AEO in one sentence, and how it relates to SEO and GEO
SEO gets your page into the results. AEO makes a specific passage on that page the easiest one to quote as the answer. GEO (generative engine optimization) is the wider work of being cited or recommended in AI-written answers, including what other sites say about you. Our guide to generative engine optimization covers the GEO side and how to measure it; this guide stays on the page-level craft of being the answer.
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit of work | The page | The passage: a heading plus the answer under it | The brand or entity across the web |
| Typical output | A blue link | Featured snippet, People Also Ask, voice answer, a quoted line in an AI answer | A mention or citation in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude or AI Overviews |
| Main levers | Relevance, links, technical health | Question headings, answer-first writing, lists and tables, FAQ markup | Third-party mentions, consistent entity facts, original data |
| Who owns it | SEO or marketing | Whoever writes the page | Marketing, PR and leadership |
How do ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews pick sources?
They work differently, which is why one tactic does not cover all three.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google’s documentation is unusually blunt: there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. The page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet. Google also says there is no special schema and no new machine-readable or AI text file you need to add. It describes "query fan-out", where the system runs several related searches across subtopics to build one answer. The practical effect is that pages answering a sub-question cleanly ("how much does X cost", "is X legal in India") can be picked up even when they do not rank for the main query.
ChatGPT search
OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot to surface sites in ChatGPT’s search features. If you block it, your pages will not appear in ChatGPT search answers. GPTBot is a separate crawler used for model training, and OpenAI states that blocking GPTBot is independent of search. Many sites block GPTBot and allow OAI-SearchBot; that is a reasonable default if you do not want your content used for training.
Perplexity
Perplexity runs PerplexityBot to index pages for its answers, and says it is not used to train foundation models. It also has Perplexity-User, which fetches a page when someone asks a question. Allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt if you want to be cited.
Across all three, the passage that gets quoted is usually the one that answers the exact question in the fewest words, with a specific fact the model can attribute to you.
What does an AEO-ready page look like?
- H1 that matches the question, in the words buyers use: "How much does a WhatsApp AI agent cost in India?"
- A direct answer in the first two to four sentences, roughly 40 to 60 words, with a number, a range or a clear yes or no. No preamble.
- Question-style H2s for each follow-up question, each answered in its first sentence.
- Lists and tables for steps, comparisons and prices. These are easy to lift whole.
- Named facts: who you are, where, for whom, what it costs, when it was updated. Answer engines prefer statements they can attribute.
- A short FAQ covering People Also Ask questions, with self-contained two to four sentence answers.
- Sources linked for any third-party number.
- An author and an updated date visible on the page.
Step-by-step AEO checklist
- Collect 20 to 50 real questions from Google’s People Also Ask, Search Console queries, sales calls and WhatsApp chats.
- Map one primary question to each page; avoid two pages answering the same question.
- Rewrite the opening of each page so the answer comes first.
- Convert vague headings ("Our approach") into questions ("How long does setup take?").
- Add FAQPage, Article, Organization and BreadcrumbList structured data where they match visible content. Google says schema is not required for AI features, but it helps machines read entities and it still powers other rich results.
- Check robots.txt allows Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. Decide separately on training crawlers such as GPTBot.
- Submit sitemaps to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools; Bing’s index feeds several AI assistants.
- Keep entity facts identical everywhere: business name, address, phone, founder, services and prices on your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, JustDial and IndiaMART.
- Publish an llms.txt file if you like. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard in 2024 as a Markdown summary of a site for AI tools; Google says it does not need it, so treat it as an optional extra.
- Re-check answers quarterly; update prices and dates so engines do not repeat stale facts.
Worked example: rewriting a weak answer
Here is a typical opening on an Indian service page, followed by an answer-first rewrite. The facts in the rewrite are illustrative; use your own.
Before: "At XYZ Pest Solutions, we believe every home deserves to be safe. With years of experience and a passionate team, we offer a wide range of services tailored to your needs. Contact us today to learn more about our pricing."
After: "General pest control for a 2BHK flat in Gurugram costs ₹1,200 to ₹1,800 per visit, including GST. Termite treatment is priced separately, from ₹4,000 for a 2BHK. A visit takes about 90 minutes and you can re-enter after two hours. Prices updated November 2026."
The second version answers the question an engine is trying to answer, includes numbers an engine can attribute, names the place and gives a date. It also converts better with humans, because it is what the customer wanted to know.
AEO for voice search and local questions
Voice assistants read one answer aloud, so the passage must make sense spoken, without a table. Keep the first sentence under about 30 words and avoid brackets and abbreviations. For local questions such as "dentist open on Sunday near Sector 49", answer engines lean on structured local data: your Google Business Profile hours, category and reviews, plus LocalBusiness markup on your site. Holiday hours are a common gap; update them before every festival.
Common AEO mistakes
- Burying the answer under 300 words of introduction.
- FAQ markup for questions that do not appear on the page, which goes against Google’s structured data guidelines.
- Answers that depend on context ("as mentioned above") and make no sense when lifted alone.
- Different prices or service names on different pages, which teaches engines that your facts are unreliable.
- Blocking all AI crawlers in a hurry and then wondering why ChatGPT never cites you.
- Paying for "guaranteed AI citations". Nobody controls what a model says.
Does AEO work for Indian businesses?
Yes, and the bar is often low. Many Indian queries such as "AI receptionist cost in India" or "GST on software subscriptions" are answered today by thin vendor pages or generic global articles. A page that gives a direct rupee range, mentions GST, names Indian tools and states its update date has a fair chance of becoming the quoted source. Local businesses should pair page-level AEO with a complete Google Business Profile, since local answers draw heavily on it. Our guide to AI SEO for small businesses in India covers that side.
How Silvane can help
Silvane’s AI SEO and GEO service audits your top pages for answer-readiness, fixes crawler access and structured data, rewrites key pages answer-first and tracks AI citations monthly. It starts with a ₹199 discovery call and audit for founding members (normally ₹15,000). We do not promise rankings or citations; we make your facts easy to find and quote.
Sources: Google: AI features and your website · OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers · Perplexity crawlers · llms.txt proposal