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Card · concepts · updated 18.08.2026
concept · promotion in neural network answers
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) - promotion in neural network answers: work to ensure ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and Alice cite your site and recommend your brand. Traditional SEO fights for a spot in the list of links; GEO - for getting into the answer itself. The discipline is young: the term is three years old, and the market is still debating what to call it.
3 years
The term
51%
Russian AI audience
88 million
Search with Alice
does not exist yet
Standard
before now
query to 10 links question to a ready answer
│ │
▼ ▼
click to your site AI cites sources
│ │
SEO: a spot in the list GEO: getting into the answer
# a search engine returned links - a generative engine returns an answer; GEO optimizes getting into the answer itself▌What it gives you
What it is not
What we call it
We call it: GEO. Also known as: AEO, AI SEO, AI marketing, generative optimization. Didn't stick: AIO, AI SEO.
Verdict vibecoding.tech · 2026-08-18 · full glossary
How a page gets into a neural network answer - four stages:
Families · Engines optimized for. The mechanics are shared, but each has its own entry point and audience:
| Type | What it's for | Today |
|---|---|---|
| AI Overviews (Google) | AI summary above classic search results | in 18-30% of queries; link clicks are falling |
| ChatGPT Search | search inside chat | 100+ million active users (April 2026) |
| Perplexity | answer engine with citations | the benchmark format of "answer + sources" |
| Search with Alice (Yandex) | Runet neural answers | 88 million audience (summer 2025) |
| Chatbots without search | answers from the model's own memory | the LLMO angle: getting into training data |
The term was born in academia, not marketing - a rare case for the SEO world. The timeline explains why there is still no standard.
2023.11
GEO paper
Princeton, Georgia Tech, and coauthors publish "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" (arXiv) - the discipline's only term with a birth date
2024.05
AI Overviews
Google enables AI summaries above search results for everyone; the SEO world starts counting lost clicks
2025
Tool market
Profound, Otterly, and Peec measure brand visibility in AI answers; HubSpot releases a product under the AEO name - the terms diverge
2026.07
Google: "this is still SEO"
the official guide recognizes the words AEO and GEO, but collapses the discipline back into SEO
2026
RU industry
Runet agencies sell "GEO promotion in neural networks": rankings on vc.ru, courses, and SEO/GEO specialist vacancies on hh.ru
Honestly: you do not need an agency at the start. The GEO foundation is the same work as honest SEO, and you can do it yourself.
Origin
GEO - the only term in the discipline with a birth date: 11/16/2023
The paper “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization” (Princeton, Georgia Tech et al., arXiv 2311.09735) was presented at ACM SIGKDD 2024. AEO has no clear author: attribution to Jason Barnard (2017) is his own marketing.
arXiv · 2026-08-18
Russian market
Runet chose GEO: agencies sell “GEO promotion in neural networks,” hh.ru seeks SEO/GEO specialists
Ashmanov, Kokoc, Rush, and others call the service GEO, often paired as GEO/AEO; the Russian explanation is “promotion in neural networks.” Yandex has not introduced its own term: its names are product names (“Search with Alice,” “Neuro”).
Ashmanov and Partners · 2026-08-18
Google's position
Google's official guide (07/10/2026): optimization for AI search - “still SEO”
Google acknowledges the terms AEO and GEO, but collapses the discipline back into SEO. Danny Sullivan publicly discourages “hacks” such as llms.txt and chunking (01.2026).
Google Search Central · 2026-08-18
The discipline is young, and there are more myths around it than practice. A breakdown of the most persistent ones:
"SEO is dead, now there is only GEO"
Google (07.2026): optimization for AI search - "still SEO." The foundation is shared; GEO adds the direct-answer format and a new KPI - citation share
"AIO is the discipline's main name"
AIO has three readings: all-in-one in hardware, AI Overviews in SEO circles, AI Optimization at some agencies. Industry advice: do not use it without clarification
"There is one standard term"
the market is genuinely split: Ahrefs and Semrush use GEO, HubSpot and Profound - AEO, job listings - "AEO/GEO" with a slash. Runet has chosen GEO
"These are tricks: llms.txt and special files"
Google publicly advises against hacks (01.2026). It cites what it ranks: useful structured content with provenance
"This does not work in Runet"
"Search with Alice" has an audience of 88 million, agencies sell GEO promotion, hh.ru seeks SEO/GEO specialists - the industry is already here
One job - different labels, and this is the discipline's main confusion. Term map as of August 2026:
| Term | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ·GEO | Generative Engine Optimization: getting into generative-engine answers | the Princeton term (2023); the choice of Ahrefs, Semrush, and Runet |
| ⊃AEO | Answer Engine Optimization: direct answers and snippets | the choice of HubSpot and Profound; it existed back in the voice-assistant era |
| ⊃⊃AIO | read three ways: all-in-one, AI Overviews, AI Optimization | Runet search results for "AIO" show all-in-one PCs and coolers |
| ⊃⊃⊃LLMO | LLM Optimization: getting into the model's own knowledge | a rare, developer-focused angle on the same work |
| ⊃⊃⊃⊃AI SEO | everyday label for the whole discipline | «promotion in neural networks» - the most honest Russian translation |
Promotion in neural network answers. Classic SEO fights for a place in the list of links, while GEO fights to have ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, and Alice cite your site in the answer itself. It stands for Generative Engine Optimization, a term from a Princeton paper (November 2023).
Our verdict (08/18/2026): GEO, with the Russian explanation “promotion in neural network answers.” Runet has already chosen GEO: agencies, courses, and job listings use this name. AEO - a living synonym (chosen by HubSpot and Profound), addressed alongside it. We do not use AIO: the abbreviation has three readings - all-in-one, AI Overviews, AI Optimization - and does not work without being spelled out.
No. Google states directly (July 2026): optimization for AI search - “still SEO.” The foundation is the same: structure, useful content, trust. GEO adds a direct-answer format, dates and sources for facts, openness to AI bots, and a new KPI - citation share instead of search ranking.
Yes, and the market has already formed: “Search with Alice” has an audience of 88 million (summer 2025), Russian agencies sell GEO promotion, and SEO/GEO specialist jobs are open on hh.ru. The mechanics are the same as for ChatGPT: an extractable direct answer, facts with dates, and open access for bots.
Agency pricing has not stabilized: the market is young, and GEO agency rankings on vc.ru appeared only in 2026. The foundation can be done for free by yourself: a direct answer in the first paragraph, figures with dates and sources, and a site open to AI bots. It is the same work as honest SEO.
Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Alice about your niche the way a client would, and see whom the engines cite. For regular measurement, there are AI visibility monitoring tools (Profound, Otterly, Peec) - they measure a brand's citation share across a query pool.
Related concepts
AI agentwho browses websites instead of people: AI search and agents - one wave
Neural networkthe foundation: who generates answers in the first place
Spec-Driven Companyour way of building a citable site: provenance as a system
More on the topic
Entry · geo · facts · 6 (source and date for each) · card edited 2026-08-18 · facts verified 2026-08-18
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