GEO glossary
Key terms and concepts in AI search, generative engine optimization, SEO, and analytics.
Generative engine optimization
Generative engine optimizationThe practice of optimizing content and brand presence to improve visibility in AI-powered search engines and language model outputs.Answer engine optimizationA subset of GEO focused on optimizing content to appear in direct answer formats provided by AI search engines.PromptA query or instruction submitted to an AI search engine, used in GEO monitoring to track brand visibility across specific search scenarios.Query typeThe classification of search queries by intent (informational, navigational, transactional, commercial) used to categorize GEO monitoring prompts.
AI search
AI searchSearch experiences powered by large language models that generate synthesized answers instead of traditional link-based results.LLMLarge language model — an AI system trained on vast amounts of text data that can understand and generate human-like text.AI overviewGoogle's AI-generated summary that appears at the top of search results, synthesizing information from multiple web sources.Training dataThe large corpus of text and information used to train AI language models, which shapes their knowledge and the brands they reference.PerplexityAn AI-native search engine that provides synthesized answers with inline citations, representing a new paradigm in information retrieval.ChatGPTOpenAI's AI assistant with integrated web search capabilities, one of the most widely used platforms where brands need visibility.
SEO
Structured dataStandardized code formats (like JSON-LD) that help AI engines understand the content and context of web pages.llms.txtA proposed standard file (similar to robots.txt) that provides AI language models with a structured overview of a website's content.robots.txtA file that tells web crawlers and AI bots which parts of your site they can access and crawl.Zero-click searchA search interaction where the user gets their answer directly from the search results or AI response without clicking through to a website.Featured snippetA highlighted answer box in Google search results that directly answers a query, considered a precursor to AI-generated search responses.JSON-LDJavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data — the recommended format for adding structured data to web pages to help AI engines understand content.
Analytics
Brand visibilityA measure of how frequently and prominently a brand appears in AI-generated search responses across different platforms and queries.Mention trackingThe process of monitoring when and how a brand is mentioned in AI-generated search responses across multiple platforms.Sentiment analysisThe automated process of determining whether AI-generated brand mentions are positive, negative, or neutral in tone.Source attributionThe practice of tracking which web sources AI engines cite when generating responses that mention a brand.CitationA reference to a specific web source that an AI search engine includes in its generated response to support or attribute information.Competitor analysisThe process of tracking and comparing how competitor brands appear alongside yours in AI-generated search responses.Share of voiceThe percentage of AI-generated responses mentioning your brand compared to the total mentions across all competitors for relevant queries.Visibility scoreA composite metric that quantifies how visible a brand is across AI search engines, factoring in mention frequency, position, and sentiment.
