GEO vs AEO vs LLMO vs SGE: An Honest Taxonomy

Four acronyms are in active use: GEO, AEO, LLMO, SGE. The trade press uses them interchangeably; academic literature draws sharper distinctions. Here's where each came from, what they actually mean, and which one we use on this site (and why).

TL;DR

• GEO — Generative Engine Optimization. Aggarwal et al. (2024). Specific to LLM-generated answers.
• AEO — Answer Engine Optimization. Predates LLMs by ~10 years. Broader umbrella including voice assistants and featured snippets.
• LLMO — Large Language Model Optimization. Effectively a synonym for GEO with a slight emphasis on no-browsing scenarios.
• SGE / AI Overviews — Google's specific product, not a discipline.

We use GEO on this site. Reasoning at the end.

GEO: Generative Engine Optimization

Coined: Aggarwal, Saxena, et al. (2024) in the paper "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", which proposed the term and tested 9 optimisation strategies against ChatGPT, BingChat, and Perplexity.

Defined as: "Optimisation of content for generative engines — search-like systems that respond with a generated answer rather than a list of links."

Scope: Specifically generative. The engine doesn't retrieve a pre-existing answer; it synthesises one from retrieved sources.

Adoption: As of mid-2026, "GEO" is the most-cited term in academic literature and is being adopted in the trade press (SEMrush, Ahrefs, MarTech blogs).

AEO: Answer Engine Optimization

Coined: ~2014–2015, in the SEO trade press, in the context of optimising for featured snippets ("position zero") and voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant).

Defined as: Structuring content so that an "answer engine" — a system that responds to a query with a direct answer rather than a SERP — uses your content as the answer.

Scope: Pre-LLM. Includes featured snippets, knowledge-graph cards, voice-assistant responses, and now AI Overviews.

Adoption: Still in use, often as a synonym for GEO. Older SEO professionals tend to prefer it.

LLMO: Large Language Model Optimization

Coined: Variously, around 2023, in the marketer-Twitter / LinkedIn ecosystem. No canonical academic paper.

Defined as: Optimisation of content for citation behaviour by LLMs, irrespective of whether the LLM is wrapped in a search interface.

Scope: Slightly broader than GEO — includes the no-browsing case (an LLM answering from training data alone, bounded by its knowledge cutoff).

Adoption: Less common than GEO in academic literature; more common in B2B marketing copy.

SGE / AI Overviews

Coined: Google, May 2023 announcement, originally as Search Generative Experience (SGE). Rebranded to AI Overviews in May 2024.

Defined as: A specific Google product feature — the generative AI panel that appears above traditional search results.

Scope: Not a discipline; not a category of optimisation. A specific surface on a specific engine.

Use: Only when discussing Google specifically. Saying "I do SGE" is like saying "I do Featured Snippets" — a sub-discipline, not the umbrella.

Where they overlap

Concept	GEO	AEO	LLMO	SGE
LLM-generated answer?	Yes	Sometimes	Yes	Yes
Pre-LLM scope?	No	Yes	No	No
Includes no-browsing LLM behaviour?	Edge	No	Yes	No
Google-specific?	No	No	No	Yes

Why we use GEO

Three reasons:

1. Specificity. GEO names the generative mechanism, which is the actual thing that changed. AEO and LLMO are either older or vaguer.
2. Academic anchor. Aggarwal et al. (2024) gives us a paper to point to. Trade-press terms drift; cited academic terms are more durable.
3. Trade trajectory. Google Trends and academic indexing both show GEO overtaking AEO in 2025–2026.

This is a judgment call. If you prefer AEO, the practical advice is the same.

FAQ

What's the difference between GEO and AEO?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), coined by Aggarwal et al. in 2024, is specific to LLM-generated answers — the engine synthesises an answer from retrieved sources rather than returning a list of links. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) predates LLMs by about ten years; it is the broader umbrella that also covers featured snippets ("position zero") and voice assistants. Older SEO professionals tend to prefer AEO, often as a synonym for GEO.

Is LLMO the same thing as GEO?

Effectively yes. LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) is a near-synonym for GEO, with a slight emphasis on the no-browsing case — an LLM answering from its training data alone, bounded by its knowledge cutoff. It has no canonical academic paper and is more common in B2B marketing copy than in the literature.

Is SGE a type of optimization?

No. SGE (Search Generative Experience), rebranded to AI Overviews in May 2024, is a specific Google product feature — the generative panel above the search results — not a discipline. Use the term only when you mean Google specifically; saying "I do SGE" is like saying "I do featured snippets."

Which term should I use?

We use GEO, for three reasons: it names the generative mechanism that actually changed; it has an academic anchor (Aggarwal et al., 2024) that drifting trade-press terms lack; and both Google Trends and academic indexing show GEO overtaking AEO across 2025–2026. It is a judgment call — if you prefer AEO, the practical advice is the same.

See also

• What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? — the longer primer.
• More in the Foundations pillar — the theory and mechanics of AI search.
• llms.txt: spec, 100-domain adoption audit, and setup — a concrete, audited technical method once you have settled on the terminology.
• Glossary: GEO, AEO, LLMO, SGE.