SEO & AI Search Glossary
The search landscape is evolving fast — new terms, new technologies, new strategies. Whether you're learning about GEO for the first time or refining your understanding of entity authority, this glossary has you covered. Every definition is written for practitioners, not textbooks.
In-Depth Guides
These are our comprehensive, definitive guides to the most important concepts in modern SEO and AI search. Each one is 3,500+ words of actionable strategy, real examples, and expert insights.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
AI SearchThe practice of optimizing your content and digital presence so that AI-powered search engines — like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot — discover, understand, and cite your information in their generated responses. GEO focuses on entity authority, structured data, and content structures that AI engines prefer when synthesizing answers.
Read the full guideAnswer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Search OptimizationThe discipline of optimizing content to be selected as the direct, definitive answer in featured snippets, answer boxes, People Also Ask sections, and voice search responses. AEO focuses on question-answer formatting, concise definitions, structured data, and content architectures that make your information easy for search engines to extract and display at position zero.
Read the full guideAI SEO
AI SearchThe dual practice of (1) using artificial intelligence tools to improve SEO workflows — content creation, keyword research, technical audits, and analysis — and (2) optimizing your website and content for AI-powered search platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. AI SEO is the broad umbrella that encompasses both GEO and AEO as specific tactics.
Read the full guideEntity SEO
Search OptimizationThe practice of establishing your brand as a recognized, machine-readable entity within search engines' knowledge graphs. Entity SEO focuses on structured data, consistent cross-platform identity, semantic connections, and authoritative references — making search engines understand what your brand is, not just what keywords appear on your pages.
Read the full guideStructured Data & Schema Markup
Technical SEOA standardized code format (typically JSON-LD) that explicitly tells search engines and AI systems what your content means. Schema.org markup enables rich results in search (star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, product details), knowledge panel eligibility, and dramatically improved visibility in both traditional and AI-powered search engines.
Read the full guideLocal SEO
Search OptimizationThe practice of optimizing your online presence to attract customers from local searches. Covers Google Business Profile, citations, reviews, map pack rankings, and NAP consistency for brick-and-mortar businesses.
Read the full guideTechnical SEO
Technical SEOThe process of optimizing your website infrastructure for search engine crawling and indexing. Includes site speed, Core Web Vitals, mobile-first indexing, XML sitemaps, robots.txt, canonical tags, and JavaScript rendering.
Read the full guideContent Marketing
StrategyA strategic approach to creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract and retain a target audience. Encompasses blog posts, guides, videos, podcasts, and interactive tools designed to build authority and drive organic traffic.
Read the full guideConversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
StrategyThe systematic process of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action — purchasing, signing up, or contacting you. Uses A/B testing, heatmaps, user research, and landing page optimization.
Read the full guideLink Building
Off-Page SEOThe process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. Quality backlinks are one of Google's top ranking factors. Strategies include digital PR, guest posting, broken link building, and creating linkable assets.
Read the full guideKeyword Research
Search OptimizationThe foundational SEO process of discovering what terms and phrases your target audience searches for. Covers search intent analysis, keyword difficulty, long-tail opportunities, competitor analysis, and content gap identification.
Read the full guideOn-Page SEO
On-Page SEOOptimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search results. Includes title tags, meta descriptions, header hierarchy, content quality, image alt text, internal linking, URL structure, and schema markup implementation.
Read the full guideOff-Page SEO
Off-Page SEOSEO activities that happen outside your website to improve rankings. Encompasses backlink building, brand mentions, social signals, digital PR, local citations, and E-E-A-T authority signals that establish domain authority.
Read the full guideCore Web Vitals
Technical SEOGoogle's set of user experience metrics that measure page loading performance (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS). These are confirmed ranking signals that directly impact your search visibility and user experience.
Read the full guideSERP (Search Engine Results Page)
Search OptimizationThe page displayed by search engines in response to a query. Modern SERPs include organic results, featured snippets, knowledge panels, People Also Ask, local packs, image/video results, AI overviews, and shopping results.
Read the full guideLooking for Hands-On Tools?
Put your glossary knowledge into practice with our free SEO tools — generate schema markup, analyze meta tags, check OG tags, and more.
All SEO & Digital Marketing Terms
A comprehensive A-Z reference of essential terms you'll encounter in search engine optimization, AI search, and digital marketing. Bookmark this page — we update it regularly.
Backlinks
Incoming hyperlinks from external websites to your site. Backlinks are one of the strongest traditional SEO ranking factors, serving as "votes of confidence" from other sites. Quality, relevance, and authority of linking domains matter more than quantity.
Breadcrumbs
A navigational pattern showing the user's path through a website hierarchy (Home > Category > Page). Breadcrumb schema markup helps search engines understand site structure and displays breadcrumb navigation directly in search results.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without taking any action. While not a direct ranking factor, high bounce rates can indicate content relevance or user experience issues.
Canonical URL
The preferred version of a web page when multiple URLs contain identical or similar content. The rel="canonical" tag tells search engines which version to index and rank, preventing duplicate content issues that can dilute ranking signals.
Core Web Vitals
Google's set of user experience metrics — Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) — that measure loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. They are confirmed ranking signals.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe. Optimizing crawl budget ensures that search engines discover and index your most important pages efficiently.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness — Google's framework for evaluating content quality. E-E-A-T is especially important for YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics. It influences ranking, rich result eligibility, and increasingly, AI search citation likelihood.
Entity
A distinct, uniquely identifiable thing recognized by search engines — a person, brand, place, product, or concept. Entities are the building blocks of knowledge graphs and increasingly how search engines understand queries and content.
Featured Snippet
A selected search result displayed in a prominent box at the top of Google results (position zero), providing a direct answer to the user's query. Featured snippets can be paragraphs, lists, tables, or videos. They are the primary target of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).
Internal Linking
Links from one page on your website to another page on the same website. Strategic internal linking distributes page authority, helps search engines discover content, establishes topical relationships, and guides users through your site's content hierarchy.
Indexation
The process by which search engines add web pages to their searchable database. Pages must be crawled, processed, and indexed before they can appear in search results. Controlling indexation through robots.txt, noindex tags, and sitemaps is a fundamental technical SEO practice.
JSON-LD
JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data — the Google-recommended format for implementing structured data on web pages. JSON-LD is added as a <script> tag separate from your HTML, making it clean to implement, easy to maintain, and ideal for modern JavaScript frameworks.
Knowledge Graph
Google's massive database of entities and their relationships — containing billions of facts about people, places, organizations, products, and concepts. The Knowledge Graph powers knowledge panels, entity disambiguation, and AI-generated responses.
Keyword Intent
The underlying purpose behind a user's search query. Intent is classified as informational (seeking information), navigational (seeking a specific website), commercial (researching before a purchase), or transactional (ready to take action). Matching content to keyword intent is critical for both traditional and AI search optimization.
Long-Tail Keywords
Longer, more specific search phrases (typically 3+ words) with lower individual search volume but higher conversion intent and less competition. Long-tail keywords are especially valuable for AEO (voice search queries are inherently long-tail) and for building topical authority in niche areas.
Local SEO
The optimization of a business's online presence to attract customers from local searches. Local SEO involves Google Business Profile optimization, local citation building, review management, local schema markup, and geographic-specific content strategies.
People Also Ask (PAA)
A Google search feature that displays expandable question-and-answer boxes related to the original query. PAA boxes are a rich AEO opportunity — each question you appear in is another entry point to your content. They expand dynamically and appear for a wide range of queries.
Position Zero
The featured snippet position that appears above the first organic result in Google search results. Earning position zero means Google considers your content the single best answer for that query. Position zero results are read aloud by voice assistants.
Rich Results
Enhanced search listings that include additional visual elements beyond the standard title, URL, and description. Rich results can include star ratings, FAQ dropdowns, recipe cards, product prices, event dates, and more. They are enabled by structured data and consistently achieve higher click-through rates.
Robots.txt
A text file at the root of a website that instructs search engine crawlers which pages or sections to crawl and which to avoid. Proper robots.txt configuration is essential for crawl budget management and ensuring search engines can access your important content.
Schema.org
A collaborative vocabulary created by Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex that provides a shared set of schemas for structured data markup. Schema.org defines over 800 types (Organization, Product, Article, FAQ, etc.) and thousands of properties used to describe content for search engines and AI systems.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page — the page displayed by a search engine in response to a user's query. Modern SERPs include traditional organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, knowledge panels, local packs, AI Overviews, and other rich features.
Sitemap
An XML file that lists all the URLs on your website, helping search engines discover and crawl your content efficiently. Sitemaps can include additional metadata like last modified dates, change frequency, and priority levels.
Technical SEO
The optimization of a website's technical infrastructure to improve search engine crawling, indexing, and rendering. Technical SEO encompasses site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data, canonicalization, robots.txt, XML sitemaps, HTTPS, Core Web Vitals, and crawl efficiency.
Topical Authority
The degree to which a website is recognized by search engines as an authoritative source on a specific topic. Built through comprehensive content coverage, internal linking, consistent publishing, and authoritative backlinks. Topical authority is increasingly important for both traditional rankings and AI search citations.
Zero-Click Search
A search query where the user gets their answer directly from the search results page without clicking through to any website. Featured snippets, knowledge panels, and AI Overviews all contribute to zero-click searches. Optimizing for zero-click visibility (AEO and GEO) is increasingly important as these results grow in prevalence.
This Glossary Is Regularly Updated
Ready to Put This Knowledge to Work?
Understanding the terminology is the first step. Implementing a strategy that covers SEO, AEO, GEO, entity authority, and structured data — that's where real results happen. Let's talk about your goals.