Guide
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): what it is and how it differs from GEO and SEO
AEO (answer engine optimization) is the work of getting systems that hand users a finished answer to take that answer from you. That covers answer boxes in search results, voice assistants and AI assistants. GEO is the part of AEO that deals with generative AI: it does not quote one page but writes the answer itself from several sources.
- Autore
- Team KleoGEO
- Ultimo aggiornamento
- Aggiornato il 16 ottobre 2026
- Tempo di lettura
- 5 min di lettura
Questa guida è scritta in russo e in inglese. Stai leggendo la versione inglese. Apri in russo
Where the term comes from
An “answer engine” is a system that answers a question rather than returning a list of links. The first answer engines were answer boxes in search results and voice assistants: they take a fragment of one page and show or read it. With AI assistants, answers became more common and more complex — and GEO appeared.
The industry uses these terms inconsistently, and there is no single standard. Google’s guide to generative AI features in Search (si apre in una nuova scheda) mentions both AEO and GEO and stresses that, from its point of view, this is still SEO. We use this split:
AEO, GEO and SEO compared
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the user gets | A list of links | A ready answer from one page | An answer the AI writes itself |
| Where it happens | Search results | Answer boxes, voice assistants | ChatGPT, Alice AI, GigaChat and other assistants |
| What success means | Ranking and a visit | Your text is chosen as the answer | Your brand is named, named correctly and early |
| How stable it is | Fairly stable | Changes now and then | Changes from answer to answer |
| What to measure | Rankings, impressions, clicks | Presence in the answer box | Share of answers with a mention, tone, errors, sources |
The key difference between GEO and “classic” AEO: an answer box quotes one page, while an AI assistant blends several sources with its own knowledge. So in GEO it is not only your page that matters, but everything others write about you.
Why clicks are no longer the main metric
When the answer is visible right away, users often go nowhere. According to Pew Research Center, when Google shows an AI summary, people click a regular result in 8% of visits versus 15% without one, and a link inside the summary itself in just 1% (Pew Research, July 2025 (si apre in una nuova scheda)). For a brand, this means what the answer says matters even when there is no visit.
Practical steps
- Collect the questions. What buyers ask before buying: “which is better”, “how much”, “what’s the difference”, “does it suit…”. Sources: search suggestions, support, reviews, sales.
- Write answer-first. A heading phrased as the question, a short direct answer in one or two sentences under it, then the details.
- Give verifiable facts. Numbers, lead times, terms, links to primary sources. The “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization” study found that citing sources, quotations and statistics raise a text’s visibility in generative answers by up to 40% (arXiv:2311.09735 (si apre in una nuova scheda)).
- Format for machines and people. Lists for steps, tables for comparisons, one idea per paragraph.
- Let the right crawlers in. Assistants’ search crawlers must not be blocked in robots.txt or the firewall (more in GEO for SEO).
- Watch the facts about you off-site. Marketplaces, directories, reviews: an assistant may pick up an outdated price there.
- Measure regularly. Check not only “are we in the answer” but how often, in what tone and with which errors.
How KleoGEO measures it
KleoGEO answers the question that matters in AEO and GEO: what assistants say about your brand when buyers ask about your category. It regularly asks AI assistants your buyers’ questions several times each and shows mention share with an accuracy range, position in the answer, tone, factual errors and the sites assistants cite. More on the approach in What is GEO.
Check your brand for free.
FAQ
Are AEO and GEO the same thing?
Not quite. AEO is broader: optimizing for any system that gives a finished answer. GEO is the part that deals with generative AI assistants. In practice the terms are sometimes used as synonyms.
Do I need FAQPage markup for AEO?
Markup helps describe a page’s questions and answers unambiguously, but Google no longer shows FAQ rich results (Google Search Central (si apre in una nuova scheda)). The text itself matters most: a clear question and a direct answer.
Where to start with limited resources?
With your 10–20 most common buyer questions. Check what assistants answer today, and give direct answers on your site to the questions where you are missing or where AI gets it wrong.
Does AEO work for B2B?
Yes. B2B questions are longer and more specific (“which CRM suits a 20-person sales team and integrates with our accounting system”), and assistants answer them readily. Detailed pages with comparisons and terms are especially useful.
Scopri se l’IA cita il tuo marchio
Una verifica gratuita mostra se gli assistenti IA ti menzionano quando gli acquirenti chiedono della tua categoria e chi consigliano al tuo posto.