Making Sense of GEO, AEO, XEO in the Gen AI Age
Generative AI has changed how buyers research purchases, and how marketers look at SEO. It is no longer enough to have search-friendly content on your website. There are a variety of new techniques to educate the LLMs all about your company and products, and keep them updated over time. There are a plethora of acronyms invading the vernacular, so its time we all understood them. I hope this all makes sense.
Quick definitions
XEO – Informal term for “extreme” or “holistic” optimization, usually meaning going beyond basic SEO to aggressively optimize every lever (technical, content, UX, CRO) for maximum impact.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) – Optimizing content so AI “answer engines” (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, voice assistants) can easily extract, trust, and cite it as the direct answer to a query.
LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) – Making your content maximally understandable and attractive to LLMs so it’s used or cited in AI-generated responses.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) – Optimizing for “generative engines” (SGE, Gemini, LLM‑based search) that synthesize answers instead of listing links, aiming to appear in their generated outputs.
SXO (Search Experience Optimization) – Blending SEO with UX/CRO so users not only land on a page but also find it usable, satisfying, and conversion‑friendly.
How each one works in practice
XEO
Focus: “All‑out” performance, not just rankings.
Typical tactics: Deep technical clean‑up, aggressive internal linking, content clustering, UX and conversion tuning, performance optimization.
Where it shows up: Agency marketing jargon, sometimes used as a catch‑all for advanced or full‑funnel optimization.
Example: Treating SEO, UX, and CRO as one system, and optimizing them together to squeeze every bit of revenue from organic traffic.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Focus: Being the answer that AI systems surface and/or cite, not just a blue link.
Core levers:
Direct, concise answers near the top of pages.
Question‑based headings and FAQ structures.
Schema (FAQ, HowTo, Article) and clear entities so machines can parse and attribute.
Primary surfaces: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, voice assistants.
Example: A diabetes FAQ page structured so an AI can lift a 2–3 sentence answer about “early symptoms of type 2 diabetes” verbatim with clear attribution.
LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)
Focus: Aligning content with how LLMs interpret and generate language.
Core levers:
Semantic structure and topical coherence (headings, clusters).
High factual consistency with trusted sources so it’s considered credible training/reference material.
Clear, de‑fluffed explanations that match user intent.
Goal: Increase likelihood your content appears in or informs LLM answers across many products, not just search.
Example: Authoritative medical explainer pages that match guideline language, so LLMs are more likely to align with and cite them.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Focus: Earning visibility inside generative search experiences like SGE or similar LLM‑powered search layers.
Core levers:
Content that covers topics comprehensively so it can fuel summaries.
Strong E‑E‑A‑T‑style trust signals and structured data so engines choose it as a source.
Scope: More “search‑layer specific” than broad LLMO (i.e., concerned with search products using generation).
Example: Designing a condition hub so Google’s generative results can summarize it for “best treatments for neuropathic pain” and show your site as a cited source.
SXO (Search Experience Optimization)
Focus: The user’s end‑to‑end experience from query to satisfying outcome.
Core levers:
Fast, mobile‑friendly pages, intuitive navigation, on‑page clarity.
Aligning content and UI with user intent to drive engagement and conversions, not just clicks.
Metrics: Task completion, bounce, dwell time, conversion rate, support deflection.
Example: For “CGM vs fingerstick,” designing a page that gives a clear comparison above the fold, supports scanners and deep readers, and funnels to the right product or lead form.
How to think about them strategically
Treat XEO and SXO as strategy layers over your existing SEO: they change how you prioritize and execute across the stack.
Treat AEO, LLMO, and GEO as AI‑era channels: they guide how you structure and phrase content so AI systems can understand, reuse, and attribute it.
In practice, one well‑designed content/UX system can serve all of them if you deliberately design for clear answers, strong semantics, UX, and trust signals.
