The three acronyms, in plain English
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the work of being found when someone types a query into Google or Bing. It is the discipline you already know: rankings, keywords, links, page experience.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is the work of being the source an AI assistant cites when someone asks it a question. Think ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude or Google’s AI Overviews. The output is not a list of links; it is a synthesised answer that may name one or two businesses by name.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is the same discipline as AEO, viewed from the platform side: optimising for any generative AI surface, not only the answer/chat box. The two terms are mostly interchangeable in current usage.
Why the underlying work is mostly the same
The relief, especially for service businesses with finite marketing budgets, is that the signals AI assistants use to decide who to recommend are largely the same signals Google uses to rank you locally: structured data, citations, consistent NAP, strong reviews, and clear topical content.
A business with a healthy Local SEO Retainer in 2026 is already doing most of the AEO/GEO work. What changes is the emphasis: explicit Q&A content, schema markup that names entities clearly, and citations from sources AI models actually train on (Wikipedia, industry publications, well-formed Google Business Profile data).
Where AEO and SEO actually diverge
The differences matter at the margins. AI assistants weight third-party mentions and citations more heavily than traditional search, because they cannot easily verify a self-published claim. A glowing self-description on your About page counts for less than a single mention in an industry publication.
AI surfaces also reward concise, factual answers. A page that buries the answer to "what does X cost in Orlando" three scrolls deep is less likely to be cited than a page that opens with the answer in the first paragraph. Writing for AEO is, in practice, writing for skimmability.
What to prioritise in 2026
For a service business in Central Florida, the practical 2026 priority order looks like this: keep the local SEO foundation healthy (it serves both audiences), add explicit FAQ content to every service page, mark up your business with strong LocalBusiness schema, earn one or two real third-party mentions per quarter, and consider AI Automation on your own site so AI-driven traffic actually converts when it lands.
Frequently asked questions.
Ready to talk?
If this guide helped, the next step is a 15-minute discovery call. We’ll look at where you rank today across Google Search, Maps and AI search, and walk you through the first moves we’d make on your behalf.
Related services: AI Automation · Local SEO Retainer
Rachel Brum
Co-founder & SEO Strategy Lead · Meet the teamRachel leads SEO strategy at Axel SEO, turning local-search complexity into clear plans that Florida service businesses actually own.
