guide
AEO vs SEO: what actually changes
SEO gets your page ranked in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) gets your business named inside the answer when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini or Google’s AI Overview. They share a foundation: on the Google search we checked, 4 of the 5 pages its AI answer cited also ranked on page one. What changes is what wins. Answer engines build their answers from pages that mention you, so roundups, Reddit and LinkedIn matter as much as your own site.
By Mad MethodUpdated 5 steps · 1 comparison
Keep the SEO foundation
Answer engines that search the web read pages that already rank. A fast, crawlable site with pages that answer real questions is still step one, for both.
what we saw
On “how to get cited by chatgpt”, Google’s AI answer cited 5 pages. 4 of them also ranked on page one: Reddit, Medium, LinkedIn and Winston Digital Marketing.
Write the answer first
SEO pages often warm up before they answer. AEO pages put the answer in the first two sentences, in words an engine can lift as they are, then explain.
what we saw
In our 4-engine test, the answers repeated companies’ own stage-fit lines almost word for word, like “purpose-built for Seed to Series A B2B SaaS”.
Earn mentions, not just links
SEO counts links to your page. AEO also counts being named on the pages the engine reads, even without a link. Get onto the roundups and comparisons in your category.
what we saw
Every source ChatGPT cited in our test was a third-party roundup, and the only agency all four engines named came in through lists like those.
Show up where answers are built
Reddit threads, LinkedIn posts, Medium articles and YouTube videos are sources too. Answer real questions there under your own name.
what we saw
Reddit, Medium and LinkedIn were in both Google’s AI answer citations and its page-one results, and a YouTube video block sat on page one too. Gemini cited a Reddit thread in our engine test.
Measure per engine
SEO has one main scoreboard: Google rankings. AEO has one per engine, and they disagree. Track which companies each engine names for your buyer’s question, every month.
what we saw
Our four engines returned four different lists for the same question. Only one agency was named in all four.
the evidence
side by side.
The same five questions, answered for SEO and for AEO, with what we observed in our engine test and in Google’s results on 21 and 22 October 2026.
| seo | aeo | what we saw | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The goal | Rank your page in the results | Get named or quoted inside the answer | Google showed an AI answer above the results on both searches we checked. |
| Where it happens | Google and Bing results pages | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews | Four engines gave four different lists for one question. |
| What wins | Relevance, links, speed | Being mentioned on the pages the engine reads | ChatGPT built its list from third-party roundups. |
| Your own site | The thing that ranks | One source among many | Perplexity used a firm’s own guides. Claude flagged the same source as self-published. |
| How you measure it | Rankings, clicks, traffic | Names and citations in answers, per engine | We count who each engine names, monthly. |
- AEO doesn’t replace SEO: 4 of the 5 pages Google’s AI answer cited also ranked on page one.
- The difference is who decides. In SEO it’s one ranking. In AEO each engine reads its own pages and names its own shortlist.
- Interest is rising fast: US searches for “what is aeo” went from 3,600 in October 2025 to 8,100 in September 2026.
sources
- Mad Method, 4-engine test (Ep.01), 21 October 2026
before you ask
fair questions.
What is AEO?
AEO, or answer engine optimization, means getting your business quoted as the answer when people ask an AI engine like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini or Google’s AI Overview, instead of only ranking a link in search results.
Is AEO replacing SEO?
No. Engines that search the web lean on pages that already rank: on the search we checked, 4 of the 5 pages Google’s AI answer cited were also on page one. AEO adds to SEO; it doesn’t swap it out.
What’s the difference between AEO and GEO?
They mostly describe the same work. GEO (generative engine optimization) is the broader name for showing up in AI-generated answers. AEO puts the focus on being the answer to a specific question. Both come down to the same jobs: answer first, facts as text, mentions elsewhere.
Do I need a new website for AEO?
Usually not. The same site works if its pages answer real questions up front and state who you serve, what you do and what it costs as plain text. Most of the extra work happens off your site, on the pages engines read.
How do I measure AEO?
Ask each engine the question your buyer would ask, with web search on, and record every company it names and every page it cites. Repeat monthly. The cited pages show you where to get mentioned next.
want us to run it?
Mad Method (madmethod.io) runs this test for your category, shows you which pages the engines cite, and then gets you onto them.