AI SEO (ChatGPT SEO, AI Search Optimization)
The industry umbrella term for getting your brand or pages cited in AI search answers such as ChatGPT search, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity — the underlying concepts are GEO and AEO
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO is the industry umbrella term for the work of getting your brand or pages cited or mentioned in AI search answers — ChatGPT search, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, and similar engines. "ChatGPT SEO" and "LLM SEO" are used with the same meaning.
It is not a separate third technique; it bundles two concepts that are already defined. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) raises the odds of being cited as a brand or source inside an AI response, and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) shapes sentences and structure so a page is selected as the source of a direct answer.
Why people search for this name
When RanketAI extracted Google Trends related queries on 2026-09-11 over a 12-month window, "ai seo" was the top query related to "SEO" in Korea (index 100), and in the US it ranked high (79) among queries related to "ChatGPT SEO". People search using the name "AI SEO" while the concepts are defined as GEO and AEO, so a term map is needed.
| Term | Definition | Exposure surface |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Rank higher in search results to earn clicks | List of ranked links |
| AEO | Be selected as the source of a direct answer | Featured snippet, answer sentence in an AI response |
| GEO | Be cited as a brand or source inside an AI response | Body of the AI response |
| AI SEO | Umbrella term covering AEO and GEO | AI search answers in general |
What differs by engine
The conditions for citable content point the same way, but crawler access must be checked per engine. OpenAI documents OAI-SearchBot (search) separately from GPTBot (training), and sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. Google sets no special optimization requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode and applies its standard technical requirements — indexed and eligible for a snippet.
Where to start
- Check crawler access — verify in
robots.txt, bot by bot, whether OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, Google-Extended, and PerplexityBot are allowed. - Measure per question — enter the questions your customers ask an AI, in the same wording, into ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and record whether and where your brand appears.
- Strengthen citable structure and third-party sources — question-style headings, a direct-answer opening, comparison tables, explicit sources, and FAQ; for third-party pages follow identify → classify → execute → re-measure.
The evidence and measurement tables are in What Is AI SEO (ChatGPT SEO)? How It Relates to GEO and AEO, and Where to Start.
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