AIO, GEO…What Do They Mean (and Why Do They Suddenly Matter)?

Marketing circles are abuzz with what marketers claim is the future of search: GEO. Or was it AIO? Maybe AISO? No, it’s probably LLMO.

That’s a lot of acronyms—all of which decided to pop out like daisies just last month.

As if good ol’ search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t already a handful thanks to its strict and ever-changing playbook, AI’s throwing its hat in the ring. While not entirely gone, the days when a brand can rely on ranking at the top of organic search results have changed. As you’ll find out later, the playing field has shifted to the snippets.

Breaking Down the Acronyms

We weren’t kidding when we said these terms suddenly emerged last month. As data from Google Trends shows, interest in AI optimization (AIO) picked up steam at the start of June and reached its peak mid-month.

Data source: Google Trends

It’s hard to pinpoint a specific event responsible for the surge in interest. The next closest thing we can find is BrightEdge’s survey of over 750 marketers, which was also conducted in the same month. While over half of marketers still field SEO or digital marketing teams, over two-thirds are adjusting their strategies to conform to AI technology. (1)

It’s also possible that the shift has been months in the making, only culminating in June. A Bain & Company report last February found that increasing dependence on AI summaries has caused a 15 to 25% drop in website traffic. Forbes confirmed it with a piece published in mid-June, stating that various sites have experienced a 10% decline. (2)(3)

Thanks to AI, search engine technology has advanced to the point where users no longer have to visit a site or page. Snippets and AI summaries supply the information they need. While convenient for users, it impacts businesses’ ability to attract and convert leads.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, we have to find out what these acronyms mean.

Artificial Intelligence Optimization (AIO)

AIO is somewhat of a misnomer in this context, as it isn’t necessarily relevant to SEO. The term refers to a discipline concerned with designing digital content to be easily retrievable by large language models (LLMs).

A more relevant term would be AI search optimization (AISO), which designs content to be more visible in AI-powered environments. In Google, these include the AI Overview and AI Mode. These systems work by gathering information from relevant results and formulating easy-to-digest summaries based on the user’s query.

Some experts define AISO as the unification of traditional search engines and AI tools. Think of it as a step above AISEO, which entails optimizing content for AI-driven search engines, and answer search optimization (ASO), which is more focused on structuring content to be more suitable for answer generation. (4)

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

As the term suggests, GEO involves creating content to help improve generative AI models by improving their training data. Search features like AI Overview are made with generative AI, a widely used AI model that organizes large amounts of data to create new content from scratch (hence the term “generative”).

Understanding GEO requires a good grasp of how a generative engine works. Every time a user submits a query, it undergoes a series of steps (each of which has its own model). (5)

• Query reformulation: Modifies the original query to better match the wording in potential sources of information.
• Search reinitialization: Restarts a search but uses the modified query to return more accurate search results.
• Summarization: Generates a summary of each relevant source in preparation for formulating the desired output.
• Response generation: Collates the generated summaries to create a response that’s then delivered to the user.

GEO is sometimes referred to as generative AI optimization (GAIO).

Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO)

An LLM is a type of AI model designed to train itself to deliver more human-like responses. LLMs are how search engines can return accurate results when users submit queries as if they were asking a live person. For example, asking the search engine “what are the best shoes for a casual walk” returns recommendations from stores with an online presence.

LLMO focuses more on establishing authority in your industry or niche. Some approaches include citing reliable sources for claims and figures, quoting subject-matter experts, and providing first-hand experience. In a way, Google’s E-E-A-T framework comes to mind.

Don’t worry if all these terms sound similar. The industry is still figuring out how best to use AI to advance SEO, and a universal playbook has yet to be formulated. That said, getting a clear picture as early as now will be beneficial in the long run.

The relationship among these processes looks somewhat like this:

The Fight for the Snippets

Amid their differences, AIO and its disciplines share one thing in common. Their rise in the industry signifies a shift in the SEO landscape, namely in terms of where the fight for digital dominance now takes place.

The focus has shifted from the top spot in search results to snippets. Located above the top organic result (sometimes below, depending on the query), snippets are a quick and convenient way to deliver the requested information to users.

Featured snippets, as Google calls them, aren’t new. Their predecessors, known as quick answer boxes, were introduced in 2013. However, they weren’t as cutting-edge as they are now, as they would often show content from the top or high-ranked result word for word. In some queries (e.g., age, height, weight), the answer would consist of one or a few lines.

Over the years, Google has integrated new technologies into this nifty feature. While most queries still show Featured Snippets, a growing number are showing AI Overviews. Despite the risk of clicking links being a thing of the past, Google pointed out that AI Overviews are designed to provide a “jumping off point” for users to explore further.

This is evident not only in the hyperlinks on the Overview but also in the list of results next to it. Users can choose whether to be satisfied with the summary or learn more by visiting the AI’s handpicked sources.

The most significant implication of this shift is in the snippet’s positioning. Anyone who’s been doing SEO for the longest time should know that the first few results get most of the clicks. With the likes of AI Overview, attention has all but moved away from the top-ranked organic result because, well, it’s no longer at the top.

You can take consolation in the fact that less than half of searches that trigger AI Overview result in zero clicks, according to a study by SEMrush. Also, as of March 2025, queries that trigger AI Overview only make up 13% of all queries. (6)

This is no reason to be complacent, as that figure is 72% higher than in February 2025 and 102% higher than at the start of the year. And if we know AI, the fraction of such keywords will only go up moving forward. (6)

The Age-Old Question: ‘Is SEO Finally Dead?’

As AI gradually meshes with digital marketing, we find ourselves asking that one question that seemingly refuses to die: “Is SEO finally dead?” Answering with a yes or no won’t do it justice, so here’s the long answer.

SEO as We Knew It Will Die

It’s worth remembering that SEO has been killing practices and principles since it was first used. One noteworthy example is keyword stuffing, which prevailed around the early 2000s before being outlawed by Google’s content-focused updates.

The rise of AI is no different, with some ideas and processes on the chopping block—or at least on their way there. For instance, search engine results pages (SERPs) are believed to be on their way out thanks to AI Overview. If anything, the so-called “ten blue links” were already made obsolete 15 years ago. (7)

Keyword optimization remains a viable practice, but it must now adapt to natural language processing used by LLMs. Expect more queries to be formed as questions like “how old is the oldest man alive” or “how to install new plumbing.” Optimizing tomorrow’s content for such a scenario is one of the major hurdles.

SEO as a Whole is Still Alive

Despite all this, SEO isn’t going the way of the dodo bird just yet. In fact, SEO can never truly die as long as the world still needs search engines. Perhaps we’ll be using the term “AISO” or “GEO” more often, but it’s SEO evolved at the end of the day.

Another reason for this is related to Google Ads, its pay-per-click (PPC) service. As AI Overviews would take up space reserved for paid ads, Google later integrated ads into the generated summaries. The company is in no rush to retire its proprietary search engine, let alone its PPC service that’s predicted to make over USD$340 billion globally by 2027. (8)

If you need a third reason, I’ve got three words: glue on pizza.

Source: @petergyang on X

AI, in its current state, still has plenty of kinks, not the least of which is not realizing that glue is NOT food. This example should serve as a cautionary tale to users to look before they leap, as in to check for accuracy before passing information off as truth. AI models will become more practical over time, but we can’t leave the heavy lifting to them for now.

The TLDR on AIO, GEO…

Whatever you call it, AIO (or AISO, GEO, LLMO) is poised to revolutionize SEO rather than replace it. The recent surge in interest is proof that AI is here to stay, and brands can only adapt to the new reality.