Comparison
SEO vs AEO: optimizing for Google vs AI answer engines
SEO gets you ranked links in a results page. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) gets you quoted inside an AI-generated answer from ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity. You need both — the tactics overlap but the target differs.
Quick answer
SEO: SEO optimizes a page to rank in traditional search results — keywords, links, and technical crawlability. AEO: AEO optimizes content to be extracted and cited by AI answer engines — crisp definitions, structure, and machine-readable signals.
| SEO | AEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Target | A ranked blue link | A cited sentence in an AI answer |
| Rewards | Backlinks, keywords, authority | Quotable definitions, FAQ/schema, clarity |
| Measured by | Rankings, clicks, impressions | Citations & share of voice in AI answers |
| Key signals | Links, Core Web Vitals | JSON-LD, llms.txt, first-100-words answer |
| Loreto skills | Crawlability, programmatic SEO | People-Also-Ask, citation tracking, E-E-A-T |
Use SEO when
- You want traffic from Google search results
- Your buyers still start at a search box
Use AEO when
- Your buyers ask ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity instead of Googling
- You want to be the source the AI reads back
The verdict
Do both from one content base: write crisp, quotable answers with schema (AEO) on pages that are also technically crawlable and linked (SEO). Loreto has free skills for each side.
Related skills
Build the skill for your side of this
Loreto turns any source into a Claude Code skill — package, CLI + MCP, or both.