SEO, local SEO, AEO, GEO and AI Overviews
Five terms agencies use interchangeably that actually mean different things. Here is the plain version, with an example for each.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Getting your website to rank in normal Google search results.
The broad practice of making a website easy for search engines to understand and rank - fast pages, clear content that matches what people search for, a sensible structure, links from other sites, and technical basics like a sitemap and structured data.
When people say "SEO" without qualifying it, they usually mean ranking in the standard list of blue links for searches that are not tied to a location.
Example: A search for "clinic management software" - you want your page in the top results nationally.
Local SEO
Showing up when someone nearby searches for what you do.
A specific slice of SEO focused on location-based searches - "physio near me", "printing shop in Gachibowli". It is driven mostly by your Google Business Profile (categories, reviews, photos, correct hours), consistent name-address-phone details across the web, and location-specific pages on your site.
For a business with a physical location or a service area, local SEO usually produces faster, more visible results than general SEO - calls and direction requests rather than distant traffic.
Example: Someone in Kondapur searches "sports rehab near me" and your clinic is in the map pack of three results.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Being the source a direct answer is pulled from.
Optimising so that when a search engine answers a question directly - a featured snippet, a "People also ask" box, a voice-assistant reply - your page is the one it quotes.
It rewards content written as clear, self-contained answers to real questions, with an obvious question-and-answer structure and supporting FAQ schema, rather than long marketing prose.
Example: Someone asks Google "how long does physiotherapy for a rotator cuff take" and the answer box quotes your treatment page.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Getting named and cited by AI chat tools.
Optimising to be referenced by generative AI systems - ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini - when they compose an answer. These tools synthesise from many sources and often cite the ones they used.
GEO overlaps heavily with AEO and good SEO: clear, factual, well-structured text; consistent information about your business across the web; and structured data that tells a machine plainly what you are, where you are, and what you do. If your key details are baked into an image, you are invisible to this layer.
Example: Someone asks ChatGPT "who is a good physio in Madhapur" and your clinic is one of the names it returns.
AI Overviews
Google's own AI-generated summary at the top of some results.
A specific Google feature: an AI-written summary that appears above the normal results for many searches, pulling from and linking to several web pages.
Appearing in AI Overviews is a GEO and AEO outcome on Google specifically. The same fundamentals apply - answer the question clearly, structure the page well, and keep your business information consistent everywhere.
Example: You search "best way to improve local ranking" and Google shows a summary paragraph with links before any blue link.
You may also see "AIO" used loosely to mean "AI Optimization" - an umbrella term for GEO plus AEO plus appearing in AI Overviews. We treat it as the combined goal rather than a separate technique.
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