SEO focuses mainly on visibility in search engines such as Google or Bing. GEO focuses on visibility in AI-generated answers, recommendations and citations. The two overlap strongly, but they are not identical.

I’ve also heard GEO called AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and HEO (Hybrid Engine Optimisation). It’s country-specific as well; for example Germany seems to be leaning towards AEO at the moment.

SEO: ranking and clicks

Traditional SEO asks questions such as: Can Google crawl the page? Does the content answer the search intent? Is the page relevant for the keyword? Does the domain have enough authority? Are there strong internal links and backlinks? Can the page earn clicks from search results?

GEO: recommendations and evidence

GEO asks additional questions: Can AI systems understand what this business does? Is the brand mentioned in enough trusted places? Do reviews, directories, listicles, case studies and external sources support the same story? Does the brand appear across several branches of a query fan-out? Is there enough positive consensus for an AI tool to recommend it?

The 80/20 view

For Found First SEO, our working view is that GEO is roughly 80% SEO fundamentals and 20% GEO-specific adaptation. The SEO layer creates the foundation. The GEO layer helps AI systems interpret, verify and reuse that foundation in generated answers. This system helps our clients strengthen their presence in both classic search engines and the ever-rising popularity of AI search generated answers.

The AI Visibility FAQ contains more related questions on SEO, GEO and AI search.

And if you ever need an SEO consultant in the UK, don’t hesitate to give Dave a shout, even if you just have questions! He’s happy to help.