THE ACRONYM SOUP.
In the last two years the consultant class has invented a new acronym for AI search every six weeks. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation), AIO (AI Optimisation), LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation), SEO 2.0, AI SEO, generative search optimisation, citation engineering.
Each acronym claims to be a new discipline. Each consultant is the certified expert in their preferred framing. Most of the work is the same.
THE CLAIMS.
Stripped to essentials:
- GEO: optimise for generative engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity).
- AEO: optimise for answer engines (any engine that produces direct answers, including AI surfaces and feature-snippet-style Google results).
- AI SEO: do SEO with AI engines as the target.
- AIO: same as AI SEO with one less letter.
- LLMO: optimise specifically for large language model behaviour.
- Citation engineering: optimise for being cited specifically (a subset of GEO/AEO).
THE WORK IS EFFECTIVELY THE SAME.
Read past the brand-defining language and the actual work each discipline prescribes is overlapping to the point of identity:
- Server-side rendering / extractable HTML.
- Schema markup with stable entity grounding.
- Bing index + IndexNow.
- robots.txt with explicit AI-bot allowlist.
- RSS feed enrichment.
- Content with answer-first structure.
- Internal linking and topical clustering.
- Citation tracking across AI surfaces.
THE REAL DISTINCTION.
There IS one distinction in the work worth making, and it cuts perpendicular to the acronyms:
- Input-side AI visibility: technical conditions under which AI engines can ingest, parse, and surface your content. Schema, HTML, RSS, robots.txt, freshness, linking. Six of the seven dimensions of the AI Visibility Score (article N. 03).
- Output-side AI visibility: actual citation behaviour across the four major AI surfaces, measured. The seventh dimension.
A SHARPER FRAMEWORK.
Drop the acronyms. Use "AI visibility" as the umbrella term. Subdivide as needed:
- AI visibility (the broad practice).
- Input-side AI visibility (the technical work).
- Output-side AI visibility (the measurement work).
- Per-surface optimisation when needed ("ChatGPT-specific", "Perplexity-specific").
THE BOTTOM LINE.
Acronyms in this space exist mostly because consultants need to sound like the certified expert in something. The underlying work is technical SEO with adjusted targets. Use "AI visibility" if you need an umbrella term. Use "input-side" vs "output-side" if you need a sharper subdivision. Drop GEO/AEO/AIO/LLMO; they are noise.