AI & Answer Engine Optimization Terms.
How AI tools are changing the way people find businesses online — and what to do about it.
← All categoriesAI Citations — Definition
An AI citation is when an AI tool — like Perplexity, ChatGPT with browsing enabled, or Google's AI Overviews — references your website or c…
Read Definition →AI Content vs. Human Content — Definition
This is the debate about whether content written by AI tools is as effective as content written by humans — for SEO, for AI citations, and …
Read Definition →AI Search (AI-Powered Search) — Definition
AI-powered search is what happens when a search engine stops just listing links and starts giving you synthesized answers. Google's AI Over…
Read Definition →AI Visibility — Definition
AI visibility is how well your business shows up — and how accurately it's represented — when AI tools talk about your industry, your servi…
Read Definition →AI-Powered Personalization — Definition
AI-powered personalization is when a website, email platform, or marketing tool uses AI to show different content to different visitors bas…
Read Definition →Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — Definition
Answer Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring your content so that AI systems — like ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and Perple…
Read Definition →ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini (AI Assistants) — Definition
ChatGPT (made by OpenAI), Claude (made by Anthropic), and Gemini (made by Google) are the three dominant AI assistants right now. They're c…
Read Definition →Conversational Search — Definition
Conversational search is when someone types or speaks a full question instead of a few keywords. Instead of searching "dentist Phoenix," th…
Read Definition →Entity-Based SEO — Definition
Entity-based SEO is building your online presence so that search engines and AI systems understand your business as a distinct, well-define…
Read Definition →Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — Definition
Generative Engine Optimization is the next evolution of SEO — optimizing your content specifically for AI systems that generate answers rat…
Read Definition →Large Language Model (LLM) — Definition
A Large Language Model is the technology engine behind AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. It's a type of software trained on enormo…
Read Definition →Prompt Engineering (for business owners) — Definition
Prompt engineering is the skill of knowing how to give instructions to an AI tool so it gives you something actually useful back. It's not …
Read Definition →Voice Search Optimization — Definition
Voice search optimization is making your content easy to find and easy to answer when someone speaks a query into their phone, smart speake…
Read Definition →Zero-Click Search — Definition
Zero-click search happens when someone gets their answer directly on the search results page — or in an AI response — without ever clicking…
Read Definition →llms.txt — Definition
llms.txt is a proposed standard file — placed at your website's root, like robots.txt — that tells AI systems what they should and shouldn'…
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