AEO, SEO and GEO: what should a small business actually do?

AEO and GEO describe efforts to make information useful in answer-based and generative search, while SEO covers broader search discovery and presentation. For a small business, the useful work is checking access, publishing clear evidence and measuring what customers actually see and do.

The labels overlap and suppliers use them differently. Ask what a proposed service changes, how that change will be checked and which outcome it claims to improve.

What do the three terms cover?

SEO is the established label for work on search discoverability and presentation. AEO usually focuses on information that can support a direct answer. GEO usually focuses on how generative systems find, select or present information.

Treat those as descriptions of emphasis rather than three independent systems with separate guaranteed rankings. A service page may need the same accurate information, source evidence and usable layout whichever label a supplier prefers.

The table is a working guide to common usage, not a standards definition. A proposal should identify the work and evidence alongside its terminology.

Does Google require a special AI file or schema?

Google's optimisation guide says Google Search does not use llms.txt as a special visibility or ranking signal and requires no special generative-search schema. Normal search fundamentals still apply.

That leaves room for a file to serve another documented purpose. An optional map for an agent integration can be useful to that integration. Check what consumes the file and what outcome has been demonstrated before treating its presence as an advantage everywhere.

Use the llms.txt validator to check the file's observable format and contents. A valid file and an observed citation remain separate facts.

What should I check first on my own site?

Choose an important customer question and the page intended to answer it. Start with the four website access checks, then read the page as a person trying to make that decision.

For a local UK service page, useful details can include the actual service area, what the work covers, how a quote is supplied and when the information was checked. An unsupported claim to be the best in the country adds little that someone can verify.

Use the crawler checker for access signals and the schema checker for declared entities. Review each result against its stated scope rather than merging them into a claim about recommendations.

How should I judge an AEO or GEO proposal?

Ask the supplier to show a concrete example of the problem and the planned change. A useful proposal identifies the pages involved, the source of the facts, the acceptance check and the work needed to keep the information current.

Ask for the observation count behind percentages. Keep supplied case studies separate from results measured on your own business, and check whether tests were run with the supplier's tool already connected.

How can I measure progress without buying a tracker?

Use the free AI visibility log for a small repeatable set of questions. Record mentions, citations, tool calls and referrals separately.

Technical checks are useful because they can identify a specific repair. A citation observation is useful because it records what happened for a question. Business outcomes help you decide whether the work deserves more time. Keeping those records separate makes the next action easier to choose.

A reasonable first month can focus on a few valuable pages and a small observation set. Review the evidence and the questions customers ask before commissioning a large set of new pages. Retain the initial measurements, so a later improvement has a clear comparison point rather than an account of a successful demonstration.

Which questions come up most often?

Do I need separate pages for AEO and GEO keywords?

Create a page when it answers a distinct useful question. Use the terminology your readers understand and avoid duplicating an answer solely to target another label.

Will FAQ schema guarantee a special search result?

Structured data should describe the visible page accurately. Do not treat its presence as a promise of display, citation or ranking.

What is the first useful improvement?

Choose one important customer question, check the intended page is accessible, improve its verifiable answer and record comparable observations after the change.