Guide
GEO vs SEO vs AEO, explained for small businesses
The three terms overlap and people use them loosely. Here they are side by side, plus the step none of them covers.
| Question | SEO | AEO | GEO | Act (agent test) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Showing up in normal Google and Bing results | Making pages easy to pull a direct answer from | Being mentioned accurately in AI-written answers | Whether an AI agent can complete a customer job on your site |
| Where it shows | Search results pages | AI Overviews, featured snippets, voice answers | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude | Your own booking and enquiry pages |
| What it measures | Rankings, clicks | Whether your page is used for the answer | Mentions and citations | How far the agent gets: find, understand, choose, act |
| Who it suits | Almost every business | Businesses whose customers ask questions first | Businesses compared in AI answers | Businesses that take bookings or enquiries online |
| Typical effort | Ongoing | Page-by-page edits | Ongoing, much of it off your site | Usually a few fixes to links, text and forms |
Where to start
Basics that help all four
Tick each one you can confirm on your own site. This list uses the same four steps as our Check: Find, Understand, Choose, Act. Ticks are not saved.
Check, Report or Review
| Option | Price | What you get | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Customer Check | Free | An AI agent tries one customer job on your site. A short result by email showing where it got through and where it stopped. | You want to see what happens, with no cost |
| AI Customer Report | A$195 + GST | One customer job on your site and two competitors, with evidence and what to look at first | You want to see how you compare |
| Useful Machines Review | A$1,950 + GST | 3 to 5 customer jobs, the whole journey, a prioritised fix list and a 45-minute call. The A$195 + GST for a Report is credited if you book a Review within 30 days. | You want a broader view of what is worth changing |
Questions
Do I still need SEO?
Yes. The same basics, such as clear pages and accurate listings, help with search and AI answers.
Is GEO the same as AEO?
The terms are used loosely and often mean much the same thing. Some people use AEO for answer boxes and GEO for AI chat tools.
Try it on your own site
The free AI Customer Check gives an AI agent one real customer job on your website. We stop before any real enquiry, booking or payment.