The vocabulary around AI search is messy because several terms appeared before the market settled on a shared definition. The useful way through it is to separate methods from outcomes.
AI visibility
AI visibility is the outcome: whether AI systems understand, mention, cite or recommend a business for relevant questions. It can be discussed at two levels — readiness and observed recommendation visibility.
GEO: Generative Engine Optimization
GEO describes work intended to improve performance in generative search and AI-generated answers. Google’s 2026 guidance says that, from its perspective, GEO and AEO are still SEO because its generative features are rooted in core Search systems.
AEO: Answer Engine Optimization
AEO usually focuses on making content suitable for direct answers: clear questions, concise explanations, structured information and source-quality signals. In practice it overlaps heavily with good content design and SEO.
AI SEO
AI SEO is a broader practical label for applying SEO principles with AI search in mind: technical access, non-commodity content, entities, off-site evidence and measurement.
Which term should a business use?
Use the term your audience understands. For strategy, Visible2 prefers AI visibility as the measurable business outcome. GEO, AEO and AI SEO are useful ways to describe work that may improve that outcome.
What not to do
Do not create a separate page for every acronym if the content would be identical. Google explicitly warns against producing large numbers of pages for query variations and says its generative systems can understand nuanced, multi-topic pages.
Read the definitive guides to Generative Engine Optimization and AI SEO.