The Os in Search: SEO, AEO, GEO, SXO

Search professionals have long lived and breathed SEO. But in 2025, optimizing for typed queries alone is like bringing a notepad to a neural link demo — charming, but woefully out of step. The search world now runs on a full family of 'O's, and it's time we got to know them properly.

From AI-generated results to voice assistants and experience-first design, the game has evolved. Let's break down the current search optimization landscape — cheeky Os included.

1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization

What it is:
The OG. SEO is all about making your content discoverable via search engines, primarily Google. It hinges on the right mix of keywords, backlinks, and crawl-friendly structure.

How it works / Example:
Want your blog on “sustainable supply chains” to appear on page 1 of Google? You’ll need optimized headers, links from relevant sources, a mobile-friendly page, and schema markup. That’s SEO in action.

Why it matters:
Despite new models, SEO still forms the backbone of visibility. Without ranking, no one sees your fancy voice-activated AI-generated snippet anyway.

2. AEO – Answer Engine Optimization

What it is:
Optimizing your content to be the answer. AEO tailors your information so it fits neatly into a search engine’s structured answer format — think featured snippets, FAQs, or voice assistant replies.

How it works / Example:
Ask Siri, “What’s deferred revenue?” If your finance SaaS page has a clean, structured answer with FAQ schema, it could be the chosen one for that voice query.

Why it matters:
With the rise of zero-click search, it’s no longer about traffic — it’s about trust. AEO helps you occupy the top spot in a world where the search result is also the destination.

3. GEO – Generative Engine Optimization

What it is:
This one’s the new kid on the block. GEO means shaping your content so that AI models — like ChatGPT, Google’s SGE, or Perplexity — can ingest it, understand it, and regurgitate it (accurately) in generated summaries.

How it works / Example:
If ChatGPT is asked “What’s the impact of IFRS 18 on financial reporting?” and your accounting firm’s explainer becomes the source for the summary — that’s GEO at work. It relies on clean, contextual data and strong authoritativeness.

Why it matters:
GEO is about visibility in AI-driven UIs, not traditional SERPs. As conversational search takes over, being the trusted source behind the bot will define brand authority.

4. SXO – Search Experience Optimization

What it is:
A blend of SEO + UX. SXO focuses on how users experience your content after the click — from page load speed to layout to conversion flow.

How it works / Example:
Think beyond ranking. If a user lands on your site and is instantly confused or slowed by pop-ups, you lose. SXO ensures your content is not just found, but felt — smoothly.

Why it matters:
Google’s algorithm (and your bounce rate) can detect when a user hits the back button. SXO is how you make sure that doesn't happen.

5. NEO – Neural Engine Optimization (Emerging)

What it is:
Optimizing for AI-native search engines trained on massive datasets (like ChatGPT or Claude) rather than crawlers. It includes feeding content into embeddings, fine-tuned models, or APIs.

How it works / Example:
Your B2B whitepaper is chunked into vector embeddings that power custom RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) systems. When a user queries “top fintech risks 2025,” your paragraph is returned — not your link.

Why it matters:
Search is becoming probabilistic, not indexed. NEO flips optimization from the surface to the signal — it's about training the machine.

📊 TL;DR: O vs O vs O

Final Thought: Are You Just SEO-ing or Also GEO-ing?

2025 isn’t the era of one optimization to rule them all. The smart search pro is structuring content for AEO, training AI for GEO, and perfecting journeys for SXO. It's a multi-O world now.

Which 'O' are you missing?