Glossary
AI search glossary: AEO, GEO, AI SEO and more
The terms you'll hear about getting found in ChatGPT and Google's AI, each in one plain paragraph. Written for business owners, not marketers.
AI visibility
Whether AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews mention your business when someone asks for what you do in your area, and whether what they say is accurate. It's what our free check measures.
AEO (answer engine optimization)
Making your business the answer when someone asks a direct question, whether in Google's AI Overviews, a voice assistant like Siri or Alexa, or an AI chat tool. It grew out of optimizing for featured snippets and voice search, and now mostly means AI answers. More on AEO.
GEO (generative engine optimization)
Getting your business cited or recommended in answers that AI tools write on the spot: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode. The term comes from a 2023 research paper. In practice it overlaps almost completely with AEO. More on GEO.
AI SEO (AI search optimization)
The catch-all name for optimizing for AI-driven search, covering both AEO and GEO. Careful: some people also use “AI SEO” to mean using AI tools to do ordinary SEO. When we say it, we mean getting found in AI answers.
LLM optimization (LLMO) and LLM visibility
An LLM, or large language model, is the technology behind ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and similar tools. LLM optimization means making sure those tools have accurate information about your business and mention it. LLM visibility is how often, and how accurately, they do.
AI Overviews
Google's AI-written summaries that appear above the regular results for many searches, with links to the sources they used. For local searches they often include businesses from Google Maps. If people read the summary and stop there, the businesses named in it get the call.
AI Mode
Google's chat-style search mode inside Google Search. You ask a question, get an AI-written answer with links, and can ask follow-ups. It's another place where Google's AI decides which businesses to name.
Zero-click search
A search that ends without the person clicking any website, because the answer was right there: in an AI Overview, a map listing, or an AI chat. That's why being named in the answer now matters as much as ranking.
Entity SEO
To search engines and AI tools, your business is an “entity”: one specific thing with a name, location, services, owner and reviews. Entity SEO means making those facts clear and connected across the web so the tools are confident who you are and don't mix you up with someone else.
Structured data (schema markup)
Code on your website, written in the shared Schema.org vocabulary, that labels your facts for machines: business name, address, phone, hours, services, prices and FAQs. Visitors don't see it. Search engines and AI tools read it.
llms.txt
A proposed standard from 2024: a plain-text file at yoursite.com/llms.txt that summarizes your site for AI tools. It isn't an official standard, and the big AI companies haven't said they rely on it. It takes minutes to add, so we add it, but it's not a magic switch.
Citations
Two meanings. In local search, a citation is any listing of your business name, address and phone on another site: Yelp, BBB, Angi, Apple Maps, Bing Places, the chamber of commerce. In AI answers, a citation is the source an AI tool links to or names. Good local citations help you earn AI citations.
NAP consistency
NAP means name, address and phone. NAP consistency means they're exactly the same everywhere you're listed. If one site has an old phone number or a different business name, search and AI tools are less sure the listings are all you.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness: the qualities Google's search quality guidelines describe for trustworthy content. It isn't a single score. For a local business it looks like license and insurance details, the owner's name, real photos of real work and real reviews.
Google Business Profile
Your free business listing on Google, the one that shows on Google Maps and in the map pack. It's one of the main sources Google's AI uses to answer local questions, so categories, services, hours and service area should all be filled in.
Map pack (local pack)
The box of about three businesses with a map that Google shows for local searches like “plumber near me.” It's built from Google Business Profiles.
AI crawlers
Bots that AI companies use to read websites, such as GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI), PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot (Anthropic) and Google-Extended. Your site's robots.txt file says whether they're allowed in. If they're blocked, those tools know less about you.
IndexNow
A free way to tell Bing and other search engines the moment a page on your site is added or changed, instead of waiting for them to notice. Bing feeds Microsoft Copilot and other AI search tools.
Want to know where your business stands? The free AI Visibility Check shows you what ChatGPT and Google's AI say about your trade in your city.
More: What is AEO? · What is GEO? · AI search glossary · AEO & GEO services in Detroit
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