Old MacDonald had a… GEO? SEO, AEO, LLMO – EI-EI-Oh!

Lia Bartley

If you’ve been around digital marketing long enough to remember when “just add some keywords” was a strategy, you’ll know how quickly the goalposts move.

One minute we’re all obsessing over backlinks, the next Google throws in “helpful content” updates, and now AI (artificial intelligence) tools are rewriting how people search altogether.

Welcome to the new world of optimisation. Search engines aren’t the only players anymore. Generative and answer-based engines are now shaping how customers find and trust your business online. So, while SEO (search engine optimisation) is still the backbone, it’s evolved a few new cousins: GEO (generative engine optimisation), AEO (answer engine optimisation), and LLMO (large language model optimisation).

Let’s break them down in plain English.

SEO – the classic

Search engine optimisation is still the bread and butter. It’s the work you do to make sure your website appears when someone searches for what you offer.

You optimise pages for keywords, make sure your site runs fast, get good backlinks and create content that actually helps people.

Example: You run a dog grooming business in Chester. If someone Googles “dog grooming Chester” and your site appears high up, that’s SEO working its magic. Simple, honest, hard-earned visibility.

Here’s the twist though – people aren’t just searching on Google anymore. They’re asking AI tools questions instead.

GEO – the new kid on the block

Generative engine optimisation is the hot new acronym in town. It’s about helping your content show up inside AI-generated answers, like when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question.

Think of GEO as SEO for the AI era. It’s not about blue links; it’s about being named in an answer.

For example: Someone types into ChatGPT, “What are the best dog groomers in Chester?” If the AI mentions your business by name or pulls details from your site, you’ve cracked GEO.

To do this, your content needs to be clear, structured, factual and recognisable, as AI tools prefer confident, concise information they can quote.

AEO – the voice of reason

Answer engine optimisation overlaps with GEO but focuses more on voice assistants and featured snippets. It’s about being the direct answer when someone asks a specific question.

Think Alexa, Siri, or Google’s “People also ask” boxes. For instance, someone asks, “How often should I groom a cockapoo?” If Google reads your blog post as the answer and puts it in that top snippet box – that’s AEO in action.

To win here, you need to structure your content around questions and answers. Add FAQs and make sure you actually answer the question in the first line, not halfway through a paragraph of waffle.

LLMO – the brain training

Large language model optimisation is about feeding the machines. AI models like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini learn from public information across the web. LLMO means structuring and publishing content that helps those models understand who you are, what you do and why you’re credible.

Let’s say your Chester dog grooming business has consistent details across your site, your Google profile, social media and reviews. You’ve got articles that clearly describe what you offer, plus some mentions in local news or blogs. When someone asks an AI tool “Who are the top-rated dog groomers in Cheshire?”, the model recognises you as a known, trusted entity.

This is LLMO – teaching the robots that you exist and are worth talking about.

So, to sum up, SEO isn’t dying; it’s expanding. The way people search is changing, and the way we optimise has to change with it. Whether someone finds you on Google, hears about you through Alexa or reads about you in an AI summary, the principle stays the same – clarity, credibility and consistency.

If all these acronyms sound like a digital alphabet soup, don’t worry. At Engage Web, we live and breathe this stuff. We can help you adapt your strategy so your business stays visible in search results, in AI answers and everywhere in between. Get in touch with us today and let’s make sure your business doesn’t just keep up – it stands out.

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Lia Bartley

Content Editor at Engage Web

With years of experience in the financial sector, Lia has swapped the world of mis-sold PPI in exchange for life as an eagle-eyed editor at Engage Web, ensuring our wonderful clients have equally wonderful content on their websites.