Glossary
The AI search glossary
Plain-English, answer-first definitions of the vocabulary around getting cited by AI: GEO, AEO, AI Overviews, citations, share of voice, and the rest. Each entry links into the practical guide to AI search optimization.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content easy for generative AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Mode to retrieve, quote, and cite when they compose an answer.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so answer engines, including Google's featured snippets and AI Overviews, voice assistants, and AI chatbots, can extract your page as the direct answer to a question.
Google AI Overviews
AI Overviews are Google's AI-generated summaries that appear above the classic results for many queries.
Google AI Mode
AI Mode is Google's conversational search experience: instead of a results page with an AI summary on top, the whole interaction is an AI dialogue that searches, reasons across multiple sub-queries (query fan-out), and cites web sources inline.
AI citation
An AI citation is when an AI engine names or links your site as a source in its generated answer.
AI visibility
AI visibility is how present your brand is in AI-generated answers: which engines cite or mention you, for which prompts, with a link or by name, and how that compares to competitors.
Share of voice in AI search
Share of voice (SoV) in AI search is the percentage of AI-generated answers, across a defined set of prompts, that cite or mention your brand versus your competitors.
llms.txt
llms.txt is a plain-text file at your site's root that gives AI systems a curated map of your most important pages, with one-line descriptions, in a markdown-like format.
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