What’s the difference between AIO, AEO and GEO?

The world of search is changing fast, and it’s no longer just about ranking on Google. If you’ve come across terms like AIO, AEO, and GEO, you’re not alone. With all these new terms running around the internet, what is the difference between AIO, AEO and GEO. These are the new pillars of modern digital visibility—and each plays a slightly different role in helping your business show up, stand out, and stay relevant in an AI-driven world.

AIO: AI Optimisation

AI Optimisation (AIO) focuses on making your content usable by large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Bing Copilot. It’s about structuring your content so these AI tools can reference it confidently when generating answers for users. AIO helps your content become part of the answer, not just the search results.

Key features of AIO:

• Clear, human-sounding content
• Structured data and context
• Trustworthy, well-organised information
• Optimised for summarisation and citation by AI

AEO: Answer Engine Optimisation

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is about crafting content that answers specific user questions directly. It’s focused on helping your site show up in featured snippets, voice search results, and other direct-answer formats on platforms like Google and Siri.

Key features of AEO:

• FAQ-style content
• Question-based headings and responses
• Structured, scannable layouts
• Designed for zero-click results (like Google snippets)

GEO: Generative Engine Optimisation

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the big-picture strategy that includes both AIO and AEO. GEO looks at how your entire digital presence can be improved to work better with AI tools that are generating content, answers, and summaries.

Key features of GEO:

• Question-based content
• Structured, scannable formatting
• Context-rich writing
• Authoritative tone and trustworthy sources
• Technical optimisation
• Content that’s AI-ready

At its core, GEO makes your website a reliable source for AI tools to pull from. This means your content doesn’t just rank—it gets included in the answers that people trust, whether they’re on Google, asking Siri, or chatting with an AI assistant.

Think of it like this:

• AIO makes your content usable by AI
• AEO makes your content findable in answer boxes
• GEO combines both approaches to future-proof your visibility

At Fort Hartley, we use all three strategies to make sure your brand doesn’t just show up—it becomes the source AI tools rely on to inform, inspire, and answer.