New to answer engines? Start with AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), then work outward.
Answer engines & AI search
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) — structuring content so AI engines cite it.
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — being included in generative AI answers.
- Answer engine — a system that answers instead of listing links.
- Generative engine — an AI system that generates answers or content.
- AI Overview — Google's AI summary atop search results.
- LLM (Large Language Model) — the AI models that power answer engines.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) — retrieve-then-generate, with citations.
Structured data & markup
- Structured data — machine-readable meaning for your pages.
- Schema markup — schema.org vocabulary, usually as JSON-LD.
- Semantic HTML — meaningful tags that machines can parse.
Crawling & indexing
- Crawlability — whether bots can access and read your pages.
- Indexability — whether a crawled page can be indexed.
- llms.txt — a root file mapping your key content for LLMs.
- User-agent — the identifier bots send; how robots.txt targets them.
- Core Web Vitals — Google's loading, interactivity, and stability metrics.
Entities & measurement
- Knowledge graph — a network of entities and relationships.
- Entity SEO — optimizing around entities, not just keywords.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) — ranking in and being understood by search engines.
- Citation share — how often AI answers cite you versus competitors.
- Share of voice (AI) — your presence across AI answers.
FAQ
What is the difference between SEO and AEO?
SEO optimizes a site to rank as a link in search engines like Google. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) optimizes content so AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can extract and cite it directly. The two overlap: strong SEO fundamentals feed AEO.
How do I use this glossary?
Start with the term you're unsure about, read its short definition, then follow the link to the full pillar guide for tactics. If you want to see how these signals score on your own site, run a free SEO AEO Specialist audit of up to 50 pages at no cost.
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