AI SEO, GEO, LLM SEO and answer engine optimisation, explained

What does each term mean?

The terms are new and people use them loosely. Here is how they are generally used, in plain English.

AI visibility

Whether, and how, AI tools mention your practice when people ask relevant questions. It is an outcome, not a method: you measure it by asking the tools and recording the answers.

AI SEO

The broadest everyday term. It usually means search engine optimisation that also takes AI tools into account. Some people also use it for using AI to do SEO work, which is a different thing.

GEO, or generative engine optimisation

Improving how tools that generate written answers, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews, find and cite your information.

LLM SEO

LLM stands for large language model, the technology behind these tools. LLM SEO means the same as GEO, with the emphasis on the models themselves.

AEO, or answer engine optimisation

An older term from the days of featured snippets and voice assistants. It means structuring information so a system can lift a direct answer from it. It now overlaps almost entirely with GEO.

How do they overlap with SEO?

Almost completely. AI tools that search the web rely on pages that can be crawled, read and trusted, which is what SEO has always been about. They also lean heavily on whether different sources agree. The extra layer that GEO describes is attention to how AI tools compare and quote information, and to measuring what they actually say.

For a mental health practice, that means you rarely need a separate “AI strategy”. You need the foundations done properly, and a way to check what the tools say. Our mental health SEO and AI search visibility pages describe the two halves of the same job.

How do AI tools decide what to say about a practice?

No AI company publishes its full method, and each tool works differently. Some answer mainly from what they learned in training. Others search the web for current pages and summarise them. Many do both. Across the answers we check every month, a few patterns are consistent:

• They name practices whose details match the question: the town, the age group, the kind of help, online or in person.
• They prefer facts they can find in more than one place, such as your website and a professional register.
• They are cautious with health questions, and favour sources that look legitimate and accountable.
• Their answers vary from run to run and change over time, so one answer proves very little.

What actually helps a mental health practice?

• A website that states plainly who you help, how, where, when, at what cost and who you are, in text on the page.
• Answers to the questions people ask, written answer first, on the pages where they belong.
• Registration and credentials that link to the register, so they can be checked.
• The same facts on your website, Google Business Profile, register entry and directory profiles.
• Structured data that describes what each page already shows.
• Genuine independent mentions, such as expert comment in local press or a professional body’s website.

Our guide to what patients ask AI lists the common questions and where each answer should live.

What does not help, or could cause harm?

Be wary of anyone offering a guaranteed place in AI answers, networks of websites that mention you, or pages written only for machines. Content stuffed with keywords helps nobody. Fake reviews or articles that pretend to be independent breach advertising rules and, for a health service, can mislead people at a vulnerable moment. Our advertising rules guide explains the rules that apply.

How do you measure AI visibility?

Write down a fixed set of questions your clients would ask, in their words, with your town. Ask each one in ChatGPT and Gemini several times. Record whether you are named, how you are described, who else is named and which sources are shown, with the date. Repeat monthly with the same questions, so changes reflect the tools, not the questions. This is exactly what our monthly check does, and our league table method publishes the approach in full.

Do you need a specialist?

Not necessarily. A solo therapist with a little time can do most of the foundations alone, using the checklist above. What a specialist adds is the repeated, careful measurement, the knowledge of health advertising rules, and the time to do the work every month. Essentials gives you the monthly check and clear advice for £25 a month, which suits most solo practitioners. Growth and Partner add the work. Clinic owners may also find our psychiatry clinic and ADHD clinic pages useful. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and you can get started here.