July 6, 2025 • 8 mins
The digital search landscape is rapidly evolving beyond traditional SEO as AI reshapes how content gets discovered and consumed. We explore the key differences between traditional search engine optimization and newer strategies like Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and AI Optimization (AIO).
• Traditional SEO remains foundational - optimizing websites to rank higher in search results through keywords, backlinks, and technical elements
• AEO focuses specifically on getting content featured in answer boxes and snippets, requiring clear, direct answers that AI can easily extract
• GEO targets being cited within AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT, making your content a trusted source for AI systems
• AIO has two facets: using AI tools to create better content and optimizing your entire digital presence for AI interaction
• These strategies are complementary, not competing - each serves a specific role in how information gets discovered
• Looking toward 2025, relying solely on traditional SEO won't be enough for maximum visibility
As you develop your content strategy, consider what's your current edge - are you building for users, crawlers, or language models?
Thanks for tuning in to Local SEO Unlocked! If you enjoyed today’s episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others who want to master Local SEO. Stay connected with us weekly for more insights on SEO! Until next time, keep optimizing and stay ahead in local search!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Okay, let's unpack this.
The digital world, I mean, itmoves an incredible clip,
doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It really does Blink and you miss something.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Exactly.
New terms just pop upconstantly and it can feel less
like evolution and maybe morelike just a blur sometimes.
We all kind of know thetraditional search engine
landscape.
You know how Google works, yeah, but there's this huge shift
happening, especially with AIbecoming so well everywhere.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Absolutely, and that's where our source material
today from Don Phelps comes in.
It dives right into this.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, helping us navigate some of these newer
terms.
You really need to get yourhead around now.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And that's sort of our mission for this deep dive,
isn't it To you know?
Cut through that noise for you.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We want to clarify these different but very
connected strategies SEO, a, eo,geo and AI.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Oh, because it's not just buzzwords.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
No, not at all, it's really about understanding how
content gets found, how it getsused now and like how you can
make sure your stuff staysvisible, because fundamentally,
these concepts, they representthis big shift, a shift towards
optimizing for AI-powered searchexperiences.
You know where people areleaning on AI to kind of
(01:11):
synthesize information and justgive them answers.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sometimes without even seeing a results page right
.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Exactly Without ever hitting that traditional Google
page.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Okay, so before we jump into all the new acronyms,
let's just quickly groundourselves.
Traditional SEO, search engineoptimization we all know it, but
what does it actually entail?
Just as a baseline?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, good starting point.
So SEO, that's your foundation.
It's focused on making yourwebsite more visible in the
standard search engine resultspages, the SERPs.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Right the Google list .
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Pretty much, yeah, and the core stuff involves
optimizing your content usingthe right keywords strategically
, getting good quality backlinksand making sure all the
technical bits like site speedare sorted.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
All aiming to rank higher.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Exactly, it's the regular one.
We're all familiar with Gettingyour website to show up high on
Google.
Still super important, stillworks.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so SEO is the bedrock, got it.
But, like you said, said,things are changing.
Ai is here, so the questionshifts a bit, doesn't it?
From how do I get found on apage, hmm, to maybe how do I get
answered?
Precisely and that brings us, Iguess, to the first new one, a
EO.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right yeah,
(02:22):
definitely so what is answer?
Engine optimization how'sdifferent?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
okay, so a EO?
This is specifically focused on.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right?
Yeah, definitely.
So what is answer?
Engine optimization.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
How is it different?
Okay, so AEO, this isspecifically focused on getting
your content into those answerboxes?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh, like the featured snippets at the top Exactly
Featured snippets or the answersvoice search gives you.
The whole point is to givereally clear, concise answers to
specific questions.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
In a way, the AI can just grab it.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Precisely In a way that AI-powered search engines
can easily understand and justpresent straight to the user.
So the strategy shifts a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
How so.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, you're looking at things like structured data,
writing super clear, directanswers and really optimizing
for those featured snippets.
The main goal is for yourcontent to be extracted as the
answer.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So less an article, more an answer machine.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Kind of yeah, You're structuring it for ultimate
clarity for extractability.
Sometimes people get theiranswer and never even click
through.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Wow, okay, I can see that being efficient.
So AEO is about being theanswer, the snippet.
But what about when the AIdoesn't just pull a snippet but
it actually like creates a newresponse, mixing info from
different places?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Ah right, Good question.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
That sounds like this next one, GEO generative engine
optimization.
That feels like a wholedifferent thing and maybe where
some confusion comes in, You'reabsolutely right, and the
distinction is it's prettycrucial.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Geo is about optimizing, so your content gets
surfaced within those AIgenerated responses.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So like in ChatGPT or perplexity result.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Exactly those kinds of tools.
The strategy here is stillabout structure, clear
formatting, making it AIfriendly, but the goal is to be
cited or included in the answerthe AI construct.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay, hang on.
That's a big difference.
You said these tools don't rankpages like Google does.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Right, that's a key insight.
They don't really rank in thesame way they generate answers,
so you're not just trying to benumber one on the list anymore.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You're trying to be part of the AI's knowledge.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Essentially, yes, you want to become a trusted source
, a component that the AI usesto build its answer.
You're kind of subtly shapingthe AI conversations people are
having.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Kind of wild.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It is.
And just to clarify somethingour source mentions, because it
comes up a lot, some people useGEO and AEO almost
interchangeably.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right, I can see why?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But that key difference is vital.
Geo is about citation orinclusion within an AI answer.
Aeo is about being extracted asthe direct answer, like in a
snippet Subtle but reallyimportant for strategy.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, that distinction cited versus
extracted.
That helps.
So if my goal is GEO gettingcited by, say, chatgpt, am I
basically writing for the AI tolearn from me?
Risa?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
GOLUBOFF, that's a great way to put it.
Yeah, you're thinking along theright lines, mark.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
BLYTH, Rather than directly for a human reader
necessarily.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, it needs to be good for humans too.
But, yes, your content has tobe so well-structured, so clear,
trustworthy, authoritative thatthe AI chooses to reference it.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It has to see you as a source of truth.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Exactly For the language model itself.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Fascinating stuff.
Okay so, AI consuming andgenerating answers, AEO and GEO
but what about us using AI?
That brings us to AIO right AIoptimization.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
This sounds even broader somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It is yeah, and our sources point to sort of two
main facets here.
First, aio can mean just youknow the process of using AI
tools.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Like ChatGPT, jasper Surfer, those kind of things.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Exactly Using them to help you write content or
improve it, structure it.
Think of it like having areally smart assistant.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Speeding up research outlining.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, cleaning up grammar, finding keyword ideas,
all that stuff You're stilldoing.
Your SEO, your ADO, maybe GEOAIO is just using AI as a tool
to make those processes fasterand more efficient.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Okay, so that's one side, Using AI to optimize.
What's the other?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
The second facet is broader.
It's about optimizing yourcontent and your whole website
so that it can be easilyunderstood and used by lots of
different AI tools.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Like chatbots or voice assistants.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Chatbots, voice assistants, personalized content
feeds yeah, it's about makingsure they can use your
information effectively to giveusers relevant personalized
experiences.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Ah, so it's about optimizing for AI interaction
across the board.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Exactly personalized experiences.
So it's about optimizing for AIinteraction across the board.
Exactly this broader sensereally gets into blending human
creativity with AI tools tocreate these really tailored
user experiences across thiswhole emerging AI ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That makes a lot of sense.
Okay, so we've got SEO, aeo,geo, aio.
What does this all meantogether?
Are they fighting each other,or do they fit?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
yeah, that's the key question, right, and what's
really clear from the sources isthey are definitely not
competing.
They actually work besttogether.
They each have a specific rolein how information gets
discovered.
Now, if you want, like aone-line summary for each, no,
let's do that okay, seo isbasically ranking in google got
it.
Aio is using AI tools to helpyou make content.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Right the assistant.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
GEO is getting cited in AI-generated answers.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Inside chat GPT's response.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yep and AEO is getting featured as a direct
answer.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The snippet or voice answer.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Exactly See how they complement each other.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, I do Different ways of showing up.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And the really critical takeaway here for you
listening is that you know,heading into 2025, just doing
SEO probably isn't going to beenough anymore.
Right, we really need to thinkdifferently about how both
people and AI find informationand use it.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
So if SEO used to be about getting on the results
page and use it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So if SEO used to be about getting on the results
page, Now it's much more aboutshowing up period, whether
that's in a result or as ananswer, or even just being part
of an AI conversation.
Yeah yeah, it's a whole new wayof thinking about
discoverability.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Wow, we have definitely covered some serious
ground today, from the familiarworld of SEO all the way out to
these AI-infused branches of AEO, geo and AIO.
This whole deep dive was reallyabout trying to give you that
map, you know, to navigate thislandscape that's changing so
fast.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
It really is and maybe as you think about your
own work or even just how youfind information yourself these
days, here's a question to mullover straight from our source
material.
So what's your current edge?
Are you building for users,crawlers or language models now?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Ooh, that's a good one.
Users, crawlers or languagemodels definitely something to
think about.
Okay, let's unpack this.
The digital world, I mean, itmoves an incredible clip,
doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It really does Blink and you miss something.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Exactly.
New terms just pop upconstantly and it can feel less
like evolution and maybe morelike just a blur sometimes.
We all kind of know thetraditional search engine
landscape.
You know how Google works, yeah, but there's this huge shift
happening, especially with AIbecoming so well everywhere.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Absolutely, and that's where our source material
today from Don Phelps comes in.
It dives right into this.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Yeah, helping us navigate some of these newer
terms.
You really need to get yourhead around now.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And that's sort of our mission for this deep dive,
isn't it To you know?
Cut through that noise for you.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Right.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We want to clarify these different but very
connected strategies SEO, a, eo,geo and AI.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Oh, because it's not just buzzwords.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
No, not at all, it's really about understanding how
content gets found, how it getsused now and like how you can
make sure your stuff staysvisible, because fundamentally,
these concepts, they representthis big shift, a shift towards
optimizing for AI-powered searchexperiences.
You know where people areleaning on AI to kind of
(01:11):
synthesize information and justgive them answers.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Sometimes without even seeing a results page right
.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Exactly Without ever hitting that traditional Google
page.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Okay, so before we jump into all the new acronyms,
let's just quickly groundourselves.
Traditional SEO, search engineoptimization we all know it, but
what does it actually entail?
Just as a baseline?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, good starting point.
So SEO, that's your foundation.
It's focused on making yourwebsite more visible in the
standard search engine resultspages, the SERPs.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Right the Google list .
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Pretty much, yeah, and the core stuff involves
optimizing your content usingthe right keywords strategically
, getting good quality backlinksand making sure all the
technical bits like site speedare sorted.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
All aiming to rank higher.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
Exactly, it's the regular one.
We're all familiar with Gettingyour website to show up high on
Google.
Still super important, stillworks.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Okay, so SEO is the bedrock, got it.
But, like you said, said,things are changing.
Ai is here, so the questionshifts a bit, doesn't it?
From how do I get found on apage, hmm, to maybe how do I get
answered?
Precisely and that brings us, Iguess, to the first new one, a
EO.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right yeah,
(02:22):
definitely so what is answer?
Engine optimization how'sdifferent?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
okay, so a EO?
This is specifically focused on.
This is where it starts gettingreally interesting, right?
Yeah, definitely.
So what is answer?
Engine optimization.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
How is it different?
Okay, so AEO, this isspecifically focused on getting
your content into those answerboxes?
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Oh, like the featured snippets at the top Exactly
Featured snippets or the answersvoice search gives you.
The whole point is to givereally clear, concise answers to
specific questions.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
In a way, the AI can just grab it.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Precisely In a way that AI-powered search engines
can easily understand and justpresent straight to the user.
So the strategy shifts a bit.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
How so.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Well, you're looking at things like structured data,
writing super clear, directanswers and really optimizing
for those featured snippets.
The main goal is for yourcontent to be extracted as the
answer.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
So less an article, more an answer machine.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Kind of yeah, You're structuring it for ultimate
clarity for extractability.
Sometimes people get theiranswer and never even click
through.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Wow, okay, I can see that being efficient.
So AEO is about being theanswer, the snippet.
But what about when the AIdoesn't just pull a snippet but
it actually like creates a newresponse, mixing info from
different places?
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Ah right, Good question.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
That sounds like this next one, GEO generative engine
optimization.
That feels like a wholedifferent thing and maybe where
some confusion comes in, You'reabsolutely right, and the
distinction is it's prettycrucial.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Geo is about optimizing, so your content gets
surfaced within those AIgenerated responses.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
So like in ChatGPT or perplexity result.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Exactly those kinds of tools.
The strategy here is stillabout structure, clear
formatting, making it AIfriendly, but the goal is to be
cited or included in the answerthe AI construct.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay, hang on.
That's a big difference.
You said these tools don't rankpages like Google does.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Right, that's a key insight.
They don't really rank in thesame way they generate answers,
so you're not just trying to benumber one on the list anymore.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
You're trying to be part of the AI's knowledge.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Essentially, yes, you want to become a trusted source
, a component that the AI usesto build its answer.
You're kind of subtly shapingthe AI conversations people are
having.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Kind of wild.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
It is.
And just to clarify somethingour source mentions, because it
comes up a lot, some people useGEO and AEO almost
interchangeably.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Right, I can see why?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
But that key difference is vital.
Geo is about citation orinclusion within an AI answer.
Aeo is about being extracted asthe direct answer, like in a
snippet Subtle but reallyimportant for strategy.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Okay, that distinction cited versus
extracted.
That helps.
So if my goal is GEO gettingcited by, say, chatgpt, am I
basically writing for the AI tolearn from me?
Risa?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
GOLUBOFF, that's a great way to put it.
Yeah, you're thinking along theright lines, mark.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
BLYTH, Rather than directly for a human reader
necessarily.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, it needs to be good for humans too.
But, yes, your content has tobe so well-structured, so clear,
trustworthy, authoritative thatthe AI chooses to reference it.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
It has to see you as a source of truth.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Exactly For the language model itself.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Fascinating stuff.
Okay so, AI consuming andgenerating answers, AEO and GEO
but what about us using AI?
That brings us to AIO right AIoptimization.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
This sounds even broader somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
It is yeah, and our sources point to sort of two
main facets here.
First, aio can mean just youknow the process of using AI
tools.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Like ChatGPT, jasper Surfer, those kind of things.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Exactly Using them to help you write content or
improve it, structure it.
Think of it like having areally smart assistant.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Speeding up research outlining.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, cleaning up grammar, finding keyword ideas,
all that stuff You're stilldoing.
Your SEO, your ADO, maybe GEOAIO is just using AI as a tool
to make those processes fasterand more efficient.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Okay, so that's one side, Using AI to optimize.
What's the other?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
The second facet is broader.
It's about optimizing yourcontent and your whole website
so that it can be easilyunderstood and used by lots of
different AI tools.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Like chatbots or voice assistants.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Chatbots, voice assistants, personalized content
feeds yeah, it's about makingsure they can use your
information effectively to giveusers relevant personalized
experiences.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Ah, so it's about optimizing for AI interaction
across the board.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Exactly personalized experiences.
So it's about optimizing for AIinteraction across the board.
Exactly this broader sensereally gets into blending human
creativity with AI tools tocreate these really tailored
user experiences across thiswhole emerging AI ecosystem.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That makes a lot of sense.
Okay, so we've got SEO, aeo,geo, aio.
What does this all meantogether?
Are they fighting each other,or do they fit?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
yeah, that's the key question, right, and what's
really clear from the sources isthey are definitely not
competing.
They actually work besttogether.
They each have a specific rolein how information gets
discovered.
Now, if you want, like aone-line summary for each, no,
let's do that okay, seo isbasically ranking in google got
it.
Aio is using AI tools to helpyou make content.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Right the assistant.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
GEO is getting cited in AI-generated answers.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Inside chat GPT's response.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yep and AEO is getting featured as a direct
answer.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
The snippet or voice answer.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Exactly See how they complement each other.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Yeah, I do Different ways of showing up.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
And the really critical takeaway here for you
listening is that you know,heading into 2025, just doing
SEO probably isn't going to beenough anymore.
Right, we really need to thinkdifferently about how both
people and AI find informationand use it.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
So if SEO used to be about getting on the results
page and use it.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
So if SEO used to be about getting on the results
page, Now it's much more aboutshowing up period, whether
that's in a result or as ananswer, or even just being part
of an AI conversation.
Yeah yeah, it's a whole new wayof thinking about
discoverability.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
Wow, we have definitely covered some serious
ground today, from the familiarworld of SEO all the way out to
these AI-infused branches of AEO, geo and AIO.
This whole deep dive was reallyabout trying to give you that
map, you know, to navigate thislandscape that's changing so
fast.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
It really is and maybe as you think about your
own work or even just how youfind information yourself these
days, here's a question to mullover straight from our source
material.
So what's your current edge?
Are you building for users,crawlers or language models now?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Ooh, that's a good one.
Users, crawlers or languagemodels definitely something to
think about.
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