AI Optimization
What Is AIO?
AIO stands for “Artificial Intelligence Optimization”. Someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude which company to choose, and your name comes up near the top of the answer; AIO is the work behind that. It is not Google's AI Overviews, the AI summary above the search results. The two get mixed up constantly, so we draw the line below.
Türk SEM is one of the first digital marketing agencies in the world to do this work.
The industry has since named the generative-engine half of this work GEO, short for Generative Engine Optimization; in our house, GEO is one branch under the AIO umbrella. The full guide is on our What Is GEO? page.
Added to our list of ideas.
We began our first test work to build the methodology.
We launched the methodology once testing was complete.
Drawing the Line
AIO Is Not AI Overviews
On this page, AIO means AI Optimization: everything we do so that AI systems recommend your brand. We built the methodology behind it and announced it in a whitepaper in July 2025.
Here is the honest part. Since then the acronym has been pulled in other directions, by Google and by the industry, and it has forked. Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024, the AI summary at the top of the results page, and the industry started shortening that feature to “AIO”. Meanwhile “AI optimization” also describes model training and the use of AI inside business processes. Today, when you see AIO in an English text, it usually means Google's feature.
Google's own guidance settles the vocabulary. The Search Central page on optimizing for generative AI features names AEO and GEO, never AIO, and ties them together in one sentence: optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO. We say the same thing. AIO does not compete with SEO; it lives inside it.
Our umbrella looks like this. AIO on top. Below it, GEO (being cited and recommended in the answers of generative engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity) and Google AI Overviews (appearing in the AI summary above the results). What the industry calls AEO sits inside that second branch. We also wrote a dedicated guide to Google's AI summaries: Google AI Overviews: What They Are and How to Get Cited. We also counted which of the three acronyms people actually use, and why.
| Term | What it means | Who uses it | Where it sits in our umbrella |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIO (AI Optimization) | All the work that gets a brand into the recommendations of AI systems: strategy, content, testing, measurement. | Türk SEM, among the first to practice it; then other agencies in Turkey and worldwide. In English it now doubles as shorthand for AI Overviews, which is where the confusion comes from. | The umbrella: strategy, measurement, test loops, authority building |
| GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) | Being cited and recommended in the answers of generative engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity). | Academia (Princeton, 2023), the industry's most-used term, Google's guide. | First branch under the umbrella |
| Google AI Overviews | The AI summary Google shows above its search results; live since May 2024. | Google's product name. The industry also shortens it to "AIO". | Second branch under the umbrella |
| AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) | Being the source of the answer in featured snippets, voice assistants and answer boxes. | Some companies such as HubSpot; Google's guide. | Not a separate branch; the work inside the AI Overviews branch |
AI Optimization
AI SEO Won't Put You a Step Ahead of Your Competitors. It Will Put You a Generation Ahead.
AI Optimization was not on offer anywhere in the world before we built it. With Türk SEM behind the work, it can add real value to your company and bring you new customers. We spent more than a year setting our own standards for it and writing down what the tests told us. AIO then became the fourth service on our list, again a world first.
Türk SEM has done a number of things first, in Türkiye and worldwide, and we are proud of that. Being the first agency anywhere to run AI optimization work is one more.
Someone asks an AI system for a product or a supplier. We work to get your name near the top of that list, and we call that work AIO. We considered a number of other names before settling on this one.
Setting the Industry Standard
How AIO Was Born
“AI is rewriting the rules of business, so we asked ourselves one question: how will brands stand out in this new world? We have spent more than a year on the answer. We analyzed how AI platforms actually work. We defined what success looks like here. And we wrote the standards for a whole service from scratch.
Looking for a name for this work, we went through a long list of alternatives and settled on the one that describes it best: AIO (AI Optimization).
Today, we're excited to be launching AIO, our agency's fourth core service, for the first time anywhere in the world. Our goal isn't simply to offer a service, but to add the value your company deserves and introduce you to tomorrow's customers.”
Tahir Dinç, CEO of Türk SEM
When AI Recommends You.
As we said above, AI SEO covers everything that goes into getting your products and services recommended by AI systems. Three of those systems carry most of our work:
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Used as an advisor by millions of users worldwide.
Gemini
A very powerful system that brings together search and AI.
Claude
Anthropic
Stands out especially for its ethics- and safety-focused approach to AI.
We picked these three in an agency meeting. Nearly all of these systems work on much the same principles anyway.
OUR AIO METHODOLOGY
Our AIO Process: How We Build the Future for You
We protect your digital presence and help it grow. We have done that since 1999 and we still do it today. Ever since we laid the groundwork for our New SEO Methodology, that same approach has carried our projects. AIO is our fourth service, and we gave it a flow close to the one we already trusted. That is why we call our AIO strategy the “New AIO Methodology”.
Discovery and the Question Map
We map the questions people in your field ask AI systems, and the sub-questions behind each one. For every question we measure who gets cited today. Your starting point is documented; from day one you know where you are missing.
Similar Work
Work close to AIO goes by other names as well. Our own focus is narrow: getting a company recommended near the top by AI systems. These are the neighboring services you will run into:
Who It's For
Which Sectors Is AIO Making a Real Difference in Today?
Users now ask AI directly, "which ___ is the best?". In fields where a recommendation decides the purchase, AIO is the line between being visible and being invisible.
Health & Aesthetic Tourism
In hair transplant, eye surgery, dental and aesthetic searches, patients ask AI about a clinic directly; be on that recommendation list.
Health Tourism SEO →Legal & Consultancy
Be the name AI recommends for high-intent searches like "divorce lawyer" or "criminal defense lawyer".
Law Firm SEO →Tourism & Hospitality
Show up first when a user planning a trip asks AI about a hotel or a region.
Hotel Advertising Agency →E-Commerce & Brands
Having your name come up in product and brand recommendations catches the user closest to buying, directly.
Local Services & B2B
Draw qualified demand straight to you by appearing in "the best ___ company" recommendations in your city.
Education & Institutional Authority
Become the trusted source and authority AI turns to in your field of expertise.
Measurement & Transparency
How Do We Measure AIO Success?
In SEO we measure ranking and traffic. In AIO we measure how visible you are in what an AI recommends. We run repeatable tests and report these metrics every month:
Share of Recommendation
How often AI recommends your brand for target prompts (Share of Model).
Query Coverage
How many different niche questions you appear in the recommendation list for.
Recommendation Position
Where you sit in the list when you're recommended, and how you're presented.
Platform Consistency
Steady visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.
Source Attribution
AI citing your brand as a source and an authority.
Intent Match
Visibility in the high-intent queries closest to a purchase.
Frequently Asked
AIO Frequently Asked Questions
We've answered the questions people ask most.
Are there other agencies offering AIO besides Türk SEM?
Yes, there are now. Other agencies in Turkey and around the world started using the name AIO after us, and we are not hiding that. Two things are ours: we were among the first agencies in the world to do this work and to offer it as a service, and the New AIO Methodology we published in a whitepaper in July 2025 (data mapping, prompt testing, monitoring dashboards, authority building) is our own. A client who buys this service works with a documented method, not with a name anyone can copy.
How long does it take for AIO work to show an effect?
You usually see the first results within 75 days. In that window we test whether AI systems know your brand and whether they recommend it. AIO does not stop there. Like SEO, it has to stay current and be tuned on a regular cycle, and part of the effect only shows up when a model gets updated.
What kind of results come from AIO work?
AI systems start naming your brand, recommending it, and pulling it into the advice they give. That brings in new customers, lifts your digital reputation, pushes brand awareness up a level, makes you read as the leader in your sector and gives you a serious edge over the competition.
Why do AI systems recommend some brands and not others?
An AI recommends what its training data supports and what its trusted sources back up. If a brand has too little information, too little digital reputation and too little optimized content inside those systems, it never reaches the recommendation list. Our AIO work decodes the mechanics behind those algorithmic choices and gets your brand through the filters. Content, trust, visibility and authority decide the outcome in AIO exactly as they do in SEO.
Which AI systems does AIO work target?
Our AIO work targets three leading platforms. ChatGPT (OpenAI) is used as an advisor by millions of people worldwide. Gemini (Google) is a very powerful system that brings search and AI together. Claude (Anthropic) stands out for its ethics- and safety-focused approach. We run separate tests, prompts and visibility analyses on all three to get you recommended.
What's the difference between AIO and SEO? How do they complement each other?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) works on where your site ranks in a classic search engine. AIO works on the large language models (LLMs) behind systems like ChatGPT: how they put a recommendation together, how you earn a place in it, and how you stay visible there. The two are not rivals. A brand has to be strong in SEO and visible inside AI systems through AIO. SEO moves you up the search results; AIO gets you into the recommendation itself.
What's the core aim of AIO? Why is it needed?
AIO exists to make you a brand that AI systems recommend. Plenty of people no longer research on Google alone; they ask Gemini or ChatGPT instead. Say a user asks, "where's the best place for eye surgery in Türkiye?" A brand with no AIO work behind it has little chance of making that list. AIO steps in right there and helps those systems recognize your company, understand it and recommend it with confidence. It introduces your brand to tomorrow's digital advisors, which is a long way past ordinary digital visibility.
What exactly is AIO? How does Türk SEM position this service?
AIO is short for "AI Optimization". It is the strategic work that gets a company near the top of the recommendation lists inside AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Classic SEO aims at Google and the other search engines; AIO aims at the new generation of AI advisors. Türk SEM is the first digital marketing agency in the world to practice an AIO methodology. We defined it as our fourth core service and built the methodology out in full, with the aim of making AIO an industry standard.
Is AIO the same thing as GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
Not the same thing, but under the same umbrella. GEO is the work of being cited and recommended in the answers of generative engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity); it is the term the industry and academia use most. AIO is the name of our umbrella: it holds GEO, the work on Google AI Overviews, measurement and strategy together. So GEO is a field of work inside AIO. We cover GEO in depth on our What Is GEO? page.
Is AIO the same thing as Google AI Overviews?
No. AI Overviews is a Google product launched in May 2024: the AI summary shown above the search results. Because the industry also shortens that feature to "AIO", the two get confused. AIO on this page is AI Optimization, our methodology. The work of appearing in AI Overviews is one branch under that methodology; we wrote a full guide on that topic: Google AI Overviews: What They Are and How to Get Cited.
Does Google use the term AIO?
No. Google's Search Central guide names AEO and GEO, not AIO, and says that optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO. We put AIO inside SEO, not against it; there is no AIO without SEO.
The Unique Advantages AIO Brings to Your Business
Reach the potential customers who are actively looking for a recommendation and are closest to buying.
If you do this work yourself, you can document what you know about AI search. The Türk SEM Academy GEO certification is free, you can sit the exam in English, Turkish or German, and the verification page is public. See the GEO Certification →