LLM SEO — sometimes called Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) or Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) — is the discipline of making your pages easy for large language models to extract, attribute, and trust. It overlaps heavily with classic SEO but emphasises different signals.
Why the term exists
LLMs are a new search interface. They retrieve and generate, rather than rank and link. Optimising for them requires a new label — even if 80% of the underlying work is shared with classic SEO. 'LLM SEO', 'AEO', and 'GEO' are different brand names for largely the same practice.
What's different from classic SEO
Five things weight more: extractable structure (lead with the answer, use bullet lists), entity clarity (About page + schema), source trust (third-party mentions on authoritative sites), freshness (re-publish cadence), and topical depth (clusters beat sprawl).
- Extractable structure.
- Entity clarity.
- Source trust signals.
- Freshness and re-publish cadence.
- Topical depth in a tight niche.
How to start
Pick one cluster. Audit your existing pages for extractability. Add Article + FAQPage schema. Build a 30-prompt panel of buyer-intent queries. Track citations weekly across Perplexity and ChatGPT. Iterate.
Frequently asked questions
Is LLM SEO different from AEO?
Largely the same discipline under a different name. AEO is the more established term; LLM SEO is the more literal one.
Do I need new tools?
A citation tracker helps. Otherwise, your existing CMS and analytics stack covers most of the work.
How fast can I see results?
Citations in Perplexity within weeks; ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews within 1–3 months.