AEO vs GEO vs SEO for local businesses
Updated October 15, 2026
SEO is getting your pages to rank in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) both mean getting named inside AI answers, from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews. For a local business the work overlaps a lot: clear service pages, accurate listings, steady reviews, and other sites that mention you.
Are AEO and GEO different things?
Barely. GEO comes from a 2023 research paper on generative engines, and AEO grew out of the older idea of optimizing for answer boxes and voice assistants. Both now describe the same goal: being the business an AI answer names or cites.
Use whichever word your agency uses. The work underneath is the same.
What does SEO still do for a local business?
Plenty. Assistants that search the web as they answer, like ChatGPT and Perplexity, find pages through search. A clear page that ranks for "emergency plumber in Bristol" is easier for them to find and quote.
Google Business Profile work is SEO and AEO at once. It feeds the map results, and it's one of the places assistants read about you.
What does AEO add on top?
Two things. First, answering the actual question on the page, in the first lines, the way a person would ask it. Assistants lift short, direct answers.
Second, corroboration. An assistant is choosing a few names to recommend, so it leans toward businesses that several independent sites agree on: review sites, directories, local press, roundups. A ranking report doesn't show any of that.
- A page per service and per place you work, with the answer near the top.
- Listings on the directories your trade and country use, with identical details.
- Reviews that keep coming, mentioning the job and the town.
- A robots.txt that lets the AI crawlers read your site.
How do you measure each one?
SEO has rankings and traffic. AEO and GEO need a different count: how many buyer questions get you named, by which assistant. That's what an AI mention score measures.
Check your business for free
Enter your website. We ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers ask and email you who they recommend.
Common questions
Should a local business stop doing SEO?
No. Search still sends calls, and the assistants that search the web find pages through search. Add AEO work on top rather than replacing anything.
Is GEO only for big brands?
No. Local questions are where AI answers name the fewest businesses, so a small firm that's easy to verify can get named without a big budget.
Do I need an AEO agency?
Not to start. Most of the first fixes are listings, reviews and plain pages you can do yourself. Measure first so you know which questions you're missing.
Is AEO the same in every country?
The method is the same, but the directories and the words differ. A UK business needs Checkatrade or Yell where a US one needs Yelp or Angi, and solicitor where a US firm says attorney.