For years, being found online meant one thing: ranking on Google. That is still true, but it is no longer the whole story. People now get answers from featured snippets, from voice assistants and from AI tools that write the answer for them. Each of those needs slightly different work.
SEO: get the link
Search engine optimization is about ranking your pages in the list of results. It covers the technical health of your site, the content on it and the links pointing to it. It is the foundation the other two are built on.
AEO: be the answer
Answer engine optimization targets the direct answers search engines show: featured snippets, "People also ask" boxes and what a voice assistant reads out. The work is mostly about asking the right questions and answering them clearly, with structured data so the engine can read your page.
GEO: get cited by AI
Generative engine optimization is about showing up when someone asks an AI tool for a recommendation. These tools pull from many sources, so consistency matters: clear facts about your brand, content that is easy to quote and mentions in places the models trust.
So which one do you need?
Start with SEO, because the other two lean on it. Then add AEO for the questions your customers ask most, and GEO to make sure AI tools describe your brand correctly. Done together, they cover every way someone might look for you.
