GEO Glossary

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are generative answer modules above traditional search results, citing 3–6 source pages.

Answer Engine

An Answer Engine is an AI system that returns a synthesised, citation-rich answer instead of a list of links.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

Answer Engine Optimization is a near-synonym for GEO, emphasising direct-answer surfaces.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Generative Engine Optimization is the practice of getting your brand mentioned, cited and recommended inside AI-generated answers.

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

RAG is the architecture pattern where an AI engine fetches live web sources, then synthesises an answer from them.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is OpenAI's consumer AI engine — the largest single AI surface, with hybrid retrieval-and-recall sourcing.

Claude

Claude is Anthropic's AI engine — strong on technical, professional and developer queries.

Gemini

Gemini is Google's standalone AI engine, sitting alongside Google AI Overviews in the Google ecosystem.

Google AI Overviews

Google AI Overviews is Google's generative answer module above blue-link results — the highest-traffic AI surface.

Perplexity

Perplexity is the most citation-heavy AI engine — every claim is sourced and clickable.

AI Sentiment

AI Sentiment classifies the tone of model-generated mentions of your brand as positive, neutral, negative or mixed.

Citation Count

Citation Count is the number of times your URLs are cited as numbered sources in AI answers.

Hallucination Rate

Hallucination Rate is the frequency of factually wrong claims about your brand in AI responses.

Recommendation Rate

Recommendation Rate is the percentage of mentions where the AI actively recommends your brand vs. just listing it.

Share of Voice (AI)

Share of Voice is your share of brand mentions vs. competitors in the same AI prompt set.

Visibility Score

Visibility Score is the percentage of monitored prompts where your brand is mentioned across AI engines.

Citation (in AI answers)

An AI citation is a numbered, clickable source link beneath or inline with an AI-generated answer.

GPTBot

GPTBot is OpenAI's web crawler that gathers training and live-browsing data for ChatGPT.

JSON-LD

JSON-LD is the JSON-based syntax for embedding Schema.org structured data inside an HTML page.

llms.txt

llms.txt is an emerging standard file at the domain root that declares canonical content sources for AI engines.

Schema.org

Schema.org is the open vocabulary for declaring what content on a page is — Article, Product, Organization, FAQ.

Citation-Worthy Content

Citation-Worthy Content is content structured so that AI engines pull it as the answer source for relevant prompts.

Entity Building

Entity Building is the practice of establishing your brand as a distinct, recognised entity in AI training data.

Prompt Set

A Prompt Set is the curated list of buyer-relevant questions you replay weekly across AI engines to measure visibility.

Topical Authority

Topical Authority is the strength of association between your brand and a topic across the web.