GLOSSARY

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)

IN ONE SENTENCE

AEO is optimisation for retrieval systems that answer directly, overlapping heavily with GEO.

AEO is optimisation for retrieval systems that answer directly, overlapping heavily with GEO.

01

In detail

Most practitioners treat the two as different names for the same work. AEO is the older term, rooted in voice and featured snippets; the adjacent search volume is meaningful, so educational content usually covers both terms together.

Data behind this page

8%

Click rate on traditional results with an AI summary present (15% without)

Source：Pew Research Center, 900 US adults / 68,879 searches，2025-07

Sources

  1. [1]Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search．Google Search Central．2026-05-15
  2. [2]Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears．Pew Research Center．2025-07-22

Updated 2026-08-10