Glossary · 8 terms
The AI search vocabulary, defined.
Every term you need to talk about AI search, defined in one sentence and then explained in plain English. AEO, GEO, AI SEO, AI visibility, AI Overviews, llms.txt — no jargon-for-jargon, each entry opens with a direct definition and a line on how it differs from the nearest concept.
Core disciplines
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Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring web content so that answer engines such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity extract it and cite the source directly inside their generated answers.
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Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of engineering content and entity signals so that generative AI engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini — cite, quote and name your brand inside the answers they generate.
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AI SEO
AI SEO is the umbrella term for optimising a website to be found, understood and cited by AI-powered search — combining answer engine optimization, generative engine optimization and the classical technical SEO foundations they both depend on.
Concepts
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AI Search
AI Search is the category of search experiences where an AI model reads web content and returns a synthesised, cited answer to a query instead of a ranked list of links — spanning Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and others.
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AI Visibility
AI Visibility is the measurable presence of a brand inside AI-generated answers — how often, and how prominently, engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews cite or mention it across a defined set of tracked prompts.
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AI Citation
An AI Citation is a reference to a source — a named brand, a linked URL, or both — that an AI engine includes in a generated answer to show where a claim came from, and the unit of success that AEO and GEO optimise for.