AI SEO
AI SEO is a loose name for getting your brand named in AI answers. It's also used for doing SEO work with AI tools.
AI SEO usually means working to get your brand named and cited in AI answers, on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. It's the same work people call GEO or AEO.
The trouble is that the phrase has a second meaning. Some people use it for using AI tools to do ordinary SEO, like writing content or researching keywords. So when you hear the phrase, it's worth asking which one is meant.
AI SEO, GEO and AEO
GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) are the more precise names for being visible in AI answers. AI SEO is the term people reach for when they come from search engine optimization and want a word that sounds familiar. In practice, all three describe the same goal. See GEO and AEO for more.
What carries over from SEO
A lot of SEO still matters. AI platforms that search the web find pages much like a search engine does, so pages that can be crawled, load fast and answer a question clearly are easier for them to use. Links and mentions from other sites still help, because those are the pages the platforms read about you.
What's different
In SEO, you work toward a position on a results page. In AI search, the platform writes the answer itself, often from pages you don't own, like reviews, directories and forum threads. You can rank first on Google and still be left out of the answer.
For example, a running shoe brand might rank well for the search "best trail running shoes." Yet ChatGPT's answer names the three brands a popular review site recommends. Getting onto that review is the AI SEO work, more than changing the brand's own page.
AI SEO in AnswerOrbit
We show which pages the platforms read for your questions in Sources, including the ones that name your competitors and not you.