What do AEO and GEO mean?
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) are terms used for work intended to improve how a business is represented in answer-oriented and AI-assisted search experiences. The names do not describe a guaranteed placement or a universal measurement standard.
A useful starting point is to identify real questions about your services, publish accurate answers and keep important business information consistent. The work should remain useful to a person who visits the page directly.
Keep the fundamentals in view.
Google’s guidance says its established SEO practices remain relevant to AI Overviews and AI Mode. It does not require special AI text files or additional schema to appear in those features. Eligibility does not guarantee indexing, appearance or a citation.
- Make important pages accessible and linked from the website.
- Put the main answer in readable text, then explain the context.
- Use accurate service, contact and business information.
- Support factual claims with appropriate evidence.
- Keep structured data consistent with the visible page.
These are sensible content and technical priorities. They should not be presented as a secret route to an AI recommendation.
Build answers around a real decision.
Explain the scope
What does the service include? What is outside it? What needs to be assessed before a quote?
Make comparisons useful
Explain the situations in which different approaches make sense, with limitations and assumptions.
Show the evidence
Use approved process details, genuine examples and sources for changing or specialist facts.
Keep answers current
Give material claims an owner and a review date so old information can be corrected.
Measure a sample. State its limits.
A repeatable review can use a defined set of customer questions and record the engine, date, market, answer and cited URL. This provides observations about that sample, rather than a complete picture of every user’s answer.
A direct citation, an unlinked brand mention, a website visit and a qualified enquiry are different outcomes. Record them separately. Do not turn a small set of answers into a universal “AI visibility score” or promise that a particular business will be recommended.
What a responsible scope can promise: agreed research, content improvements and documented checks. It cannot promise control over an engine’s answers.
Further reading
Reference guidance reviewed October 21, 2026. Check the source for current requirements.