff keywords or model names into the text. A model summarizes the meaning of a page, so a clear answer counts, not the number of repetitions.
- Do not treat an llms.txt file as a way to rank in Google. Google does not list it among the requirements a page must meet to appear in an AI Overview, so it will not replace indexing.
- Do not buy mentions, reviews or links in bundles. Google describes such practices in its spam policies, and fake reviews are also a legal risk.
- Do not publish AI-generated text at scale without editing. Google treats mass production of content with no value for the reader as spam, whether a human or a model wrote it.
When to start with GEO and when with SEO
The order depends on where your customers search for you today and whether your site is already in the Google index.
| Company's situation | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A service business operating in one city | Local SEO and Google Business Profile, GEO as measurement | Customers search in Maps; according to the Senuto report "AI Overviews in Poland" (v2.0, November 27, 2025, 17.8 million keywords), an AI Overview appears for 28.95% of all keywords, but only for 6.08% of keywords with local intent |
| A B2B company, an advisory service, SaaS | SEO and GEO in parallel | Customers ask models for comparisons and recommendations; Perplexity cites industry directories |
| A new domain with no history | Technical SEO and indexing | Without indexing, there is nothing to cite |
| A site with traffic but no AI mentions | GEO: mentions in the sources models cite | The positions are already there; what is missing is presence in the sources |
Source of the local-intent data: Senuto, "AI Overviews in Poland – 18M keywords", v2.0, updated November 27, 2025 (accessed November 5, 2026).
If you are considering paid ads instead of SEO or GEO, see the comparison SEO or Google Ads.
How to measure GEO
You cannot check AI visibility with a single question, because answers change between queries and weeks. A fixed method works:
- A list of 20–50 questions your customers ask, written down once and not changed between measurements.
- The same questions every week in four sources: ChatGPT with search, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews in Google.
- Three measures: the share of answers that name the company or its page, the addresses of the cited subpages, and the domains the models draw knowledge from.
- Traffic from chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai in Google Analytics 4 as a signal that answers lead to your site.
The measurement itself does not have to be expensive: data for 30 questions a week in ChatGPT and Perplexity costs us about USD 5 per month (DataForSEO API prices, November 2026). You can see the results of such a measurement in the "AI visibility" tab of the client portal demo.
Where ChatGPT gets the companies it recommends is described in our guide optimizing for ChatGPT.