GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing content specifically for generative AI search platforms — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — as a discipline parallel to traditional SEO and to AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).
Where classic SEO targets ranking on a search-results page, GEO targets being surfaced, summarized, or cited inside an AI-generated answer. That runs on different signals than Google ranking: per-platform citation logic and training-data lag (each AI vendor's retrieval/ranking pipeline evolves independently of Google's), and structural tactics that also serve AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) — a single clear claim per page, front- and back-loaded answers, and evidence-backed claims over bare assertions.
Practitioners describe a transitional window (estimated at roughly 6-8 months as of 2026) during which SEO and GEO techniques can be pursued in the same piece of content before the two disciplines fully diverge — after which content built purely for Google ranking may need separate treatment from content built to be cited by AI answer engines.