What is AI search optimisation, and how is it different from SEO?
AEO and GEO are the practice of getting cited inside AI answers, not just ranked in a list of links. Here is what changes, and what stays the same.
In short
AI search optimisation (also called AEO or GEO) is the practice of structuring content so AI systems like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity can extract and cite it inside their answers. It overlaps with traditional SEO but rewards clear, answer-first structure and authority over keyword rank position.
The short version
Traditional SEO gets you ranked in a list of blue links. AI search optimisation gets you cited inside the answer itself. The two are related, because most AI systems still draw heavily on the same web content, but the winning behaviours are not identical. Ranking rewards relevance and links. Citation rewards clarity, structure and trust.
What the acronyms actually mean
The labels are still settling, and people use them loosely. In practice they describe the same goal from different angles:
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation): optimising so an engine can pull a direct answer from your page.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): optimising so a generative model includes and attributes your content when it composes an answer.
- LLMO (LLM Optimisation): the same idea framed around large language models specifically.
You do not need to pick a term. You need content that an AI system can read, trust and lift a clean answer from.
How AI search chooses sources
Each platform behaves a little differently, and the landscape moves quickly, so treat this as direction rather than a fixed rulebook:
- Google AI Overviews lean on pages that already rank well, so strong traditional SEO remains the foundation.
- ChatGPT search draws from a wider pool than the top of page one, which means a well-structured page can be cited even when it does not rank first.
- Perplexity cites sources on almost every answer and favours content that is recent, authoritative and clearly structured.
What changes versus classic SEO
Five shifts matter most when you optimise for citation rather than rank:
- Answer-first writing. Open each page and each section with a direct, self-contained answer an engine can quote without stitching paragraphs together.
- Extractable structure. Clear question-style headings, short paragraphs, one idea per section, and lists or tables where they fit.
- Demonstrable authority. Named expertise, first-party experience and citations to primary sources carry more weight than keyword density.
- Machine access. Allow the AI crawlers in robots.txt and keep critical content in the HTML rather than locked behind scripts.
- Freshness. Recency is a stronger signal in AI answers than in classic rankings, so cornerstone pages need updating.
What stays exactly the same
None of this replaces the fundamentals. Fast, crawlable pages, sound information architecture, genuine topical depth and real authority still do the heavy lifting. AI search rewards good SEO. It does not forgive bad SEO.
A practical starting point
If you want to act this week, do four things. Add a short answer-first summary to the top of your most important pages. Mark up content with the right schema so machines understand it. Confirm your robots.txt allows AI crawlers. Then check how your brand is currently described in ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews for the queries that matter, so you have a baseline to improve against.
Frequently asked questions
Is AI search optimisation different from SEO?
It overlaps heavily but is not identical. SEO optimises for rank position in a list of links. AI search optimisation optimises for being extracted and cited inside an AI-generated answer, which rewards answer-first structure, clarity and authority more than keyword rank alone.
Do I still need traditional SEO?
Yes. Most AI systems draw on the same web content, and Google AI Overviews in particular favour pages that already rank well. Strong technical and on-page SEO remains the foundation that AI visibility is built on.
Which AI platforms should I optimise for?
Start with Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search and Perplexity, since they drive the most referral visibility today. The same answer-first, well-structured, authoritative content tends to perform across all of them.
Want this handled properly?
Arche runs SEO and AI search for ambitious brands, senior-led and month to month. Start with a free strategy session and walk away with three specific things to fix.