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Answer engine optimization (AEO)
Also written AEO
A near synonym for GEO, usually emphasising direct-answer surfaces such as AI Overviews and featured snippets rather than conversational assistants.
AEO and GEO describe overlapping work and are often used interchangeably. Where people draw a line, AEO tends to mean optimising for surfaces that answer a query in place, including AI Overviews and featured snippets, while GEO tends to mean the conversational assistants where a user is in dialogue.
The distinction is worth less than it looks. Both are decided by whether an engine retrieves and trusts a source that mentions you, and the practical work is the same. Choose one term and use it consistently rather than treating them as separate programmes.
Related
Generative engine optimization (GEO)The practice of getting a brand named and cited inside answers written by AI assistants, rather than ranked in a list of links.AI OverviewsGoogle's generated summary that appears above the traditional results for many queries, citing a small set of sources.Google AI ModeGoogle's conversational search surface, powered by Gemini, which answers in dialogue rather than returning a ranked list.