The Complete AI Search
Marketing Glossary
A
AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation
The practice of optimising content specifically to appear as the direct answer in AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Bing Copilot. AEO goes beyond traditional SEO by structuring content as definitive, factual statements that AI language models can cite. Key AEO signals include: FAQ schema, direct-answer formatting, authoritative citations, and E-E-A-T compliance. See also: GEO, AI SEO.
AI Citation
When a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Perplexity references or recommends a specific brand, website, or piece of content in its response. AI citations are the new backlinks — they drive direct referral traffic from AI platforms and signal domain authority to other AI systems. Getting AI citations requires entity authority, structured data, and citation-worthy content. See also: Entity SEO, GEO.
AI Overview (Google)
Google’s AI-generated summary that appears at the top of search results pages (formerly called Search Generative Experience/SGE). AI Overviews pull information from multiple sources and synthesise a direct answer, often without users clicking through to websites. Appearing in AI Overviews requires strong E-E-A-T signals, structured data, and content that directly answers the query. See also: Zero-Click Search, Featured Snippet.
AI SEO
A comprehensive search optimisation strategy that targets both traditional search engines (Google, Bing) AND AI-powered platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini). AI SEO combines classical SEO techniques with entity optimisation, structured data, E-E-A-T signals, and AEO/GEO strategies to maximise visibility across the entire modern search ecosystem. See also: AEO, GEO, Entity SEO.
E
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
Google’s framework for evaluating content quality, first introduced in its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. The four pillars are: Experience (first-hand experience with the topic), Expertise (subject matter knowledge), Authoritativeness (recognition from peers and industry), and Trustworthiness (accuracy and reliability). E-E-A-T signals are now a critical factor for AI models deciding whether to cite your content. See also: Entity SEO, AI Citation.
Entity SEO
Optimising your brand, people, places, and products to be recognised as distinct entities in Google’s Knowledge Graph and by AI language models. Entity SEO goes beyond keyword optimisation to establish your brand’s relationships, attributes, and context in a way that AI systems can understand and reference. Key signals: Wikipedia presence, Wikidata entries, consistent NAP data, schema markup, and co-citations. See also: Knowledge Graph, AI Citation.
G
GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation
The discipline of optimising content to appear in AI-generated answers produced by generative AI systems (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini, Llama, Mistral). GEO focuses on the signals that make AI models choose to include your brand in synthesised responses — including co-citations, brand mentions, authoritative statements, and structured information. GEO is broader than AEO, applying to any generative AI response, not just search-specific answer engines. See also: AEO, AI Citation, LLM Optimisation.
K
Knowledge Graph
Google’s structured database of entities and their relationships, used to power the Knowledge Panel, Google AI Overview, and AI answer generation. When your brand is established in Google’s Knowledge Graph, it can be referenced directly in AI-generated answers. Building Knowledge Graph presence requires schema markup, authoritative backlinks, consistent NAP data, and Wikipedia/Wikidata entries. See also: Entity SEO, E-E-A-T.
L
LLM (Large Language Model)
A type of artificial intelligence trained on vast text datasets to understand and generate human language. LLMs power products like ChatGPT (GPT-4o), Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and Perplexity. For marketers, LLMs are the new gatekeepers of information — when a user asks an LLM a product or service question, the LLM’s training data and real-time web access determine which brands it recommends. See also: GEO, AEO, AI Citation.
S
Schema Markup
Structured data code (typically JSON-LD format) added to web pages to help search engines and AI systems understand the content. Schema markup uses the schema.org vocabulary to define entities like Organization, Service, Product, FAQPage, and LocalBusiness. Pages with proper schema markup are significantly more likely to appear in Google’s rich results, AI Overviews, and to be cited by AI language models. See also: Structured Data, JSON-LD, Entity SEO.
Semantic SEO
An SEO approach that focuses on the meaning, context, and relationships between concepts rather than individual keywords. Semantic SEO aligns with how AI models understand language — in topic clusters, entity relationships, and conceptual context rather than exact keyword matches. A semantic SEO strategy typically involves topic cluster architecture, internal linking, entity co-occurrence, and NLP-optimised content. See also: Entity SEO, NLP, Topic Clusters.
Z
Zero-Click Search
A search query where the user finds their answer directly on the search results page without clicking through to any website — via featured snippets, knowledge panels, AI Overviews, or answer boxes. Zero-click searches now account for over 65% of all Google searches (SparkToro, 2024). For AI SEO, zero-click is both a challenge (lost traffic) and an opportunity (brand visibility in AI responses even without a click). AEO and GEO strategies optimise specifically for zero-click AI environments. See also: AEO, AI Overview, Featured Snippet.