- GEO, AEO and LLMO mean essentially the same thing: preparing content so that AI systems find it, understand it and cite it.
- Some of it is proven: in the GEO study by Princeton University, certain methods increased visibility in generated answers by up to 40%.
- Fixed "AI rankings", guaranteed mentions and structured data as a lever for more citations are not proven.
- You can tell a credible provider by its measurement method, not by its promises.
The terms GEO, AEO and LLMO show up in trade articles, agency offers and conference programs. Skepticism is fair: a new field attracts big promises. This article separates what studies prove from what does not hold up. A disclosure first: SEOX sells GEO services itself. That is why every claim here comes with a source. For the definition of GEO, see the guide What is GEO?.
GEO, AEO, LLMO: three names, one question
| Term | Full name | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| GEO | Generative Engine Optimization | Visibility in generated answers; the term comes from a study by Princeton University |
| AEO | Answer Engine Optimization | Answers for answer systems such as voice assistants and answer boxes in search |
| LLMO | Large Language Model Optimization | Visibility in language models such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini |
In practice, all three terms describe the same work. If someone tells you that you need a separate strategy for each term, they are selling you labels rather than results.
Is GEO real? What has been proven
The term goes back to a research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues, published at the KDD 2024 conference. The authors built a test dataset with questions from many subject areas and tested how changes to source texts affect their visibility in generated answers. Result: certain methods increased visibility by up to 40% (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024). Adding statistics and quotations performed best; classic keyword stuffing did little. The authors stress that the effect varies by subject area.
The study is not a blank check. It was run under controlled conditions, and today's systems have changed since. It does show that visibility in AI answers can be influenced with measurable methods. The table below rates the most common claims:
| Claim | Assessment | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Content can be prepared so that it appears more often in generated answers | Proven under lab conditions, up to 40% | Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024 |
| Statistics and quotations work better than keyword stuffing | Proven under lab conditions | Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024 |
| Brand mentions on the web correlate more strongly with AI visibility than backlinks | Partly proven: correlation across 75,000 brands, no proof of cause | Ahrefs, December 2025 |
| Good Google rankings automatically lead to AI citations | Not proven: only 12% of cited links rank in Google's top 10 | Ahrefs, August 2025 |
| There are fixed ranking positions in ChatGPT | Not proven: identical brand lists in fewer than 1 in 100 cases | SparkToro, January 2026 |
| Structured data increases the number of AI citations | Not proven: no notable increase in a controlled study of 1,885 pages | Ahrefs, May 2026 |
| AI Overviews require special files or special markup | Not proven: Google lists no additional technical requirements | Google Search Central |
What is not proven or does not hold up
Nobody can guarantee mentions in ChatGPT, because no provider controls what these systems answer. Fixed ranking positions do not exist either: SparkToro ran twelve prompts 2,961 times through ChatGPT, Claude and Google's AI search, and ChatGPT and Google's AI returned the same list of brands twice in fewer than one in a hundred cases (SparkToro, January 2026). A report that tells you you are "number 2 in ChatGPT" is measuring something that does not exist in that form.
Stay sober about structured data. It helps search engines understand a page and belongs to clean SEO. As a lever for more AI citations, the Ahrefs controlled study did not confirm it (Ahrefs, May 2026). The same goes for files such as llms.txt: Google lists no additional technical requirements for AI Overviews and AI Mode (Google Search Central), and we know of no study that shows an effect of llms.txt on citations. If a GEO offer is built around measures like these, it starts in the wrong place.
GEO vs. SEO: is it just rebranded SEO?
Not quite. A lot stays the same: a page has to be technically clean and indexed, answer the search intent and carry authority. What is new: AI systems cite different sources than the Google rankings show, mentions outside your own website carry more weight, and success is measured as mention rates across many queries instead of positions. The guide LLMO vs. SEO covers the differences in detail.
Do I need to deal with this as a marketing lead?
That depends on your business. Check these questions:
- Do your customers research before buying, for example for services, B2B offers or products that need explaining?
- Do ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews name your competitors when you ask your customers' typical questions?
- Do prospects mention in the first call that they found you through an AI search?
If none of them applies, keeping an eye on the topic is enough. If one applies, measuring your starting point is worth it. How companies track inquiries from AI assistants is covered in the guide Winning new customers through ChatGPT.
How to spot a credible GEO provider
- The provider discloses its measurement method: which questions, which systems and how many runs per question.
- It measures each system separately instead of reporting one overall score across all AI systems.
- It measures a baseline before starting, so changes become visible.
- It does not guarantee mentions or promise "number 1 in ChatGPT".
- It backs claims with studies and names their limits.
- It explains which work happens on your website and which happens elsewhere.
What the measurement looks like in practice is explained in the guide Measuring AI visibility. How we turn study findings into content is shown on our citation engineering page. More selection criteria are in the comparison GEO agencies in Switzerland and the guide Choosing an SEO agency. Our own offer is described on the page GEO agency Switzerland.
Updated: November 9, 2026 · Author: Baris Gündogdu, founder of SEOX GmbH
Sources: Aggarwal et al., GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024, arxiv.org; Ahrefs, Top Brand Visibility Factors in ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overviews (75k Brands Studied), December 12, 2025, ahrefs.com; Ahrefs, Only 12% of AI Cited URLs Rank in Google’s Top 10 for the Original Prompt, August 11, 2025, ahrefs.com; SparkToro, AIs are highly inconsistent when recommending brands or products, January 28, 2026, sparktoro.com; Ahrefs, We Tracked 1,885 Pages Adding Schema. AI Citations Barely Moved., May 11, 2026, ahrefs.com; Google Search Central, AI features and your website, developers.google.com.