SEO, AIO, GEO, and AEO—what do they all mean? many of us search for this information. I want to discuss what each term means. Again, I find them all unnecessary because, at the end of the day, it comes down to SEO. It simply means optimizing for a search engine. Google is a search engine. So are TikTok, Amazon, and eBay. GPT is also a search engine, though you interact with it differently. However, it’s still a search engine. You use it to find information or ask questions.
SEO refers to search engine optimization. So, despite my earlier comments, I'll explain what each term means. First, let's talk about SEO. What is SEO? It's straightforward. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It's the classic method for ranking on Google. The main question is whether this will help me rank higher in search results.
You need to use relevant keywords and build backlinks, which we discuss a lot on this channel. You can watch this video right here to learn how to build backlinks for free. It’s about an hour long and very valuable. Next, there’s on-page SEO and technical SEO. SEO has three main pillars: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. I’ve covered these in detail before. At the end of this video, I'll link to a two-hour course that explains all this in depth for free.
For example, a local gym can rank on the first page of Google for "personal trainer Lisbon" by optimizing their service pages and getting listed in local directories. That's where backlinks come in. Pretty simple, right? We already know this about SEO.
Now, what is AIO? It stands for AI optimization. It’s about making your keyword brand visible and understandable to large language models, or LLMs. These include what ChatGPT uses, as well as models like Perplexity and Grok from Twitter. You need to think, "Will this help the model learn about me?" When producing content for AIO, consider if your efforts help the model understand more about you or your brand.
This involves getting included in AI training data. This term means having the LLM crawl your site. It requires using structured data and machine-readable formats like schema markup, which I’ve made videos on. You can find those linked below. AIO and SEO are basically the same. If you rank organically on Google, you will also rank on ChatGPT. Microsoft owns OpenAI, and it also owns Bing. There’s a strong connection between how often you’re mentioned on ChatGPT and how high you rank on Bing, which in turn correlates with Google rankings.
To rank on Google and Bing, you need to focus on classic SEO, including on-page SEO and backlink building. All this is connected. Make sure your data is structured and factual for Google. Also, be present on trusted data sources. AI tools reference websites like Wikipedia, so don't rely solely on that information.
For example, an open-source climate data project gets cited by AI tools because it's well-documented on GitHub, listed in scientific databases, and referenced on Wikipedia. You could also add that it has a proper website and active social media. Again, AIO and SEO are just different names for similar concepts.
Now, let’s discuss GEO, which stands for generative engine optimization. This focuses on getting your content cited or discovered by tools during real-time queries, like when you interact with AI. You want to increase the chances of being mentioned. The difference is that here you ask whether the model understands what you do, while in AIO, you ask whether it will mention you based on that understanding.
Best practices include writing clear and factual content. Use structured headings and lists to help the AI understand your message. All of these concepts are interrelated. To be honest, I question whether I should upload this video. It feels like an unnecessary topic to cover.
Many people are searching for these terms. I felt the need to create a video about it. But that’s all done, and we’ll keep moving forward. For example, a skincare brand's blog is mentioned by Perplexity, which is another language model. When asked about the best moisturizers for dry skin, they utilize product comparison tables and click formatting to present their findings. So, I’ll show you an example. We have a software as a service called Arvo, which helps with SEO. It has several features.
It writes content for you and optimizes it. This AI tool works with your site to fix all the technical SEO, create autoblogs, build backlinks, and manage social media. That’s a lot of impressive work. One way we promote Arvo is by creating comparison pages, like comparing our software to competitors, complete with detailed tables and informative videos about both tools. Here’s another example for Thinkific, which lets you host online courses. We provide a thorough comparison for both tools, detailing their functions, pricing, and more.
If you search for Thinkific competitors or alternatives, you’ll probably find Thinkific mentioned. They have valuable, detailed information on their site. The mentions of these terms are closely tied to how well you document information on your site. So, if you want to show up on AI engines or language models when someone searches for your brand or competitor and their pricing, you need to create content for that. You should do content marketing focused on those terms. These agents crawl your site, Reddit, social media, and other sources to find information. They present this information in a more digestible way.
Google can be frustrating. You have to click through links to find what you need. But with GPT models, they collect the info for you and summarize it all in one place. Google’s AI mode also does something similar. I made a video about it and the future of SEO. Google AI mode is not the same as Google's AI overviews; it's essentially Google's version of ChatGPT. Their purpose is to make things easier for you as a user. You don’t have to click those blue links. They read the links for you and provide all the information in a single format.
To show up in that summary, you need to create content for those blue links. Hopefully, that makes sense. By the way, if you want to know how to rank, I’ll share some useful videos below. I made a video about ranking on Grock, which is Twitter’s language model. You can check that out. The strategy mainly involves sharing the content from your blog posts and pages on Twitter.
Grock has some bias; it pulls more information from tweets because Twitter owns it and it’s trained on tweet data. So, if you post a lot of informative tweets, you’re more likely to catch Grock's attention. This is similar to how GPT favors Bing and other platforms favor their own sources. Grock does the same. I’ll include links for everything below; it’s interesting to look into.
Finally, AEO, or answer engine optimization, involves creating content that shows up in AI summaries and featured answers. This includes things like Google's AI overview boxes. Ask yourself if your answer will get highlighted. Common examples include questions like “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” or “Can dogs eat strawberries?” This information appears in Google's AI features, but remember that the AI mode is different from the overview.
To appear in those featured answers, you need to provide straightforward and clear answers to common questions. Use common keywords like FAQs or how-to guides. If you’re not familiar with schema, watch this step-by-step video. It’s valuable, as many people don’t know how to use schema or what it is. It’s very important. I won’t go into details now, but I’ve created many videos about it.
Schema helps create those little star ratings you see in searches. For example, if you search for “plumber Dallas,” those ratings come from schema. It’s crucial to have this for your site. If you have a page with FAQs, add FAQ schema to it. This is just a small piece of code. It helps your content get displayed when a question is searched.
For example, if you look up “can dogs eat strawberries,” the pages that show up often have schema employed. Again, all of this is interconnected and focuses on classic SEO principles. For instance, a tax advisor's website can be found in Google AI overviews—not in the AI mode—when searching for how to file taxes as a freelancer in Portugal. They do this by providing concise step-by-step guides with schema on their site.
Overall, you shouldn’t worry too much about these terms. It all comes down to SEO. Don’t let the jargon confuse you. SEO is about understanding what customers are searching for and providing content that meets their needs. This could be a blog post, a comparison page, an alternative page, or any relevant content. If you can satisfy their search intent better than anyone else, you’ll rank higher on Google and be favored by ChatGPT and other AI engines.
If you want to delve deeper into SEO, I have more resources available. Check out the links below for how to properly use schema markup and how to rank on Grock and other language models.
