AEO vs SEO: What is the Difference?

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) are related but distinct disciplines. SEO focuses on ranking your website in Google's traditional search results — the familiar list of blue links. AEO focuses on getting your brand cited in AI-generated answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other AI tools.

The key difference is in how results are delivered. With SEO, users see a list of websites and choose which to click. With AEO, an AI system generates a direct answer and may cite specific sources. Your goal with SEO is to rank highly in the list. Your goal with AEO is to be the source the AI cites.

SEO ranking factors are well-documented: backlinks, on-page optimisation, technical health, content quality, and user experience. AEO ranking factors are less established but include: content clarity and directness, structured data, brand authority across multiple sources, entity recognition, and content accessibility to AI crawlers.

The tactics overlap significantly. High-quality content helps both SEO and AEO. Structured data benefits both. However, AEO requires additional focus on: writing clear, citable answers in the first sentence of each section; ensuring AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) can access your site; building brand mentions across sources that AI models trust; and using schema markup that helps AI understand your content.

The smartest approach is to combine both. Foundry Works' SEO + AEO Service optimises for traditional Google rankings and AI citations simultaneously, ensuring your business captures traffic from both channels. This dual approach is increasingly important as AI search grows alongside traditional search.

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