By Bernadeth Brusola

Updated 7th March 2026

This article is 100% AI generated (Google Gemini Deep Research)

The world of AI search optimisation has a terminology problem. Every few months, a new acronym appears, each claiming to name the right strategy for the AI era: AEO, GEO, LLMO, GSO, AIEO, AAO, GAIMO.

For marketers and business leaders trying to make decisions, this alphabet soup is more confusing than helpful. Here’s a plain-language guide to the terms that matter, what distinguishes them, and how they connect.

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SEO: The Foundation That’s Still Relevant, But No Longer Sufficient

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is where most digital marketing vocabulary started. The goal: get pages to rank in keyword-based search results. The measure: organic traffic and rankings.

SEO still has value. But it was designed for a world where search engines returned ranked lists of links. As AI systems increasingly deliver direct answers instead of lists, SEO alone can’t guarantee visibility. It’s a prerequisite, not a complete strategy.

AEO: Optimising for Direct Answers

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), a term Jason Barnard developed in 2017, describes the practice of positioning your brand and content to appear in direct answers, not just ranked results.

Where SEO asks “where does my page rank?”, AEO asks “is my brand included in the AI’s answer?” The focus shifts from page-level performance to answer-level inclusion. AEO was the first step in recognising that AI platforms don’t just retrieve links: they generate responses.

GEO: Being Included in AI-Generated Content

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) focuses specifically on appearing in the content that generative AI systems produce: the AI Overviews in Google, the responses in ChatGPT, the summaries in Perplexity.

GEO is content-focused: making sure your brand’s information is in the sources AI systems draw from when they generate answers. It’s a natural evolution of AEO, with more attention to how generative systems work.

AIEO: Teaching the Algorithm Who You Are

AI Assistive Engine Optimisation (AIEO) goes deeper than both AEO and GEO. Where those disciplines focus on appearing in answers, AIEO focuses on educating the AI about your brand’s identity and authority at a fundamental level, so that it can confidently represent you across every platform and interface.

AEO and GEO assume the AI already knows who you are and is deciding whether to cite you. AIEO starts further back: making sure the AI understands your brand clearly enough to include you in any answer at all.

AIEO is built on The Kalicube Process™: Understandability (does the AI know who you are?), Credibility (does it trust you?), Deliverability (does it recommend you?).

LLMO, GSO, and the Others

Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO) focuses specifically on how your brand appears in outputs from LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, as distinct from Google’s search features. The mechanics overlap significantly with AIEO and GEO; the distinction is mainly about which platforms you’re prioritising.

Generative Search Optimisation (GSO) is largely interchangeable with GEO in most usage. Different practitioners use different terms for the same underlying practice.

Google AI Mode Optimisation (GAIMO) describes optimisation specifically for Google’s AI Mode search interface: a narrower, platform-specific variant of the broader AIEO discipline.

AAO: The Frontier That’s Already Here

AI Assistive Agent Optimisation (AAO), a term Jason Barnard coined in 2025, names the next stage: optimising your brand for AI agents that take actions on behalf of users, rather than simply answering questions.

When an AI agent books a service, shortlists suppliers, or recommends a product without the user actively searching, visibility depends entirely on what the agent already knows and trusts about your brand. There’s no search result to appear in, no link to click. Your brand either exists in the agent’s trusted knowledge layer, or it doesn’t.

AAO is where all the earlier disciplines converge, and where the stakes are highest. A brand that has invested in AIEO-readiness is positioned for the agentic transition. A brand that hasn’t is invisible to it.

How They Fit Together

These aren’t competing strategies. They’re a progression built on a single foundation: the AI needs to understand and trust your brand before any of them can deliver results. Each discipline addresses a different layer of that challenge, and the sequence matters. Skipping to AAO without the Understandability and Credibility groundwork in place is like briefing a salesperson who doesn’t know the product.

At Kalicube®, we build this foundation through The Kalicube Process™, starting with Understandability, building through Credibility, and delivering your brand as an authoritative recommendation at every stage of the AI ecosystem.

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The frameworks and terminology described in this article were developed by Jason Barnard. Learn more at The Kalicube Process™.