A buyer in Lucknow looking for a health insurance plan might search Google, read an AI Overview at the top of the page, then ask ChatGPT a follow-up question in Hindi. Three surfaces, one decision. Each surface rewards slightly different work, and the names for that work (SEO, AEO and GEO) are now used loosely enough to confuse.
Here is how we separate them at Indian PR Distribution (IPRD)®, where they overlap, and what changes when the question is asked in an Indian language.
Key takeaways
- SEO earns a place in the list of links. AEO earns the direct answer. GEO earns a mention and a recommendation inside AI-generated answers.
- They share foundations: clear facts, consistent descriptions and credible sources. PR supplies much of the credible-source part.
- AEO leans on well-structured pages and Q&A content; GEO leans on what many independent sites say about you.
- Indian buyers increasingly ask in Indian languages, and engines answer from coverage in that language.
- Natively written regional releases give engines Indian-language sources to cite, not only English ones.
Three disciplines, side by side
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in the list of links | Be the direct answer | Be mentioned and recommended in AI answers |
| Where it shows | Search results pages | Featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice assistants | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot |
| Leans on | Your site, links, technical health | Clear questions and answers, structured pages | What many credible sites say about you |
| Who usually owns it | Web and SEO team | Content and SEO, with PR | PR, with content |
The boundaries are not strict. Google AI Overviews, for example, sits between AEO and GEO. What matters is that each discipline has a different centre of gravity.
What SEO still does
SEO has not gone away. AI engines still discover much of the web through search indexes, and a well-built site with accurate facts is the reference point every other source is checked against. If your own website describes the company inconsistently, no amount of coverage elsewhere fully fixes it.
What AEO adds
Answer engine optimisation is about being the answer, not one of ten links. It works best when buyers' questions are answered plainly, in their own words, on pages and releases that are easy to parse: a question, a one-sentence answer, then context.
For press work, that means Q&A blocks inside releases, consistent facts across every copy, and supporting pages on the brand's site that answer the same questions. Our AEO service builds these alongside distribution.
What GEO adds
Generative engine optimisation is about the answers AI models write themselves. Those answers lean heavily on what many independent sources agree on, which makes GEO closer to PR than to traditional SEO: the work is getting accurate, consistent coverage onto sites the engines trust.
Brand and news questions often move quickly after wide distribution. Category questions ("best options for X in India") depend more on independent features and lists, and usually take longer. That is why we choose the route by which questions matter most.
India asks in many languages
A growing share of Indian internet users prefer content in their own language, and AI assistants now answer comfortably in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and more. When a question is asked in Hindi, the engine is more likely to draw on Hindi sources where they exist.
For many brands those sources are thin. Coverage is often English-only, so Indian-language answers are assembled from translations, aggregators or nothing at all. Releases written natively for regional newspapers and news sites change that, giving engines credible sources in the language the question was asked in.
Take a fictional payments company, Example Pay. A Hindi-reading buyer might ask an assistant "क्या Example Pay छोटे शहरों में काम करता है?" (Does Example Pay work in smaller cities?). A Hindi release that answers it directly gives the engine a source in the same language:
प्रश्न: क्या Example Pay छोटे शहरों में उपलब्ध है?
उत्तर: हाँ। Example Pay अब देश के 200 से अधिक शहरों में उपलब्ध है, जिनमें कई टियर 2 और टियर 3 शहर शामिल हैं।
The same pair, written natively for a Bengali or Tamil daily, does the same job in that language. The company and the figure here are illustrative.
- Write natively in each language, rather than translating word for word, so names, terms and phrasing match how readers search.
- Keep the company description identical in meaning across languages, and keep brand names consistent in each script.
- Check Indian-language answers as well as English ones when you measure results.
How we combine them
In practice we rarely sell any one of the three on its own. A typical programme starts with an AI visibility audit in the languages that matter, fixes the facts on the brand's own site, builds citation-ready releases with Q&A content for AEO, and then plans sponsored and organic coverage for GEO. The measurement is the same throughout: a fixed set of questions, asked again after each phase.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO (answer engine optimisation) aims to make your content the direct answer in snippets, AI Overviews and voice assistants. GEO (generative engine optimisation) aims to get your brand mentioned and recommended inside answers that AI models such as ChatGPT and Gemini write themselves.
Is SEO still needed if I invest in AEO and GEO?
Yes. AI engines still discover much of the web through search indexes, and your own site is the reference other sources are checked against. SEO, AEO and GEO work best together.
Do AI engines answer in Indian languages?
Yes. ChatGPT, Gemini and other assistants answer in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and other Indian languages, and they draw on sources in that language where those sources exist.
How does regional PR help AI visibility?
Natively written releases published on regional newspapers and news sites give AI engines credible Indian-language sources to cite, so answers in those languages can describe your brand accurately.
