AI SEO Glossary
Clear definitions of AI SEO terms: AEO, GEO, LLM, RAG, entities, knowledge graphs, AI Overviews, AI Mode, citations and more.
Plain-language definitions of the terms that shape AI search.
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
- Structuring content so search engines and assistants can present it as a direct answer – in snippets, People Also Ask, voice and AI assistants.
- AI Citations
- Source links shown in AI-generated answers to support their statements.
- AI Overviews
- Google Search feature that shows an AI-generated summary with links to supporting web pages for some queries.
- AI Search
- Search in which an AI model interprets a question, retrieves sources and generates a direct answer instead of only listing links.
- AI SEO
- Search engine optimisation adapted for AI-driven search, so content can be crawled, understood, extracted and cited by search engines and AI systems.
- Entity SEO
- Optimising how search systems identify and connect real-world things – organisations, people, products, places and topics – on your site.
- Generative Search
- Any search experience in which answers are generated by AI from retrieved sources rather than only ranked as links.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- Improving the likelihood that content is retrieved and cited in AI-generated answers by making it accessible, specific, evidence-backed and clearly attributed.
- Google AI Mode
- A conversational, AI-powered search experience in Google that handles complex, multi-step questions with links to the web.
- Knowledge Graph
- A database of entities and the relationships between them, used by search engines to understand facts and connections.
- LLM (Large Language Model)
- A neural network trained on large amounts of text to understand and generate language; the engine behind assistants such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- A technique in which a model retrieves relevant documents at answer time and uses them to generate a grounded response, often with citations.
- Semantic SEO
- Optimising for meaning: covering related concepts, entities and intents so a page fully addresses a topic, not just a keyword.
- Topical Authority
- The perceived depth and reliability of a website on a subject, built through comprehensive, interlinked, expert content.
- Zero-Click Search
- A search that ends on the results page because the answer is shown directly, without the user clicking through to a website.
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