GEO, AEO and MEO: what they are and what they cost

Three acronyms SEO people in Thailand have started using this year, with almost nobody explaining them properly. What each one means, what it costs, and what to do first.

GEO · 7 min read

Straight answer first: GEO, AEO and MEO are three separate jobs, not three words for the same thing. GEO means getting your business named inside the AI-generated answer. AEO means shaping content so it answers a question completely in one place and gets quoted. MEO means getting found on the map and in location-specific results. What separates all three from classic SEO is that SEO competes for the top blue link, while these compete for being chosen inside the answer. Almost nobody in Thailand is doing them yet, which is exactly why starting now is cheap.

What GEO is, and how it differs from classic SEO

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation, and it means getting your business cited inside answers produced by ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Overviews. Classic SEO competes for the first blue link. GEO competes for one of the few businesses that get mentioned inside an answer that may name only three or four.

The practical difference is what you get. SEO gets a person to click through to your site. GEO gets them to hear your name before they have clicked anywhere. The two run side by side rather than replacing each other, but if your site does not carry the basics such as name, address, phone, prices and clear categories, there is nothing for an AI system to quote in the first place.

So GEO work starts with structured, machine-readable data, continues with content that answers a question completely, and finishes with being mentioned by other sources that are already trusted.

• GEO means being quoted in AI answers; classic SEO means ranking in results
• GEO makes people remember your name; SEO makes them click through
• Your site must carry complete basic data before any AI can cite you

What AEO is, and why almost nobody is doing it yet

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation, and it means writing so the answer lands in the first paragraph under each heading, complete in itself, so search engines can lift it straight into a Featured Snippet, a People Also Ask box or an AI Overview.

The core of AEO is structure rather than length. You need a short, self-contained answer immediately under the heading, then the detail underneath it, with numbers you can verify and sources you can name. This is unfamiliar to most SEO practitioners, who spent a decade writing long pages stuffed with repeated keywords.

The useful fact is that AEO is still a new term, and most Thai business owners have never heard it. That means genuinely well-structured content is still rare in the Thai market, and it is the reason starting early pays.

• AEO means the answer is finished in the first paragraph, not that the page is longer
• Covers Featured Snippet, People Also Ask and AI Overview
• Rarely applied in Thailand yet, so starting early is an advantage

What MEO is, and why it matters most if you have a shop

MEO stands for Map Engine Optimisation, which means getting discovered through the map and location-specific results. In practice Thai shop owners already call this getting onto Google Maps.

Its importance comes from intent. Someone searching near me or by a district name is usually ready to move now, either to visit or to call, rather than reading to learn something.

If you have a physical location, MEO is the most rewarding of the three because measurement is unambiguous: calls received, directions requested, and hours viewed. All of it traces back to a properly optimised Google Business Profile.

• MEO means being found through maps and location-specific results
• Near-me searches carry the strongest purchase intent of any query type
• Measured directly in calls, direction requests and hours views

What GEO, AEO and MEO cost in 2026

There is no settled market price in Thailand yet, because the service is new, but scope splits it into three bands.

The base band starts at 6,900 baht a month and covers cleaning up the basic data on your site, putting structured data in place that machines can read, and finishing your Google Business Profile. That includes the MEO work and the first round of AEO.

The middle band at 12,900 baht a month adds content that answers real questions, link building and technical SEO. This is where GEO starts to show, because being quoted depends on having both content and external sources supporting it.

The top band at 24,900 baht a month suits multi-location businesses or those wanting a dedicated team, with reporting on which AI answers you are appearing in.

Our three tiers already include GEO work; there is no late add-on fee.

All three bands are set out on the GEO service page, starting at 6,900 baht a month on a three-month minimum.

• 6,900 baht/month: site basics, first-round AEO and MEO
• 12,900 baht/month: adds content, link building, technical SEO and GEO
• 24,900 baht/month: multi-location plus tracking of AI mentions

What to do first, and what can wait

The cheapest order does not start with GEO. It starts with the base.

First, complete the basic data on your site: name, address, phone, prices, services and categories. Until that is done, both Google and AI systems can quote the wrong details. Second, finish your Google Business Profile. If you have a physical location this delivers fastest of the three.

Third, restructure content so each answer sits directly under its heading, which buys you AEO and GEO at the same time. Fourth, only then build specialist content and external references.

What can wait is expensive monitoring tooling. Search volume in the Thai market is still too low for those numbers to mean anything, so use Search Console, which is free and reports your actual data.

• Start with complete basic site data, not with GEO
• Google Business Profile pays off fastest if you have a physical location
• Move the short answer under the heading to win AEO and GEO together

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading