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    SEO, AEO and GEO

    SEO vs AEO vs GEO: What Each One Does for a Local or B2B Business

    SEO vs AEO vs GEO: What Each One Does for a Local or B2B Business

    If you run a local service company or a B2B firm, you have probably heard three new acronyms in the past year: SEO, AEO, and GEO. Agencies often sell them as three separate products. In practice they are three goals that share one foundation, and knowing the difference helps you decide where your money should go first.

    The short definitions

    • SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the work of earning visibility in search results: the ranked links, the local map pack, and Google Maps. The reward is a click, a call, or a direction request.
    • AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the work of becoming the clear, quotable answer to a specific question. It shows up in featured snippets, voice answers, and the answers AI tools place at the top of the page.
    • GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the work of getting your business named, and described correctly, inside answers written by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. The reward is a recommendation by name, often with no click at all.

    Why the overlap is real

    Google has been direct about this. Its guidance for AI features in Search says the existing SEO fundamentals remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, that no special optimization is required, and that no special schema markup is needed. A page has to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet before it can be used as a supporting link. In other words, if Google's AI features are your target, the work is largely SEO. The other AI tools behave differently and publish far less guidance, which is why GEO is treated as its own target.

    Why you should care now

    Pew Research Center tracked the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025. When a Google AI summary appeared, people clicked a traditional result link in 8% of visits, compared with 15% when no summary appeared, and they clicked a link inside the summary in about 1% of visits. That study covers one platform and one month, so treat it as a signal and not a forecast. The direction is still clear: more of the answer is delivered before anyone reaches your website, so being part of the answer matters.

    What each one needs, and what each delivers

    SEO needs

    • A website search engines can crawl and index, that loads quickly on a phone
    • A dedicated page for each service and each area you serve
    • An accurate, verified Google Business Profile with the right primary category
    • A steady flow of recent, genuine reviews
    • Links and mentions from real, relevant sources

    SEO delivers

    • Steady traffic from people who are already searching for what you sell
    • Phone calls and direction requests from the local map results
    • A cost per lead that tends to fall over time compared with paid ads, because the work keeps paying after it is done

    AEO needs

    • Plain-language answers to the questions customers actually ask, placed on the page in visible text
    • Prices or price ranges, hours, service areas, and process steps stated clearly instead of hidden behind a form
    • Facts that stay consistent from page to page

    AEO delivers

    • Eligibility to be quoted in featured snippets, AI answers, and voice results
    • Better-informed visitors, because the answer has already done part of the selling

    GEO needs

    • The same business facts repeated consistently across your website, Google Business Profile, directories, and press
    • Real third-party signals: reviews, mentions, listings, and citations from sources that are not you
    • A site AI crawlers can reach and read, with the important text present in the page itself
    • Clear positioning: what you do, who you do it for, and where

    GEO delivers

    • A chance to be named when a buyer asks an AI tool for a recommendation
    • More control over how your business is described, because wrong descriptions can be traced to a source and corrected
    • A place on the early shortlist, which matters most in B2B, where buyers research before they ever contact a vendor

    How they fit together

    Think of one foundation with three roofs. The foundation is a fast, crawlable site, accurate business information, genuine reviews, and pages that answer real questions. SEO uses that foundation to win rankings, AEO uses it to win the answer, and GEO uses it to win the mention. Buying a GEO package on its own, with no foundation underneath, usually disappoints, because AI tools draw on the same web that search engines do.

    What to do first

    1. Confirm that your important pages can be crawled and that the text is in the page and not loaded only by scripts.
    2. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile, starting with the primary category.
    3. Write or improve one page per core service with direct answers, a price range, and proof.
    4. Build a simple habit of asking every happy customer for a review.
    5. Measure enquiries before and after, so you know what is working. Rankings are not the goal. Enquiries are.

    Questions owners ask

    Is AEO or GEO replacing SEO?

    No. Google says its AI features rely on its search index, and the fundamentals still apply. The AI tools add new places where you can be found.

    Do I need all three?

    You need the shared foundation. After that, the mix depends on your buyer. Local service businesses usually get the most from local SEO and reviews. B2B firms often have more to gain from GEO, because buyers build shortlists before they talk to sales.

    How long does it take?

    It depends on your starting point and your competition. Search work is measured in months. Be wary of anyone who promises an exact ranking or an exact number of AI mentions.

    Permasize AI Forge offers a free AI Visibility Audit that checks your site health, search visibility, and how AI tools currently describe your business: https://site.permasizeaiforge.com/free-audit

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