SEO gets your page ranked in the list of links that Google and Bing show. AEO (answer engine optimisation) gets your business named inside the answer that ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Overview writes. Most businesses need both, because AI tools with web search read the pages that search engines have already indexed, so AEO only works on top of sound SEO.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO aims to put your page high in a list of links. AEO aims to get your business named in the answer itself, which is often the only thing a customer reads.
| SEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank high in Google's list of results | Be named or cited in the AI's answer |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results pages | ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Copilot |
| What it rewards | Keywords, links, page speed | Direct answers, specific facts, sources, consistent business details |
| How it is measured | Rankings and clicks | How often AI names you, and which sites it quotes |
Where do ChatGPT and Gemini get their answers?
When they search the web, AI tools pull pages from search indexes and write an answer from the most useful passages.
- Google. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet before it can appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
- ChatGPT. ChatGPT's search reads websites with OpenAI's crawler, OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI says sites that opt out of it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
- Copilot. Microsoft's Copilot answers from Bing.
So AEO starts with a check that Google, Bing and the AI crawlers can all read your site. A business that has only set up Google Search Console has done half of that.
What makes AI choose one business over another?
Researchers at Princeton and partner universities tested which page changes get content used in AI-generated answers. Adding statistics, quotations and cited sources raised a page's visibility by up to 40% (GEO study, KDD 2024).
In practice, AI favours pages that:
- answer the question in the first few sentences
- give real numbers, such as RM price ranges, areas served and timelines
- link to a credible source for any outside claim
- show the same business name, address and phone as the Google Business Profile
- carry a date and are kept up to date
The steps are in How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business?.
Does my business need both?
Ask an AI tool the question your customers would ask, for example "Which aircon servicing company in Petaling Jaya is reliable?". If it does not name your business, a competitor is getting that customer's first impression.
AEO helps most when:
- customers compare options before they contact you
- you serve a specific area, where "near me" questions decide who gets the call
- your competitors are no stronger online than you are, so the gap can close quickly
If your site does not rank for anything yet, start with SEO. AEO has nothing to work with until search engines can read your pages.
"Most of the websites I audit don't have the SEO basics in place, especially small business sites and sites built with AI tools."
Jasper, Alchemistic Cloud
How do you measure AEO?
Ask AI tools the questions your customers search for, then count how often they name your business. AI gives a different answer each time, so one ask proves nothing.
At Alchemistic Cloud a full starting point is 135 AI answers: 15 customer questions, on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, asked 3 times each. We ask the same questions again every month, so the report shows what changed. Our SEO and AEO service starts at RM2,000 a month with a 6-month minimum, and the first report is free.
Sources
- Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", KDD 2024. arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735
- Google Search Central, "AI features and your website". developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
- OpenAI, "Overview of OpenAI crawlers". developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots