SEO vs AEO vs GEO: three acronyms, three different goals
The terms get used interchangeably. They are not the same thing, and the work differs.
Side by side
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surface | A list of blue links | Snippets, voice, People also ask | An AI-written answer |
| Goal | The click | The answer | The mention or citation |
| Wins by | Relevance, links, technical health | Direct answers, structure, schema | Consistent facts, citable sources, published expertise |
| You measure | Rankings, traffic | Snippet ownership | Whether engines name you, and what they say |
What actually changes in the work
- Write answers, not brochures. A sentence that only makes sense in context cannot be quoted. "We represent industrial tenants in the Phoenix Southeast Valley, 20,000 to 500,000 SF" can.
- Keep firm facts identical everywhere. Same description, address and specialties on the site, LinkedIn and directories. Inconsistency makes a model hedge.
- Earn citable mentions. Trade publications, associations, local business journals — sources a model can attribute.
- Structure the page. Question-shaped headings, FAQ markup, and one page per real question.
Which matters for a CRE firm
All three, in that order of maturity. If your site is slow, thin or invisible to search engines, GEO tactics will not rescue it. Once the fundamentals hold, the CRE-specific work is publishing real answers about your markets and asset classes — and then checking whether the engines actually repeat them.
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Start free →Frequently asked questions
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
GEO is the practice of getting a brand named and cited inside answers written by generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. It relies on publishing direct answers, keeping firm facts consistent across the web, and earning mentions from sources a model can cite.
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
AEO is optimizing to be the direct answer rather than one of the links: featured snippets, voice results and "People also ask" boxes. It favours pages that answer one question clearly, with structure and schema that make the answer easy to extract.
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO depends on the same foundations — a crawlable, fast, trustworthy site with relevant content. What GEO adds is the emphasis on direct answers, consistent entity facts and citable third-party mentions.
How do I measure GEO?
Ask the engines directly and track the answers over time: do they name your firm for your category, are the details right, and which competitors appear instead. Traffic alone will not tell you, because an AI answer often produces no click.