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.Brand narrativeThe story and positioning that AI search engines construct about a brand based on available content, reviews, press coverage, and structured data.Citation engineeringThe systematic practice of structuring content so that AI search engines select and cite your brand when generating responses.AI content optimizationThe practice of structuring and formatting web content specifically to be retrieved, understood, and cited by AI search engines in their generated responses.
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.Retrieval-augmented generationAn AI framework that enhances LLM outputs by retrieving relevant information from external knowledge sources before generating a response.Query fan-outA technique used by AI search systems to decompose a single user query into multiple parallel sub-queries, retrieving broader context before synthesizing a response.Google AI ModeGoogle's advanced AI search experience that uses deep reasoning, multi-step query fan-out, and conversational follow-ups to deliver comprehensive AI-generated answers.GroundingThe process of connecting AI model outputs to verifiable sources of information to ensure responses are factual rather than fabricated.HallucinationWhen an AI model generates false, misleading, or fabricated information and presents it as fact — a significant risk for brand accuracy in AI search.LLM trainingThe process of training large language models on vast text datasets, which determines the foundational knowledge and brand associations an AI model carries.
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.AI crawlersWeb crawling bots operated by AI companies to discover and index content for use in AI search responses and model training.Knowledge graphA structured database of entities and their relationships used by search engines and AI systems to understand real-world concepts, people, places, and brands.Entity SEOThe practice of optimizing content around real-world entities — people, brands, products, concepts — rather than just keywords, helping AI search systems understand context and relationships.Crawl budgetThe number of pages a search engine or AI crawler will crawl on your site within a given timeframe — a limited resource that must be managed for optimal AI visibility.
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.AI referral trafficWebsite visits originating from AI search platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews when users click on cited sources.Dark trafficWebsite visits that lack referrer information, making it impossible to identify the original source — increasingly caused by AI search platforms that strip attribution data.AI share of voiceThe percentage of AI-generated responses that mention or recommend your brand compared to all brand mentions for a given set of queries.
