What is SEO, GEO and AEO?

In short

SEO gets you ranked on Google. AEO makes you the answer in AI Overviews and voice search. GEO gets ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity to recommend you. Same goal: be found when someone needs what you do.

What each one is

Three ways people find you now

SEO Search engine optimisation

Rank in the search results

Make your site easy for Google and Bing to crawl, understand and trust: fast pages, the words your customers actually search for, clear titles, and other sites linking to you.

Shows up in: Google and Bing results
AEO Answer engine optimisation

Be the answer, not a link

Write pages around the questions people ask, with a short, direct answer first and structured data behind it, so search can lift your answer straight onto the page or read it out loud.

Shows up in: AI Overviews, featured snippets, Siri and Google Assistant
GEO Generative engine optimisation

Get recommended by AI

Make sure AI models know who you are, what you do and why you're good, with clear facts they can quote, a summary written for them, and consistent mentions across the web.

Shows up in: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot
How it works

Signals go in. Visibility comes out.

Search engines and AI models read the same things: your pages, your structured data, what others say about you. Feed them clearly and they send people your way, as a ranking, an answer or a recommendation.

Your signals
▤Your web pagesTitles, headings, answers
{ }Structured dataSchema.org JSON-LD
✦llms.txtA summary written for AI
★Reviews & mentionsWhat others say about you
⚡Fast, mobile pagesSpeed and usability

Google · Bing · ChatGPT · Perplexity

You get found
1Ranked on GoogleSEO0
✓Rich result with your servicesSEO + AEO0
✓ChatGPT recommends youGEO0
✓Cited in PerplexityGEO0
✓Quoted in an AI OverviewAEO0
0times you were found while you read this
3ways in: ranked, quoted, recommended
1set of signals feeds all three
Proof, on this site

How we set up somethingai.co.za

Everything on this list is live on the site you're reading. View the page source if you'd like to check.

  • Titles and descriptions per pageSEO

    Every page has its own title, meta description and canonical URL, written for people first and search second.

  • Business schemaSEO · GEO

    JSON-LD tells engines this is a ProfessionalService in Pretoria, who runs it, the languages, and a catalogue of every service.

  • FAQ and article schemaAEO

    This page carries FAQPage, Article and BreadcrumbList data, so its answers can be lifted straight into results.

  • Questions as headings, answers firstAEO

    Headings are the questions people type ("What is GEO?"), and each answer is one or two plain sentences before any detail.

  • An llms.txt for AI modelsGEO

    /llms.txt is a plain summary of who Niel is, what somethingAI builds, the work, and how to get in touch, written for AI to read and quote.

  • AI crawlers welcomeGEO

    robots.txt explicitly allows GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended, alongside the normal search crawlers.

  • Facts AI can quoteGEO

    The same hard facts everywhere: 19 years in business operations, 3,000+ hours hands-on with AI, Pretoria, English and Afrikaans. Consistency is what makes a model confident.

  • Sitemap with datesSEO

    /sitemap.xml lists every page with its last-updated date, so new pages like this one get crawled quickly.

  • Fast and lightSEO

    A static site with no framework and no tracking scripts. Images load lazily with fixed sizes, so nothing jumps around as the page loads.

  • Built for sharingSEO

    Open Graph and social card tags, so a shared link shows a proper title, description and image.

Still to do (off the site itself)

  • Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

    Verify the domain and submit the sitemap. Bing matters for GEO too, because some AI search tools draw on its index.

  • Google Business Profile and mentions

    A verified business listing, plus mentions on LinkedIn and trusted directories, so engines see somethingAI confirmed in more than one place.

Quick answers

Questions people ask

What is SEO?

SEO (search engine optimisation) is making your website easy for Google and Bing to find, understand and trust, so your pages rank in the normal search results when people search for what you sell.

What is AEO?

AEO (answer engine optimisation) is shaping your content so a search engine or assistant can lift a direct answer from it: Google's featured snippets and AI Overviews, and voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant.

What is GEO?

GEO (generative engine optimisation) is making sure AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity know who you are, describe you correctly and recommend or cite you when someone asks them for help.

Do I still need SEO if people use ChatGPT?

Yes. AI search tools still read the web, and many of them lean on search indexes such as Google and Bing to find pages. Good SEO is the foundation that AEO and GEO build on.

How long does it take to see results?

Technical fixes can be picked up within days of a page being re-crawled. Rankings and AI mentions usually build over weeks to months, because they depend on content, links and mentions accumulating across the web.

Get found by Google and AI → Talk to Niel
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