--- title: "SEO, AEO, GEO: Named After Something Nobody Does Anymore" description: "Why SEO is named after something nobody does anymore, the AEO and GEO alphabet soup in plain English, and why answerability is what matters now." url: https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney/predictions/seo-named-after-something-nobody-does language: en updated: 2026-10-15 publisher: Wonder Works (Wonder Works Design Ltd), Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria --- [Home](https://wonderworksdesign.net/)[Colin Rooney](https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney)[Colin's Predictions](https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney/predictions) 01Called on **15 Oct 2026**Still open # SEO is named after something nobody does anymore [Colin Rooney](https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney)Co-founder, Wonder Works · my opinion, not Wonder Works advice ![Colin Rooney smiling at his phone](https://wonderworksdesign.net/media/colin-phone.webp) ## Searching? No idea when I last did that. It depends what you mean by search. If you mean typing something into Google and going through the web pages it gave me, then I honestly can't remember the last time I did that. I went through a stage of not using Google at all, I didn't "Google" it, I was asking AI. But recently I use Google more than ever for information, just in the AI mode, because it's more helpful. I ask a question, it replies and gives me a follow-up question or a suggestion, and we get into a nice conversation until I've got what I need. This morning, for example, the first thing I typed was "can you rate the tool", spelling mistakes and all. It was very vague, but that's me, I'm lazy and I don't want to write loads, because I know the chat will evolve based on what comes next. And it did. We spoke about the pros and cons and the alternatives, and eventually, when I was ready, I asked for the link, clicked it and signed up. It's rare that I click on a page, but I do ask for the link. Searching? No idea when I last did that. SEO, historically, is about search, and we don't search anymore, not in the loose sense of the word. We talk, we ask a question, it replies, we follow up. The ones who can't let it go are the "experts". We are creatures of habit, and lots of them won't expect that it's changing, or that it's changing for the better. ## So what happens to keywords? Honestly, I don't know. My gut tells me keyword research is dead in the old sense of the word, but what it is now, I don't really know. It's not keywords, it's a version of it. The machine is still doing the searching, it just does it for you, behind the scenes. I believe keyword research will be of less value in the future, but not quite yet. > People don't search, they ask. They have conversations with AI about YOU. So what do you want it to say? ## Here's the soup, as of today Look, we have lots of names now: SEO, AEO, GEO. To be honest, it's cool, it is "new". But ask a hundred people what SEO is and I'd assume most of them would be close, and ask them the same about AEO and GEO and I'd bet you'd get a different answer every time. It's confusing for people. It's like vibe coding, a name that someone mentions and it catches on. Fuck, I used it. Now I just say web design, because who cares how you do it? Surely it's the end product, what it does and the results that matter. And it's not just me. One article calls it an identity crisis ([SEO terminology for AI search is having an identity crisis](https://explore.picc.co/seo-terminology-ai-search/), PICC), and another literally calls it the alphabet soup ([AEO vs GEO vs AIO vs LLMO: The Alphabet Soup Explained](https://www.pepper.inc/blog/aeo-vs-geo-vs-aio-vs-llmo-explained/), Pepper). So here's the soup, as of today, in plain English: SEOSearch engine optimisation Ranking in Google's list of links. AEOAnswer engine optimisation Being picked as the answer. GEOGenerative engine optimisation Getting mentioned by AI that writes its own answers. AIOAI optimisation The same again, and also the name for Google's AI Overviews, just to make it worse. LLMOLarge language model optimisation GEO again, named after the tech underneath. AI SEOOr LLM SEO What people say when they can't face another acronym. SXOSearch experience optimisation SEO plus making the page good for the person who lands on it. Search everywhereSearch everywhere optimisation Because people "search" on TikTok, YouTube, Amazon and Reddit too. SGEGoogle's old name for its AI answers Mostly dead, still floating about. If that list made your eyes glaze over, that's exactly my point. I don't really care what you call it, it's just a label, and [I use that same label on my own site](https://wonderworksdesign.net/services/seo) for what we sell. What I need to do is do it, and do it well. This is the work today, and when the world changes, the work changes, as it already has. Call it what you like, but stop adding more acronyms, it's making life hard for people. Please, let's make this easy. ## Askability and answerability So here's mine, and yes, I know I've just told everyone to stop adding acronyms. It's not an acronym, it's a word, so I'm allowed. People don't search anymore, they ask, so the first thing you need is askability: when someone asks, can AI find you? But that's their side. Your side is the answer, so what you really need is answerability. And I love that answerability already means being accountable, because you are answerable for what AI says about you, so make it true. Their side Askability When someone asks, can AI find you? Your side Answerability You are answerable for what AI says about you, so make it true. So if a client asks me what they're actually paying for if nobody searches anymore, I'll tell them that people don't search, they ask. They have conversations with AI about YOU. So what do you want it to say? That's what you pay for. ## Updates, newest first 15 Oct 2026The original call This is the prediction as I made it that day. When something changes, I add a dated update here and leave the original as it is. ### In this piece 1. Searching? No idea when I last did that. 2. So what happens to keywords? 3. Here's the soup, as of today 4. Askability and answerability ### How I mark these - Happening - Still open - Proved wrong ### More predictions - [“I don't need a website, that's what ChatGPT is for”](https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney/predictions/i-dont-need-a-website-thats-what-chatgpt-is-for) ### All of them - [← Back to the logbook](https://wonderworksdesign.net/authors/colin-rooney/predictions)