Ground Source Heat Pumps are often intentionally confused with Geothermal Energy by HVAC distributors since the term "geothermal" is popular in the renewable energy community.
Ground Source Heat Pumps are an efficient way to heat and cool the home, but do not utilize any alternative energy. Ground source heat pumps require electrical energy to heat and cool. Ground source heat pump systems simply use the ground as a constant temperature heat sink and are usual no deeper than three feet under the soil. Ground source heat pumps are sometimes referred to as "GeoExchange".
Geothermal Energy is a resource that can only be utilized by drilling very
deep well and circulating water to extract the heat. Geothermal only provides heat energy(not cooling) and does
not necessarily require energy input. Geothermal energy is utilized by many power plants and hot spring pools.