SEO vs AEO: What’s the Difference?

SEO helps people find your website. AEO helps AI tools recommend your business. Here’s what that means for you, in plain English.

If you’ve spent any time around marketing lately, you’ll have heard the term SEO. More recently, a newer term has started popping up: AEO. They sound similar, they’re closely related, and they both matter for getting your business found online. But they’re not the same thing. Here’s a simple explanation of what each one is and why both deserve your attention.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It’s the work you do to help your website show up when someone types a question or a product into a search engine like Google.

Think of it like this: when a customer searches “plumber near me” or “best running shoes for flat feet”, Google decides which websites to show first. SEO is everything you do to earn one of those top spots, from using the words your customers actually search for, to making your website fast, helpful and well structured.

The goal of SEO is simple: get more of the right people to click through to your website. It’s the digital equivalent of having a great retail location with clear signage.

What is AEO?

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation. It’s the newer cousin of SEO, and it exists because of the way people are starting to search.

Instead of typing into Google and clicking a link, more and more people are asking a question directly to an AI tool, such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI overviews, or a voice assistant. These tools don’t just hand back a list of websites. They give a single, written answer, often recommending specific businesses, products or services.

AEO is the work you do to make sure your business is the one those AI tools mention in their answer. Rather than competing for a spot on a results page, you’re aiming to be the trusted source the AI quotes or recommends.

The key difference

The simplest way to remember it:

• SEO helps your website appear in a list of search results, so a person can choose to click through to you.
• AEO helps your business appear inside an AI-generated answer, so you’re recommended before the person even visits a website.

With SEO, you’re trying to win the click. With AEO, you’re trying to win the recommendation.

Do they work together?

Yes, and this is the important part. AEO doesn’t replace SEO; it builds on it. Many of the things that make your website rank well on Google, such as clear, genuinely helpful content, a trustworthy reputation, and information that directly answers your customers’ questions, are the same things that help AI tools choose to recommend you.

In other words, doing the groundwork well sets you up to be found both ways: by people searching the traditional way, and by people relying on AI to do the searching for them.

What this means for your business

The way customers find businesses is changing, but the fundamentals haven’t. Whether it’s Google ranking your page or an AI tool quoting your answer, both reward businesses that are clear about what they offer, who they help, and why they’re worth choosing.

If you’re not sure whether your business is set up to be found, both on search engines and by the growing number of AI answer tools, we’re happy to help. Book a free consultation and we’ll walk you through where the opportunities are.