AEO vs. GEO in 2026: When to Use Each — A Practical Guide for Marketers
Most marketers treat AEO and GEO like interchangeable strategies. They’re not. Understanding the difference — and when to apply each — is one of the smartest moves you can make for AI-driven search in 2026. A quick primer: AEO — Answer Engine Optimization: Optimizing content to be returned as a direct answer in featured snippets, People Also Ask (PAA) boxes, and voice-assistant responses. GEO — Generative Engine Optimization: Optimizing content so AI systems (like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and other generative assistants) cite, summarize, or use your content when producing long-form or conversational responses. Both matter. But they serve different goals. Use this guide to decide which approach to prioritize for a given page, how to structure content so it’s useful to search engines and generative models, and where businesses commonly stumble. 1. Core differences — what each does best AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Purpose: Get your content returned verbatim or nearly verbatim ...