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Ranking on Google used to be the goal.
Now it’s just one layer of visibility.
The way people discover and decide is changing, fast.
And if you’re only thinking in SEO terms, you’re missing the bigger picture.
Big thanks to Chris Donnelly for the visual.
It’s not the full playbook – but a simple frame to explain how discovery is shifting: SEO → AEO → GEO.
1. SEO = Search Engine Optimization
The original game. You earn your rank on Google.
✅ Works best for: intent-based discovery
❌ But: it’s slow, it’s crowded, and it favors incumbents
How I’ve seen it work:
- Focus on a few high-intent keyword clusters.
- Build strong internal linking.
- Clean UX, mobile-first, fast-loading pages.
2. AEO = Answer Engine Optimization
This is the zero-click world, where answers show up directly in Google’s results, without sending users to your site.
✅ Works best for: direct answers and structured content
❌ But: you lose the click, and control over context
How to win:
- Structure content with clear subheaders, bullets, and FAQs.
- Answer specific questions in 40-60 words.
- Add schema markup (FAQ, How-To).
⚠️ You're not writing blog posts, you’re writing answers.
3. GEO = Generative Engine Optimization
This is the new frontier: showing up in the answers AI tools generate.
You’re not ranking a page, you’re becoming a trusted source in an AI model’s output.
✅ Best when: your goal is to influence decision-making, not just attract traffic
❌ But: the rules are evolving, and it’s harder to measure
What works:
- Be cited in authoritative sources AI pulls from (Reddit, Quora, niche blogs).
- Use entity-based content: facts, statistics, frameworks.
- Structure matters more than style, AI needs clean inputs to generate clean outputs.
⚠️ This is no longer about your website. It’s about your presence across the web.
If you're not thinking about all three: SEO, AEO, and GEO you're not competing at full scale.
Author: «David Manela»
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