What is SEO?
SEO, search engine optimization, is the work of helping search engines find, understand and show your pages. Google's SEO starter guide describes it as helping search engines understand your content and helping people find your site. The goal is a good spot in the list of results, so people click through to you.
Google's guide to how Search works explains the three stages: crawling (finding pages), indexing (understanding them) and serving (showing them for a search). If a page fails at any stage, it can't rank.
What is AEO?
AEO, answer engine optimization, is the work of getting your business cited or recommended when someone asks an AI tool a question. Instead of a list of links, the person gets an answer, often with a few sources or businesses named. AEO is not an official standard. It is a useful name for a newer goal: being one of the sources an answer is built from.
The main answer engines today are ChatGPT search, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, and Perplexity. Each one searches the web, reads pages it is allowed to read, and summarizes them with links.
Where SEO and AEO overlap
Most of the work is shared. Google says there are no additional requirements and no special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet in Google Search, according to Google's guide to AI features. So good SEO is the foundation of AEO on Google.
- Crawlable content. Search and AI systems can only use pages they can reach and read, with the important content in text, not only in images.
- Helpful, people-first content. Google's guidance on creating helpful content applies to both: write for customers, show real experience and be accurate.
- Structured data. Google's introduction to structured data says it uses this markup to understand a page. Google also says the markup must match what is visible on the page.
- Reputation and reviews. Google's local ranking tips list relevance, distance and prominence, and say reviews and ratings can help.
- Consistent business information. The same name, phone, address or service area and hours on your website, Google Business Profile and directories.
Where they differ
AEO puts more weight on a few things that classic SEO could treat as optional.
Questions and direct answers
People ask AI tools full questions, like how long a service takes or what it includes. Pages that state the question and answer it in the first sentence or two are easier to quote. Classic SEO pages often target short keywords instead.
Access for AI search crawlers
Each AI tool has its own crawlers, and your robots.txt file or firewall can block them by accident. It helps to know exactly which bot does what.
- OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT search. OpenAI's crawler documentation says sites that block it won't appear in ChatGPT search answers.
- GPTBot collects content that may be used to train OpenAI's models. Blocking it is a separate choice and does not remove you from ChatGPT search.
- ChatGPT-User visits pages when a person in ChatGPT asks it to. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply, because a user started the action.
- PerplexityBot surfaces and links websites in Perplexity search results. Perplexity's documentation says it is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models.
- Googlebot is what matters for Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- Google-Extended controls whether your content can be used for Gemini training and grounding. Google's crawler documentation says it does not affect inclusion in Google Search and is not a ranking signal.
Being mentioned across the web
An answer engine reads more than your website. Your Google Business Profile, reviews, directory listings and articles that mention you all shape what it can say about you. For SEO, your own pages carry most of the weight. For AEO, what others say about you matters at least as much.
A practical plan for both
You don't need two separate projects. Do the SEO basics well, then add the few things AEO needs. Google's own guide to optimizing for generative AI features points the same way: focus on helpful content for people rather than tricks.
- Check that Google can crawl and index your important pages. Search Console shows this.
- Check robots.txt and your firewall. Allow Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. Decide on training bots like GPTBot and Google-Extended separately.
- Publish one clear page per main service, with the areas you serve.
- Add the questions customers really ask, each answered in the first sentence or two.
- Add structured data, such as LocalBusiness and FAQPage, that matches the visible page.
- Complete your Google Business Profile and keep your business details the same everywhere.
- Earn honest reviews and reply to them.
- Measure both: Search Console for Google traffic, and analytics for visits from AI tools.
Our guide on getting recommended by ChatGPT and AI Overviews goes deeper into crawler access, your Business Profile and reviews.
What to avoid
- Blocking OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot by accident while trying to block training bots.
- Hiding key information inside images, PDFs or pop-ups only.
- Writing for machines instead of people. Keyword stuffing doesn't help with either goal.
- Paying for fake reviews or fake mentions. It breaks platform rules and can break the law.
- Trusting anyone who promises a placement. OpenAI's publisher FAQ says ChatGPT search placement is not guaranteed, and nobody can guarantee a Google ranking.
Your checklist
- Important pages indexed in Google, checked in Search Console.
- robots.txt and firewall allow Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot.
- A deliberate choice on GPTBot and Google-Extended.
- One clear page per main service, written for customers.
- Real customer questions answered directly on your pages.
- Structured data that matches the visible page.
- A complete Google Business Profile with consistent details everywhere.
- A routine for earning honest reviews.
- Search and AI traffic measured separately in analytics.
This is the work we do in our SEO & AEO service for small business websites.
Sources
- In-depth guide to how Google Search works, Google Search Central
- SEO Starter Guide, Google Search Central
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central
- Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, Google Search Central
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, Google Search Central
- Introduction to structured data markup in Google Search, Google Search Central
- Google's common crawlers, Google Search Central
- Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, Google Business Profile Help
- Overview of OpenAI Crawlers, OpenAI
- Publishers and Developers FAQ, OpenAI Help Center
- Perplexity Crawlers, Perplexity