Why this matters now
A client looking for a lawyer or a dentist used to type a search and scan ten blue links. Today that same search often starts with an AI-generated answer at the top of Google, or happens entirely inside ChatGPT or Perplexity. The answer names a few businesses. Everyone else is invisible for that search.
That does not make SEO obsolete. It means the work now has three layers, each with a different goal.
SEO: rank in the results
Search engine optimization is the foundation: a technically healthy site, pages that match what clients search, local signals like your Google Business Profile, and links from trusted sites. It is still where most clicks come from.
It also feeds the other two layers. AI answers lean heavily on pages that already rank and that search engines already trust.
AEO: show up in the answer
Answer engine optimization focuses on the question rather than the keyword. When someone asks “how long does a divorce take in Ontario” or “are dental implants painful”, the answer engine looks for a page that answers clearly, near the top, in language it can quote.
In practice that means answer-first writing, FAQ sections that address real client questions, and structured data that labels what each page is about.
GEO: get cited as a source
Generative engine optimization is about trust at the entity level. Generative engines build an understanding of your business from many signals: your site, your profiles, directory listings, reviews, news mentions and structured data. Consistent, accurate facts across those sources make you easier to recommend.
Practical GEO work includes schema markup, an llms.txt file, consistent business information across the web, and earning mentions on sites AI tools already trust.
How they work together
Think of it as a stack. SEO makes you findable. AEO makes your content quotable. GEO makes your business trustworthy enough to name. A program that only does one of the three leaves gaps that competitors can use.
In our client work we track all three in one report: rankings, presence and position inside AI answers, and the calls and forms that result.
Published by Oction Agency, October 31, 2026.
