Google’s New AI Search Guide Calls AEO And GEO ‘Still SEO’

Google published a new documentation page to help websites optimize for generative AI features in Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.

The page, “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search,” expands Google’s prior AI features documentation published in 2025. The earlier page explains how AI features work, how inclusion is controlled, and how performance is reported. The new guide focuses more directly on optimization advice and tactics Google says site owners can ignore.

Two sections are specifically worth highlighting. Google directly names popular optimization tactics it says aren’t necessary, and it redefines the AEO/GEO conversation as part of standard SEO.

Google Says AEO And GEO Are ‘Still SEO’

Google opens by confirming that foundational SEO best practices remain relevant for generative AI search. Its AI features are “rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems” and rely on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and…