SEO (search engine optimization) gets your business found when someone types a search into Google. AEO (answer engine optimization) gets your business named when someone asks an AI assistant, such as ChatGPT or Gemini, for a recommendation. The practical difference is the output: SEO wins you a position in a list of results, while AEO wins you a mention inside a single answer. They share most of the same foundation, and for nearly every business the honest answer is that you need both.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization is the work of making your website and business profile easy for Google to find, understand, and rank. In practice that means a fast, well-structured site, pages that match what people actually search for, a complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews, and mentions from sites that matter. When someone searches "dentist Nicosia" or "kitchen renovation Limassol", SEO decides whether you appear on the first screen or stay invisible.
SEO is not going anywhere. Google is still where most buying journeys in Cyprus begin, in Greek and in English, and Google Maps is still how people choose between nearby businesses.
What is AEO?
Answer engine optimization is the newer layer. Instead of typing a query and scanning ten blue links, a growing number of people ask a question and receive one answer. "Who can repair a dented door in Nicosia and give me an estimate from a photo?" The assistant reads the web, weighs what it finds, and names a handful of businesses. If your information is thin, inconsistent, or buried, you are not in that answer. There is no page two to fall back to.
AEO is the work of becoming quotable. That means publishing direct answers to the questions your customers actually ask, keeping your name, services, hours, and contact details consistent everywhere they appear, adding structured data so machines can parse your pages, and building the reputation signals (reviews, mentions, a visible track record) that assistants treat as evidence.
The real difference: a ranking versus an answer
- Output. SEO earns you a ranking among many results. AEO earns you a mention inside one answer.
- Behaviour. Searchers compare and click around. People who ask an assistant tend to trust the short list they are given.
- Content. SEO rewards depth and relevance. AEO rewards clarity: a plain question followed by a direct answer a machine can quote word for word.
- Measurement. SEO has mature tools for rankings and traffic. AEO is checked by asking the assistants themselves and seeing whether your business is named.
Where SEO and AEO overlap
This is the part that keeps the work affordable: the foundation is shared. AI assistants learn from largely the same web that Google indexes. A technically sound website, accurate and consistent business information, genuine reviews, and content that answers real questions serve both at once. Nothing you invest in good SEO is wasted on AEO. The reverse also holds: writing clear, quotable answers for AI assistants tends to improve how your pages perform in ordinary search.
Where they diverge is emphasis. SEO cares more about keywords, links, and technical signals. AEO cares more about whether a machine, reading your site cold, could explain who you are, what you do, where you do it, and why you can be trusted.
Do you need both?
Yes, because your customers are split across both behaviours and you do not get to choose which one they use. Some still search Google and open Maps. Others ask ChatGPT or Gemini and act on the reply. Being strong in one and absent from the other means a share of ready-to-buy customers never finds out you exist, and they choose someone else without you ever knowing you were considered.
This is why we treat discovery as one problem with two doors rather than two separate projects. Our Get Found service covers both: classic SEO for Google and Maps, and AEO so AI assistants can find, understand, and recommend you.
How to check where you stand
- Search Google for your main service plus your town. Note where you appear, and whether your Google Business Profile looks complete next to your competitors.
- Ask ChatGPT and Gemini for a recommendation in your category and area, phrased the way a customer would. See if you are named, and what is said about you. There is a step-by-step version in our guide to checking whether AI can see your business.
- Read your own website as a stranger would. Could a machine, or a person in a hurry, tell within seconds what you do, where you do it, and why to trust you?
What it costs to fix
Be wary of anyone quoting a fixed price before looking at your situation. The honest answer is a range, because the work depends on where you leak. Our ladder is public: the diagnosis is free, a focused pilot starts from EUR 500, and ongoing work typically runs EUR 1,000 to 3,000 per month. Many businesses only need the foundation repaired once, then light upkeep.
If you want to know whether your problem is SEO, AEO, or something else entirely (often the real leak is unanswered enquiries, not visibility), start with a free diagnosis. We check how you show up on Google, in Maps, and in AI answers, and tell you plainly what is worth fixing and what is not.