The term originated in the 2023 paper “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization” (arXiv:2311.09735), which tested techniques like adding statistics, quotations, and citations to source content and measured their effect on how often that content was referenced in generated answers. The researchers found some techniques produced visibility lifts of up to 40% in the generative engines they tested, establishing GEO as a measurable discipline rather than guesswork.
In industry usage, GEO and AEO are often used interchangeably, though GEO tends to describe the underlying content-optimization techniques while AEO describes the broader practice of managing brand presence across answer engines. Both respond to the same shift: users increasingly ask questions directly to AI systems instead of scanning search results, so being cited inside the answer matters more than ranking on a results page.