The GALAPA Blog

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) aims to be THE extracted answer displayed by AI Overviews, featured snippets, and voice assistants. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) aims to be cited as a source in multi-source AI-generated responses (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude). They're distinct strategies, not synonyms. Most businesses need both eventually, but sequencing matters: AEO delivers faster wins for transactional queries, GEO builds long-term authority.

At its Winter '26 Edition, Shopify shipped more than 150 features built around agentic commerce. Agentic Storefronts make your products discoverable across AI channels (ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode) through the Shopify Catalog, with no integration to build. Two details the marketing coverage skips: in ChatGPT, discovery now sends the buyer back to your own checkout, and eligibility requires selling to US customers. The real challenge for merchants isn't technical. It's knowing where to automate a task and, above all, where not to delegate judgment to an AI.

Google Zero is when a search ends with no click to an external site: the user gets their answer right inside Google. In early 2026, 68% of Google searches ended this way, up from 60% in 2024 and 49% in 2019. Sundar Pichai downplayed the concerns in an interview. GALAPA*'s position: the numbers tell a different story. As AI Overviews, featured snippets, and knowledge panels answer questions on the results page, classic organic traffic is receding. The real question is no longer whether this is happening, but which sites are already losing the battle.