SEO is the work of getting your pages found and shown by a search engine. AEO, answer engine optimization, is that same work aimed at a newer place: the answer an AI product writes, where your content is used and linked as a source. The two share most of their foundation. They differ in the surface you're aiming at, in a few access controls, and in what you can measure. Google goes as far as saying that optimizing for its AI search is still SEO.
\n","summary":"SEO gets your pages found and shown by a search engine. AEO is the same work aimed at being used and linked inside an AI-written answer. They share a foundation and differ in the surface, a few access controls and what you can measure.","publishedAt":"2026-06-04T20:50:00.705","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","editorialStatus":"APPROVED","lastReviewedAt":"2026-10-10T05:01:32.127","nextReviewDueAt":"2026-11-09T00:00:00","templateVersion":"v2","aliases":["AEO vs SEO","SEO vs AEO","Answer engine optimization vs search engine optimization","How is AEO different from SEO?","Is AEO the same as SEO?","Does AEO replace SEO?","AEO and SEO compared","Difference between answer engine optimization and traditional SEO","GEO vs SEO","AEO vs traditional SEO","What sets AEO apart from SEO?"],"confidenceScore":85,"confidenceLabel":"High","canonicalUrl":null},"contributor":{"id":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","slug":"answer-stack","displayName":"AnswerStack","websiteUrl":null},"contributorOrganizationProfile":{"entityId":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","legalName":null,"description":null,"websiteUrl":null,"imageUrl":null,"slogan":null,"subtitle":null,"facts":[],"coiNote":null,"foundingDate":null,"numberOfEmployeesText":null,"contactPoint":null,"address":null,"headquartersText":null,"organizationType":null},"contributorPerson":null,"sections":[{"id":"855e0945-7425-48b2-b6ef-1897a7e1d623","sectionKey":"what_the_two_have_in_common","sectionType":"markdown_section","heading":"What the two have in common","introMarkdown":"For Google, the overlap is nearly complete. Its [guide to optimizing for AI search](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide) says AI Overviews and AI Mode are rooted in the same ranking and quality systems as the rest of Search. They retrieve pages from the Search index and write a response from what those pages say, with links to the pages that support it.\n\nThat sets the entry conditions. To be eligible for Google's AI features, a page has to be indexed, eligible to be shown with a snippet, and included through a setting in Search Console. Google's page on [AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features) says there are no additional requirements and no special optimizations. You don't need special schema, an llms.txt file, content cut into small chunks or a writing style made for AI.\n\nSo for Google, a page that isn't indexed has the same problem in both places. AEO doesn't offer a way around it. We explain the mechanics in [how answer engine optimization works](https://www.answerstack.io/q/how-does-answer-engine-optimization-work).","introHtml":"For Google, the overlap is nearly complete. Its guide to optimizing for AI search says AI Overviews and AI Mode are rooted in the same ranking and quality systems as the rest of Search. They retrieve pages from the Search index and write a response from what those pages say, with links to the pages that support it.
\nThat sets the entry conditions. To be eligible for Google's AI features, a page has to be indexed, eligible to be shown with a snippet, and included through a setting in Search Console. Google's page on AI features and your website says there are no additional requirements and no special optimizations. You don't need special schema, an llms.txt file, content cut into small chunks or a writing style made for AI.
\nSo for Google, a page that isn't indexed has the same problem in both places. AEO doesn't offer a way around it. We explain the mechanics in how answer engine optimization works.
\n","outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":10},{"id":"cedfe390-d23e-4394-92bf-ad3a5f259445","sectionKey":"where_the_two_differ","sectionType":"table_section","heading":"Where the two differ","introMarkdown":null,"introHtml":null,"outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{"rows":[{"cells":["What you're aiming at","A place among the conventional linked results","A place in a generated answer, as a linked source"]},{"cells":["How the result is presented","In conventional results, a list of links the reader chooses from","A written response with supporting links"]},{"cells":["Access controls","Crawling and indexing rules","Those rules, plus the AI controls each product documents"]},{"cells":["What you can measure","Impressions, clicks and what visitors do","Impressions in Google's AI report, visits from AI products, and sampled answers"]}],"columns":["What differs","SEO","AEO"]},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":20},{"id":"ba5e21d9-8406-455a-90f4-a3afaf79dd4c","sectionKey":"a_different_surface_reached_by_related_questions","sectionType":"markdown_section","heading":"A different surface, reached by related questions","introMarkdown":"A conventional results page gives the reader a list of links, and the reader chooses one. A generated answer presents a written response with links to the pages that support it. Your page can inform that response and be one of those links.\n\nThe route to a generated answer can run through other searches. Google describes a technique called query fan-out, in which the model issues several related searches at once to gather more material. In its example, a search for how to fix a lawn full of weeds leads to a related search on preventing them. A page about prevention can end up supporting an answer to a question about fixing.\n\nA page can be drawn into an answer through a related search, so it helps to know which neighboring questions a page answers and whether it offers something the other sources don't. Google's guide says its systems look at a variety of sources, and that a first-hand account or an expert view stands out where a summary of common knowledge doesn't.\n\nThat doesn't mean writing a page for every neighboring question. Google says that creating separate content for each variation, mainly to manipulate rankings or AI responses, violates its spam policy on scaled content. That's one of the errors we cover in [the biggest AEO mistakes to avoid](https://www.answerstack.io/q/biggest-aeo-mistakes-to-avoid).","introHtml":"A conventional results page gives the reader a list of links, and the reader chooses one. A generated answer presents a written response with links to the pages that support it. Your page can inform that response and be one of those links.
\nThe route to a generated answer can run through other searches. Google describes a technique called query fan-out, in which the model issues several related searches at once to gather more material. In its example, a search for how to fix a lawn full of weeds leads to a related search on preventing them. A page about prevention can end up supporting an answer to a question about fixing.
\nA page can be drawn into an answer through a related search, so it helps to know which neighboring questions a page answers and whether it offers something the other sources don't. Google's guide says its systems look at a variety of sources, and that a first-hand account or an expert view stands out where a summary of common knowledge doesn't.
\nThat doesn't mean writing a page for every neighboring question. Google says that creating separate content for each variation, mainly to manipulate rankings or AI responses, violates its spam policy on scaled content. That's one of the errors we cover in the biggest AEO mistakes to avoid.
\n","outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":30},{"id":"85c2e7a8-1660-4447-9e18-f35ea0f2b6c3","sectionKey":"access_is_controlled_separately_for_each_product","sectionType":"markdown_section","heading":"Access is controlled separately for each product","introMarkdown":"In SEO, access mostly means letting a search engine crawl and index your pages. AEO adds controls that are specific to AI features, and each company has its own.\n\nGoogle added one to Search Console, available to every site since August 31, 2026. The [generative AI control](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16908024?hl=en) includes or excludes a site from AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative features in Discover. Sites are included by default. Excluding a site removes it from those features and, by Google's account, isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal anywhere else in Search. A site can therefore be eligible for ordinary search results and absent from Google's AI answers.\n\nOpenAI works differently. Its [crawler documentation](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots) lists OAI-SearchBot, which surfaces sites in ChatGPT's search features, and GPTBot, which collects content for model training. Each is set independently in robots.txt. A site that opts out of OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though it can still appear as a navigational link.\n\nSo what Google documents about its own index doesn't carry over to other products. A site in good order for Google can be missing from ChatGPT search because of one line in a file. Other products publish their own rules, and we go through them in [which AI platforms an AEO strategy should target](https://www.answerstack.io/q/which-ai-platforms-should-aeo-target).","introHtml":"In SEO, access mostly means letting a search engine crawl and index your pages. AEO adds controls that are specific to AI features, and each company has its own.
\nGoogle added one to Search Console, available to every site since August 31, 2026. The generative AI control includes or excludes a site from AI Overviews, AI Mode and the generative features in Discover. Sites are included by default. Excluding a site removes it from those features and, by Google's account, isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal anywhere else in Search. A site can therefore be eligible for ordinary search results and absent from Google's AI answers.
\nOpenAI works differently. Its crawler documentation lists OAI-SearchBot, which surfaces sites in ChatGPT's search features, and GPTBot, which collects content for model training. Each is set independently in robots.txt. A site that opts out of OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers, though it can still appear as a navigational link.
\nSo what Google documents about its own index doesn't carry over to other products. A site in good order for Google can be missing from ChatGPT search because of one line in a file. Other products publish their own rules, and we go through them in which AI platforms an AEO strategy should target.
\n","outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":40},{"id":"f0dfa1d4-f4a8-48cc-94d5-92ffd829cbb6","sectionKey":"what_you_can_measure","sectionType":"markdown_section","heading":"What you can measure","introMarkdown":"Search Console reports how often your pages were shown in search results and how often they were clicked. Analytics shows what the visitors it records did next.\n\nFor its AI features, Google now gives part of that picture. The [generative AI performance report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139?hl=en) counts impressions, meaning the times a link to your site was shown in AI Overviews or AI Mode. You can group them by page, country, date or device. It tells you that a link was displayed. It doesn't tell you that anyone became a customer.\n\nOutside Google, you measure more of it yourself. You can count the visits your analytics attributes to an AI product and see what those visitors do. You can also run a fixed set of questions and record whether you're cited, which gives you a sample and not a total. We lay out the setup in [how to track traffic and referrals from AI answer engines](https://www.answerstack.io/q/how-to-track-traffic-from-ai-answer-engines).","introHtml":"Search Console reports how often your pages were shown in search results and how often they were clicked. Analytics shows what the visitors it records did next.
\nFor its AI features, Google now gives part of that picture. The generative AI performance report counts impressions, meaning the times a link to your site was shown in AI Overviews or AI Mode. You can group them by page, country, date or device. It tells you that a link was displayed. It doesn't tell you that anyone became a customer.
\nOutside Google, you measure more of it yourself. You can count the visits your analytics attributes to an AI product and see what those visitors do. You can also run a fixed set of questions and record whether you're cited, which gives you a sample and not a total. We lay out the setup in how to track traffic and referrals from AI answer engines.
\n","outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":50},{"id":"ff2b7a6f-e0c3-4fa4-ad41-a0814dc37f41","sectionKey":"a_shared_foundation_with_an_added_layer","sectionType":"markdown_section","heading":"A shared foundation with an added layer","introMarkdown":"Since the foundation is shared, we'd build AEO on the SEO work you already do. Crawling, indexing and useful pages serve both, so the two efforts should draw on one technical foundation, however the teams are organized.\n\n[Lean Labs' description of its AEO service](https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/answer-engine-optimization-agency) shows how the pieces sit together. The question list comes from sales calls, CRM insights and Search Console demand, so search data is one of the inputs. The answers are expert-led and published on the client's HubSpot site. The technical step includes crawl health and indexing checks, which is plain SEO. Measurement then adds the new layer: mentions, citations and prompt coverage are tracked beside AI referral visits and the contacts, deals and pipeline recorded in the CRM.\n\nMuch of that list is work an SEO team would recognize. What this service adds is its focus on a managed set of buyer questions and on tracking mentions and citations in AI answers.\n\nSuppose one of your pages already ranks third for a search your buyers use. You'd check whether it holds that place and whether people click. For the same page, you'd also check whether it's linked when a generated answer handles that search or a related one, and whether each product's search crawler is allowed to reach it. Both sets of checks describe one page.","introHtml":"Since the foundation is shared, we'd build AEO on the SEO work you already do. Crawling, indexing and useful pages serve both, so the two efforts should draw on one technical foundation, however the teams are organized.
\nLean Labs' description of its AEO service shows how the pieces sit together. The question list comes from sales calls, CRM insights and Search Console demand, so search data is one of the inputs. The answers are expert-led and published on the client's HubSpot site. The technical step includes crawl health and indexing checks, which is plain SEO. Measurement then adds the new layer: mentions, citations and prompt coverage are tracked beside AI referral visits and the contacts, deals and pipeline recorded in the CRM.
\nMuch of that list is work an SEO team would recognize. What this service adds is its focus on a managed set of buyer questions and on tracking mentions and citations in AI answers.
\nSuppose one of your pages already ranks third for a search your buyers use. You'd check whether it holds that place and whether people click. For the same page, you'd also check whether it's linked when a generated answer handles that search or a related one, and whether each product's search crawler is allowed to reach it. Both sets of checks describe one page.
\n","outroMarkdown":null,"outroHtml":null,"contentJson":{},"configJson":{},"noteMarkdown":null,"noteHtml":null,"sortOrder":60}],"citations":[{"title":"AI features and your website","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features","excerpt":"There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"PRIMARY","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"No additional requirements or special optimizations to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode; no new machine-readable files, AI text files, or markup needed; AI features build on standard Google Search fundamentals.","domain":"developers.google.com","publisherName":"Google Search Central"},{"title":"Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences on Search","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/05/succeeding-in-ai-search","excerpt":null,"quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"PRIMARY","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"Google's published recommendations for AI experiences: unique and valuable content, page experience, crawl access, preview controls, structured data matching visible content, and multimodal content.","domain":"developers.google.com","publisherName":"Google Search Central Blog"},{"title":"OpenAI crawlers (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User)","url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots","excerpt":"OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"PRIMARY","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT search; GPTBot is the separate training crawler; sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers; the crawlers can be controlled independently in robots.txt.","domain":"developers.openai.com","publisherName":"OpenAI"},{"title":"Perplexity crawlers (PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User)","url":"https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots","excerpt":"PerplexityBot is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"PRIMARY","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"PerplexityBot surfaces and links websites in Perplexity search results and is not used to crawl content for AI foundation model training.","domain":"docs.perplexity.ai","publisherName":"Perplexity"},{"title":"Getting started with schema.org using Microdata","url":"https://schema.org/docs/gs.html","excerpt":"you can help search engines and other applications better understand your content and display it in a useful, relevant way","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"PRIMARY","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"Purpose of schema.org structured data: helping search engines and other applications understand page content and display it usefully.","domain":"schema.org","publisherName":"Schema.org"},{"title":"Ahrefs study: AI Overview citations vs. top-10 rankings (863,000 keywords, 4 million cited URLs)","url":"https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overview-citations-top-10/","excerpt":"Google is selecting far fewer pages straight from the original SERP (~76% in July 2025 vs. ~38% today).","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"38 percent of AI Overview citations rank in the top 10, down from about 76 percent in July 2025; about 31 percent of citations rank beyond position 100; query fan-out explanation; methodology-change caveat.","domain":"ahrefs.com","publisherName":"Ahrefs"},{"title":"Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results","url":"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/","excerpt":"26% of pages with an AI summary, compared with 16% of pages with only traditional search results","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"8 percent click-through on traditional results with an AI summary vs. 15 percent without; about 1 percent of visits click a source inside the AI summary; sessions ended on 26 percent of pages with a summary vs. 16 percent without.","domain":"pewresearch.org","publisherName":"Pew Research Center"},{"title":"Semrush study: the impact of AI search on SEO traffic","url":"https://www.semrush.com/blog/ai-search-seo-traffic-study/","excerpt":"The average AI search visitor is 4.4 times as valuable as the average visit from traditional organic search, based on conversion rate.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"Average AI search visitor is 4.4x as valuable as an average organic visitor by conversion rate; AI search visitors projected to surpass traditional search visitors by early 2028; roughly 90 percent of pages ChatGPT cites rank at position 21 or lower.","domain":"semrush.com","publisherName":"Semrush"},{"title":"AEO vs SEO: Core Differences & How to Win Visibility in Both","url":"https://www.semrush.com/blog/aeo-vs-seo/","excerpt":"Strong SEO fuels AEO, and together they boost your chances of being cited in AI results.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"Definitions of SEO and AEO; goal, surface, and metric differences; shared signals; the two disciplines reinforcing each other.","domain":"semrush.com","publisherName":"Semrush"},{"title":"Answer engine optimization vs. traditional SEO: What marketers need to know","url":"https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/aeo-vs-seo","excerpt":"AEO does not replace traditional SEO.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"AEO and SEO as parallel, complementary systems with different signals, content structures, and measurement frameworks; AEO focused on structured answers AI systems can extract and cite.","domain":"blog.hubspot.com","publisherName":"HubSpot"},{"title":"GEO: Generative Engine Optimization","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735","excerpt":"GEO can boost visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses.","quoteText":null,"sourceRole":"INDEPENDENT","verifiedAt":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","supportsText":"Academic origin of the generative engine optimization term; answer engines synthesize from multiple sources; tested content modifications improved visibility in generated responses by up to 40 percent, varying by domain.","domain":"arxiv.org","publisherName":"arXiv (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024)"}],"revisions":[{"revisedAt":"2026-08-09T20:50:00.705+00:00","versionLabel":"Originally published","note":"","reviewedBy":null}],"relatedAnswers":[{"id":"e99a45a2-0ef5-45e5-bec8-f6d813825f8c","slug":"what-offsite-signals-matter-for-aeo","question":"What off-site signals matter for AEO?","publishedAt":"2026-09-26T14:15:07.644","confidenceScore":74,"confidenceLabel":"Medium","industry":{"id":"70ea3802-1fc6-4fd7-a505-140d38d1c74a","slug":"digital-marketing","label":"Digital Marketing","description":"SEO, content, demand gen, and growth marketing"},"topic":{"slug":"answer-engine-optimization","label":"Answer Engine Optimization","description":"How B2B teams get content selected and cited by AI answer engines.","schemaKind":null},"contributor":{"id":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","slug":"answer-stack","displayName":"AnswerStack","websiteUrl":null},"snippet":"The off-site signals that matter for AEO are pages on other sites that tell a buyer something specific and true about a company: independent reviews, customer accounts, listings with current facts, and articles in specialist publications. Google says its AI features can surface what's said about a product elsewhere on the web and advises against inauthentic mentions. It sets no order of importance among these sources, so the four are an editorial priority.","url":"/q/what-offsite-signals-matter-for-aeo"},{"id":"51b59dae-ae56-4015-8788-7b0dfd233db2","slug":"what-does-aeo-cover-beyond-website-content","question":"What does AEO cover beyond website content?","publishedAt":"2026-09-20T14:57:15.8","confidenceScore":76,"confidenceLabel":"Medium","industry":{"id":"70ea3802-1fc6-4fd7-a505-140d38d1c74a","slug":"digital-marketing","label":"Digital Marketing","description":"SEO, content, demand gen, and growth marketing"},"topic":{"slug":"answer-engine-optimization","label":"Answer Engine Optimization","description":"How B2B teams get content selected and cited by AI answer engines.","schemaKind":null},"contributor":{"id":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","slug":"answer-stack","displayName":"AnswerStack","websiteUrl":null},"snippet":"Beyond your site, AEO covers business profiles and product feeds, reviews, coverage on other publishers' sites, and video. The work is keeping those facts accurate and earning legitimate coverage. None of it guarantees a citation.","url":"/q/what-does-aeo-cover-beyond-website-content"},{"id":"ef0e49f6-ad72-4e06-ae79-66533db84885","slug":"what-aeo-results-can-a-saas-startup-expect","question":"What AEO results can a SaaS startup realistically expect?","publishedAt":"2026-09-18T14:15:03.748","confidenceScore":78,"confidenceLabel":"Medium","industry":{"id":"70ea3802-1fc6-4fd7-a505-140d38d1c74a","slug":"digital-marketing","label":"Digital Marketing","description":"SEO, content, demand gen, and growth marketing"},"topic":{"slug":"answer-engine-optimization","label":"Answer Engine Optimization","description":"How B2B teams get content selected and cited by AI answer engines.","schemaKind":null},"contributor":{"id":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","slug":"answer-stack","displayName":"AnswerStack","websiteUrl":null},"snippet":"No amount or order of AEO results is guaranteed for a SaaS startup. Measure three outcomes separately: appearance in AI answers, visits from assistants, and signups or customers. Use your own baseline and a check date, since another company's figure, such as Vercel's signup share, isn't a forecast.","url":"/q/what-aeo-results-can-a-saas-startup-expect"},{"id":"e43cc4d4-fe3f-4a31-b46e-6ace8c313588","slug":"how-startups-should-budget-for-aeo","question":"How should an early-stage startup budget for AEO?","publishedAt":"2026-09-16T14:15:03.584","confidenceScore":78,"confidenceLabel":"Medium","industry":{"id":"70ea3802-1fc6-4fd7-a505-140d38d1c74a","slug":"digital-marketing","label":"Digital Marketing","description":"SEO, content, demand gen, and growth marketing"},"topic":{"slug":"answer-engine-optimization","label":"Answer Engine Optimization","description":"How B2B teams get content selected and cited by AI answer engines.","schemaKind":null},"contributor":{"id":"ec39deab-44fe-48d8-9029-fefe993ab85a","slug":"answer-stack","displayName":"AnswerStack","websiteUrl":null},"snippet":"Budget AEO as a defined piece of work with a known total, sized against cash. Stage it: a free baseline and a low-cost tracker first, then one scoped project, then a monthly program as a separate decision with its whole term added up.","url":"/q/how-startups-should-budget-for-aeo"}],"contributorStats":{"verifiedAnswers":149,"openDisputes":0},"schemaJson":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Question","name":"What is the difference between AEO and SEO?","text":"What is the difference between AEO and SEO?","url":"https://www.answerstack.io/q/difference-between-aeo-and-seo","answerCount":1,"datePublished":"2026-06-04T20:50:00.705","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"AnswerStack","url":"https://www.answerstack.io/contributors/answer-stack"},"about":[{"@type":"Thing","name":"Answer Engine Optimization"},{"@type":"Thing","name":"Digital Marketing"}],"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"SEO is the work of getting your pages found and shown by a search engine. AEO, answer engine optimization, is that same work aimed at a newer place: the answer an AI product writes, where your content is used and linked as a source. The two share most of their foundation. They differ in the surface you're aiming at, in a few access controls, and in what you can measure. Google goes as far as saying that optimizing for its AI search is still SEO.","url":"https://www.answerstack.io/q/difference-between-aeo-and-seo","upvoteCount":0,"datePublished":"2026-06-04T20:50:00.705","dateModified":"2026-08-09T00:00:00","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"AnswerStack","url":"https://www.answerstack.io/contributors/answer-stack"},"citation":[{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"AI features and your website","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Top ways to ensure your content performs well in Google's AI experiences on Search","url":"https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2025/05/succeeding-in-ai-search"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"OpenAI crawlers (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User)","url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Perplexity crawlers (PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User)","url":"https://docs.perplexity.ai/guides/bots"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Getting started with schema.org using Microdata","url":"https://schema.org/docs/gs.html"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Ahrefs study: AI Overview citations vs. top-10 rankings (863,000 keywords, 4 million cited URLs)","url":"https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overview-citations-top-10/"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results","url":"https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Semrush study: the impact of AI search on SEO traffic","url":"https://www.semrush.com/blog/ai-search-seo-traffic-study/"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"AEO vs SEO: Core Differences & How to Win Visibility in Both","url":"https://www.semrush.com/blog/aeo-vs-seo/"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"Answer engine optimization vs. traditional SEO: What marketers need to know","url":"https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/aeo-vs-seo"},{"@type":"CreativeWork","name":"GEO: Generative Engine Optimization","url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735"}]}}}