Glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms that come up constantly in AI SEO, AEO, GEO and AI search — each one written to stand on its own.
AI Citation
An AI citation is when a generative AI engine names a specific page as the source for a claim in its generated answer — distinct from a mention (being referenced with no named source) or a click (a user actually visiting the page).
AI Crawler
An AI crawler is an automated bot — such as OpenAI's GPTBot or Perplexity's PerplexityBot — that fetches and reads web pages to gather training data or real-time information for an AI system, distinct from traditional search engine crawlers like Googlebot.
AI Overview
An AI Overview is Google's AI-generated summary shown in search results, synthesizing information from multiple sources into a single answer instead of — or above — a traditional list of links.
AI SEO
AI SEO is the practice of making a website discoverable, understandable, and citable by AI-powered search and answer engines — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google's AI-driven results — rather than only ranking in a traditional list of links.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
AEO is the practice of structuring a page so AI answer engines can locate a direct answer, understand what entity it belongs to, and extract it into a generated response.
Direct Answer
A direct answer is a self-contained 1-3 sentence response to a specific question, placed at or near the top of the relevant section, before supporting detail — written so it makes complete sense if quoted entirely on its own.
FAQPage Schema
FAQPage schema is a schema.org structured data type that marks up question-and-answer content in machine-readable JSON-LD, using a mainEntity array of Question objects, each containing one accepted Answer.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
GEO is the practice of making content citation-ready for generative AI engines — structuring it so a model has a credible, factual, well-sourced reason to quote or reference a page when it synthesizes an answer.
Large Language Model (LLM)
A large language model (LLM) is an AI system trained on large volumes of text to generate human-like language, and is the underlying technology behind AI chat and search products like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
Structured Data / Schema Markup
Structured data (schema markup) is machine-readable code — typically JSON-LD following the schema.org vocabulary — added to a page to explicitly state facts like what an entity is, who authored a piece of content, or how a page is organized, rather than leaving a model to infer them from prose.