AEO and GEO explained: how to get your business named by ChatGPT and Google AI

A customer used to type "best digital marketing agency in Bengaluru" into Google and open five links. Now many of them ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Mode and get one short answer with a few names in it. If your business is not in that answer, you are invisible to that customer.

AEO and GEO in plain words

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): making your content the clear, direct answer to a question.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): making AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews trust and mention your brand.

In practice they overlap so much that most people use the words together.

What actually helps

1. Answer first. Put the direct answer in the first two lines under a heading that is written like the question people ask.
2. Be specific. Say who you serve, where, what you charge or how pricing works, and how long things take. Vague pages are not quoted.
3. Add real FAQs and mark them up with FAQ schema so machines can read them.
4. Let AI bots in. Check your robots.txt is not blocking them, and keep the site fast and simple.
5. Be mentioned elsewhere. AI tools lean on what other sites say about you: reviews, directories, communities and articles. Your own website alone is not enough.
6. Keep facts consistent across your website, Google Business Profile and social profiles.

What is hype

A 15-minute test you can do today

1. Write 10 questions your ideal customer would ask, for example "best [your service] in [your city]".
2. Ask each one in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
3. Note whether you are mentioned, and which competitors are.
4. Repeat monthly and see what changes.

Want us to do this for your business and fix the gaps? Message us on WhatsApp for a free AI visibility check.