SEO vs. AEO vs. GEO: Why Getting Found Online Is Changing
By Patrick McDonald, Founder, Global Ad Solutions
For years, the goal of search engine optimization (SEO) was fairly straightforward: help your business appear near the top of Google when someone searches for your products or services.
That’s still important. But the way people find businesses is changing.
Today, someone might search Google, ask ChatGPT for a recommendation, read an AI-generated answer, watch a YouTube video, or check customer reviews before ever visiting your website.
This has introduced a few new terms into marketing: SEO, AEO, and GEO.
They sound complicated, but the idea behind them is pretty simple. Your business needs to be easy to find, easy to understand, and easy to trust wherever customers are looking.
At Global Ad Solutions (GAS), we call this Search Everywhere Optimization.
What Is the Difference Between SEO, AEO, and GEO?
All three approaches focus on helping customers discover your business, but they describe different ways that discovery happens.
| Term | What It Means | Simple Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Search Engine Optimization | Helping people find your business through traditional search results |
| AEO | Answer Engine Optimization | Making your information useful and accessible to search systems answering questions |
| GEO | Generative Engine Optimization | Improving how your business and expertise can be discovered, referenced, or represented in AI-generated responses |
For example, imagine someone needs a new HVAC system.
Traditional SEO: They search Google for “best HVAC company near me” and browse the results.
AEO: They ask, “How much does replacing a furnace cost, and how do I know if I need one?” An answer system may use information from relevant websites to respond.
GEO: They ask ChatGPT or another AI assistant to help compare local HVAC companies, their services, experience, and customer reviews.
These approaches overlap. In fact, many of the things that help a business succeed in traditional search also support visibility in AI-powered search.
You don’t necessarily need three separate marketing strategies.
You need a strong foundation and useful information about your business.
What We’re Seeing With Customers Who Use AI Search
One of the more interesting changes we’re hearing about from our clients isn’t necessarily where customers find them. It’s the conversations they’re having once those customers reach out.
Customers are asking better questions.
They’ve researched their options. They understand more about the service they’re considering. Some have already compared providers, pricing, and potential solutions before picking up the phone.
We’ve also noticed something interesting with customers who tell our clients they found them through AI recommendations.
Those customers often seem further along in their decision-making process. They arrive with some level of confidence in the business, and in our experience, they can be more likely to move forward with higher-value services.
These are observations from conversations with our clients, not a formal study or a claim that every AI-generated lead performs better.
But they point to something important.
Getting found is only part of marketing. Being trusted before the first conversation can be just as valuable.
Think of AI as a Detective
Here’s how I explain AI search to business owners.
Think of AI as a detective investigating your business.
It may look at information from your website, third-party websites, customer reviews, business listings, articles, and other publicly available sources, depending on the platform and question.
The goal is to find relevant information and put together a useful answer.
Suppose your website says you’re a leading kitchen remodeling contractor in Barrington, Illinois.
That’s a claim.
Now imagine your website also features actual kitchen remodeling projects, explains how you approach renovations, includes photographs of completed work, and answers questions from homeowners.
Your Google Business Profile has accurate business information and customer reviews. Other websites also reference your work.
Together, these sources provide more useful evidence of what your company actually does.
Not every AI system checks the same sources, and AI recommendations aren’t always accurate or complete. But the example illustrates why a business should build a consistent, credible presence beyond its own homepage.
A website can say almost anything.
Actual work, firsthand knowledge, and independent customer feedback provide something more substantial.
E-E-A-T: Why Real Experience Matters
Google uses the concept of E-E-A-T to describe four qualities of helpful, reliable content:
- Experience: Have you actually done the work you’re discussing?
- Expertise: Do you understand the subject?
- Authoritativeness: Do others recognize your knowledge or business?
- Trustworthiness: Is your information accurate, honest, and reliable?
E-E-A-T isn’t a numerical score that Google assigns to your website. It’s a framework for evaluating content quality, with trust at its center.
For a business owner, the application is practical.
A dentist explaining how they evaluate patients for dental implants provides a perspective that generic dental content cannot fully replace.
An HVAC technician walking through a real furnace installation can show homeowners what the work involves.
A contractor explaining challenges encountered during a home addition can answer questions that prospective customers are already asking.
These are examples of firsthand experience.
They’re also the kinds of details that can make a company’s content more useful to real customers.
Want to Get Found in AI Search? Start by Using Less AI-Generated Content.
This might sound strange coming from a marketing company, but I believe one of the best things businesses can do as AI becomes more common is to rely less on generic AI-generated content.
Let me explain.
AI can be an excellent tool. We use technology to research, organize information, improve workflows, and help turn ideas into useful content.
But AI doesn’t know what happened on your job site yesterday.
It doesn’t know what your customer was worried about before signing a contract.
It wasn’t in the room when your dentist explained a complicated treatment or when your technician discovered why a heating system kept failing.
You and your employees were.
That experience is what makes your business different.
And yet, businesses are increasingly filling their websites and social media accounts with content that could have been written for almost any competitor.
Generic articles. Stock photos. AI-generated images of projects that never happened. Social media posts that say plenty without telling customers anything useful.
The more generic content businesses produce, the more valuable real experience becomes.
This doesn’t mean AI-written content is automatically bad for search rankings. Quality, accuracy, originality, and usefulness matter more than whether AI assisted in creating it.
But if every business is publishing versions of the same information, what gives someone a reason to choose yours?
Your people. Your experience. Your actual work. Your reputation.
That’s what we believe deserves more attention.
How GAS Approaches Search Everywhere Optimization
Before recommending a marketing strategy, we spend time learning about the business itself.
Who are your best customers? What services are most profitable? What questions do customers ask before buying? What makes your company different?
We often interview business owners and their employees because some of the most valuable information about a company isn’t written down anywhere.
It’s in the experience of the people doing the work.
From there, we help turn that knowledge into content that can be used across multiple channels.
Your website: Clear service pages, useful answers, local information, original photography, and content that explains what you do.
Google Business Profile: Accurate services, business details, photos, review management, and information that helps local customers evaluate your company.
Customer reviews: Genuine feedback that helps prospective customers understand what working with you is like.
Blogs and educational content: Articles based on customer questions, industry knowledge, and firsthand experience rather than simply publishing content to fill a calendar.
Video and social media: Real employees, real projects, and explanations that customers can watch before they make a decision.
Other credible websites: Relevant industry coverage, local business references, and legitimate public relations opportunities that help people discover your business.
One interview or onsite video shoot can provide useful material for several channels.
A contractor’s explanation of a recent renovation might become a project page, a short video, answers to common questions, and social media content.
The source is the same: actual experience.
The content is adapted to help different audiences find and understand it.
This is how we approach Search Everywhere Optimization. Not by abandoning traditional SEO, but by building on it.
Is Traditional SEO Still Important?
Absolutely.
A technically sound website, clear site structure, relevant service pages, useful written content, and local search optimization remain important.
Google itself says that established SEO best practices continue to apply to its AI search features.
That includes making website content accessible, keeping business information current, and creating helpful, original material.
So no, businesses shouldn’t abandon SEO to chase the latest AI marketing trend.
They also shouldn’t assume that publishing a few AI-focused blog posts will make ChatGPT recommend their company.
There is no guaranteed formula for appearing in every AI-generated answer.
The better approach is to make your company easier for people and search systems to discover, understand, and evaluate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SEO being replaced by AI?
No. Traditional SEO remains important, including for Google’s AI search features. What’s changing is how people search for information and how search platforms present their answers.
Can I make ChatGPT recommend my business?
You can’t guarantee that ChatGPT or another AI platform will recommend your company. You can improve the quality, accuracy, accessibility, and credibility of information available about your business.
Do I need SEO, AEO, and GEO services separately?
Not necessarily. These terms describe overlapping approaches. For many businesses, the starting point is strong technical SEO, useful content, accurate business information, and a trustworthy online presence.
Does Google penalize AI-generated content?
Not simply because AI was used. Google focuses on content quality and whether material is created primarily to help users. Mass-producing low-value content to manipulate rankings can violate its spam policies.
How can I tell whether AI search is bringing customers to my business?
Look at referral traffic where available, track inquiries and sales, and ask customers how they found you. AI referrals aren’t always labeled accurately in analytics, so combining several sources of information is helpful.
The Bottom Line: Be Worth Finding
The way customers search will continue to change.
Google will change. AI platforms will change. New ways of discovering businesses will emerge.
But the fundamentals of building a good business haven’t disappeared.
Do good work. Take care of customers. Share what you know. Show people the work you’ve actually done.
And make sure that information is easy to find.
At Global Ad Solutions, we help businesses turn their actual experience, people, and reputation into a stronger presence across search, AI, and digital media.
Before we recommend marketing, we learn your business.
Let’s Talk About Your Business
About the Author
Patrick McDonald | Founder, Global Ad Solutions
Patrick McDonald is the founder of Global Ad Solutions, a veteran-owned advertising and marketing company. His career includes leadership roles in television, broadcast advertising, and digital media, working with businesses across industries to connect marketing decisions with business growth.
His approach focuses on understanding the people, operations, and customers behind a business before recommending how to market it.