SEO, AEO and GEO Glossary: 100+ Terms Explained

This glossary gathers more than 100 terms from SEO, AEO, GEO, backlinks and AI search, in alphabetical order, each with a plain-language definition and, where one exists, the blog post that goes deeper. In short: SEO is being found in search engines, AEO is being the answer and GEO is being cited by AI. For the foundation of it all, start with the complete SEO guide.

Quick summary

The terms are in alphabetical order, from A to Z, and each one fits in a sentence or two.
Industry acronyms (AEO, GEO, DR, DA) sit alongside official Google terms (crawling, indexing, E-E-A-T, rich results). When the difference matters, the text says so.
When a term has a dedicated post on the blog, the "Learn more" link takes you to it.
Some terms change fast, especially the AI ones. This glossary was reviewed in October 2026.
A definition is not a promise: no term here guarantees a Google ranking or an AI citation.

How to read this: if you are a beginner, follow the study order in the next section and use the A-Z as a reference. If you already work in SEO, go straight to the term you are looking for and read the technical note when there is one. To understand how the three main acronyms fit together, read SEO, AEO and GEO: what's the difference.

How do you use this glossary?

Use it as a quick reference, not as continuous reading. Find the term by its letter, read the definition and follow the link if you want to go deeper. If you are starting out, first study the three stages Google describes in how Search works: crawling, indexing and serving results. Most SEO problems come from confusing them.

Stage	What it is	Question it answers	Common mistake
Crawling	Google's robot visits the page	"Did Google find my page?"	Blocking the page by accident
Indexing	Google analyzes and stores the page	"Did my page make it into the index?"	Thinking crawling is the same as indexing
Ranking (serving)	Google chooses what to show for each search	"Where does my page appear?"	Expecting a position without being indexed

Suggested order for learning the terms:

Foundation: SEO, SERP, keyword, search intent, crawling, indexing, ranking.
Page: title tag, meta description, heading, internal link, canonical, noindex.
Authority: backlink, anchor text, dofollow and nofollow, DR and DA, E-E-A-T.
Technical: sitemap, robots.txt, Core Web Vitals, schema markup, mobile-first.
AI: AEO, GEO, AI Overviews, LLM, prompt, query fan-out, citation, share of voice.

Hypothetical example: in the Search Console report, you read that a page has "800 impressions, 12 clicks, 1.5% CTR and an average position of 9.4". With the glossary: the page appeared 800 times on the SERP (impressions), was clicked 12 times (CTR is clicks divided by impressions), and on average sat in 9th position. That suggests it is on the edge between the first and second page, and that the title and description are the first place to test improvements.

In plain English: think of Google as a giant library. Crawling is the librarian discovering that the book exists. Indexing is cataloging the book on the right shelf. Ranking is deciding which book to hand over first when someone asks a question.

A

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)

The practice of structuring content to be the direct answer to a question, in search highlights, assistants and AI summaries. In practice, that means a short answer up front, question-style headings and an FAQ. Learn more: AEO: answer engine optimization.

AI crawlers (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot)

Crawlers run by AI platforms, with distinct functions. According to OpenAI, OAI-SearchBot controls inclusion in ChatGPT search results and GPTBot is used for training. Perplexity says PerplexityBot serves search indexing, not training. Learn more: robots.txt and AI crawlers.

AI Mode

Google's conversational search mode, in which you ask longer questions and keep the conversation going. Learn more: Google AI Mode and how to prepare your content.

AI Overviews

AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some searches, with links to the sources. To become a supporting link, the page must be indexed and snippet-eligible. Learn more: Google AI Overviews.

AI visibility

A measure of how much your brand or pages show up in AI answers to questions relevant to your market. Learn more: how to know if ChatGPT and Gemini recommend your brand.

Algorithm

The set of rules and systems a search engine uses to decide what to show and in what order. It is not a single formula: Google combines several systems, and broad changes can move many sites at once.

Alt attribute (alt text)

A short description of an image, written in the page's code. It helps people who use screen readers and tells the search engine what the image shows.

Anchor text

The clickable text of a link. Varied, natural anchors make up a healthy link profile. Learn more: anchor text: types, ratios and mistakes.

Average position

In Search Console, the average of the positions at which your site appeared for a query or page. It is an average, so it can hide large variations.

B

Backlink

A link from another site pointing to yours. It is one of the trust signals search engines use, and a relevant link also brings visitors. Learn more: what backlinks are.

Backlink profile

The set of links pointing to your site, with their sources, anchors and growth rate. Learn more: a natural backlink profile.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Microsoft's free dashboard for tracking how Bing crawls and displays your site, equivalent to Search Console. Learn more: Bing Webmaster Tools and IndexNow.

Black hat

Techniques that violate search engine guidelines to manipulate rankings, such as blog networks and mass-bought links. The opposite is white hat, which follows the guidelines. Learn more: the risks of buying backlinks.

Brand mention (unlinked mention)

A mention of your brand name on another site, without a link. It can be turned into a link with a polite outreach message. Learn more: unlinked brand mentions.

Breadcrumbs

A path shown at the top of the page (Home > Category > Product) that shows where the visitor is. It helps the user and makes the site hierarchy clear. Learn more: ecommerce SEO.

Broken link building

A strategy of finding broken links on other sites and offering your page as the replacement. Learn more: broken link building step by step.

C

Canonical (canonical URL)

An indication of the preferred version of a page when there are duplicate or very similar URLs. Google treats redirects as the strongest signal, rel="canonical" as a strong signal and the sitemap as a weaker suggestion, according to the documentation on consolidating duplicate URLs.

Citation (in AI)

When an AI answer shows a link to or names your page as a source. It differs from a mention, where the brand is named in the text without a link. No citation is guaranteed. Learn more: how to appear in ChatGPT.

Cloaking

Showing different content to Google and to the user in order to manipulate rankings. It is listed in Google's spam policies.

CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)

A metric that measures how much the layout "jumps" while the page loads. The threshold considered good is 0.1 or less.

Content cluster (topic cluster)

A group of pages on one theme: a comprehensive pillar page and several satellite pages that go deeper into subtopics, all connected by internal links. Learn more: how to build a topic cluster.

Core Web Vitals

Three Google page experience metrics: LCP (loading), INP (response to clicks) and CLS (visual stability). Learn more: Core Web Vitals explained.

Crawl budget

The set of URLs Google can and wants to crawl on your site. Google's documentation says it only becomes a concern for very large sites or those with many daily changes.

Crawler

A program that visits pages and follows links to discover content. Google's is called Googlebot. Learn more: how Google crawls, indexes and ranks.

Crawling

The stage in which a robot discovers and downloads pages. Blocking crawling is not the same as preventing indexing.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

Click rate: clicks divided by impressions. It shows how many of the people who saw your result clicked on it. Learn more: Google Search Console for beginners.

D

DA and DR (Domain Authority and Domain Rating)

Scores from 0 to 100 created by third-party tools (Moz and Ahrefs, respectively) to estimate a site's strength. They are not Google metrics and Google does not use them as a score. Learn more: how to analyze DA and DR.

Digital PR

A strategy of earning mentions and links from publications and blogs with story angles, data and sources that journalists want to use. Learn more: digital PR for link building.

Disavow

A Google tool for asking that certain links to your site be ignored. It is for exceptional use, in cases such as a manual action for artificial links. Learn more: artificial link penalties and disavow.

Dofollow and nofollow

Dofollow is the ordinary link, with no restrictive attribute. Nofollow is the rel="nofollow" attribute, which signals to Google that you prefer not to associate your site with the link. Learn more: dofollow, nofollow, sponsored and UGC.

Duplicate content

Identical or very similar text on more than one URL. It dilutes signals and wastes crawling. It is usually resolved with a redirect or a canonical.

E

E-E-A-T

Acronym for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. According to Google, it is not an isolated ranking factor, but signals that indicate good E-E-A-T are useful, and trust is the most important of the four. See Google's guidance on helpful content. Learn more: E-E-A-T in the age of AI.

Entity

A well-defined thing or concept (a brand, a person, a product, a place) that systems can identify and relate to others. The more consistent your entity's description across the web, the easier it is to be recognized. Learn more: entities and semantic SEO.

F

FAQ (frequently asked questions)

A block of short, self-contained questions and answers. Good for the reader and easy for search engines and AI to reuse. Learn more: how to write an FAQ that AI cites.

Featured snippet

A highlighted answer at the top of the results, extracted from a page and shown with a link. It is a classic example of AEO.

G

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

The practice of increasing the chance that your content or brand is cited or mentioned in generative AI answers. The term was popularized by a 2023 academic paper. Learn more: GEO: what it is and how to apply it.

Google Business Profile

Google's free business listing, which appears on Maps and in local search, with address, hours and reviews. Learn more: local SEO and Google Business Profile.

Google Search Console

Google's free tool that shows how your site appears in search, which pages are indexed and which queries bring clicks.

Googlebot

Google's crawler. It discovers pages by following links and sitemaps, and controls its speed to avoid overloading servers.

Grounding

A technique in which the AI anchors its answer in external sources, such as web pages, instead of relying only on what it learned in training. Learn more: RAG, grounding and why this changes SEO.

Guest post

An article you write for another site, usually with a link to yours. Learn more: guest posts and outreach that work.

H

Heading (H1 to H6)

The titles and subtitles of the page in the code. The H1 is the main title, and H2 to H6 organize the content into levels. Learn more: on-page SEO checklist.

hreflang

An attribute that tells Google the versions of a page by language and region, such as US English and Brazilian Portuguese. It prevents the wrong version from being shown to the wrong audience.

I

Indexing

The stage in which Google analyzes the page and stores it in its index. According to Google, indexing is not guaranteed: not every processed page makes it into the index.

IndexNow

A protocol for notifying search engines about new, changed or removed URLs. On the protocol's site, the participants listed include Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep. Google is not among them. Learn more: Bing Webmaster Tools and IndexNow.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

A metric that measures the time between a click, tap or keypress and the page's visual response. Considered good up to 200 milliseconds. It replaced FID in March 2024.

Internal link

A link from one page on your site to another on the same site. It distributes importance, helps crawling and guides the reader. Learn more: internal links for SEO.

J

JSON-LD

The format Google recommends for writing structured data, in a script block on the page. Learn more: schema markup for AI Search.

K

Keyword

A term or phrase people type into search engines. It serves as a starting point for planning content, but does not describe the context of a search on its own. Learn more: keyword research step by step.

Keyword cannibalization

When two or more pages on the same site compete for the same search and get in each other's way, leaving Google unsure which to show. Learn more: keyword cannibalization.

Keyword stuffing

Repeating the keyword in a forced way to try to rank. It hurts readability and violates spam policies.

L

LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)

A metric that measures when the largest visible element of the page finishes appearing. Considered good up to 2.5 seconds.

Link building

The set of actions to earn links from other sites to yours. Learn more: link building for new sites.

Link gap

A comparison between your competitors' links and yours to find sites that link to them and not to you. Learn more: how to analyze competitor backlinks.

Linkable asset (linkbait)

Content created to attract links naturally, such as studies, tools and reference guides. Learn more: linkable assets.

LLM (Large Language Model)

A large language model, trained on vast amounts of text, that generates answers in natural language. It is the technology behind ChatGPT, Gemini and others. Learn more: how to structure content that LLMs can cite.

llms.txt

A proposed file to guide AI models about a site's content. Google states, in its guide to optimizing for generative AI, that you do not need to create new files for AI to appear in Search. Learn more: is llms.txt worth it?.

Long tail

Long, specific searches with low individual volume and clear intent, such as "running shoes for overpronation". Added together, they represent a large share of demand and tend to have less competition.

For SEO professionals: the conversational queries made in AI push demand even further into the long tail. Data on queries with many words in Search Console is a good indicator of this trend. See how people search with AI.

M

Meta description

A summary of the page, written in the code, that Google may use as the description in the result. Google sometimes uses it to build the snippet, when it describes the page better than the page's own text. The documentation does not treat it as a ranking factor, but it can influence the decision to click.

Mobile-first indexing

Google's practice of using the mobile version of the content, crawled with the smartphone agent, to index and rank. That is why the mobile version needs to have the same essential content as the desktop version.

N

Nofollow

See "Dofollow and nofollow". There are also sponsored (for paid links) and ugc (for user-generated content).

Noindex

An instruction on the page (meta tag or header) telling Google not to put it in the index. It is the right tool for keeping a page out of search. robots.txt does not serve that purpose.

O

Off-page

Everything that influences SEO outside your site: links, mentions, reviews and reputation.

On-page

Optimizations made inside the page: title, subheadings, content, images, internal links. Learn more: on-page SEO checklist.

Organic

Results or traffic that come from search without a payment per click. The opposite is paid traffic, from ads.

Organic traffic

Visits that reach the site from unpaid search results.

Original research

Your own data or studies that you publish with a clear methodology. It is one of the most useful kinds of content for journalists and reference sources. Learn more: original research and proprietary data.

Orphan page

A page with no internal link pointing to it, hard to discover. It is usually fixed with links from related pages.

Outreach

Direct contact with sites, blogs and journalists to propose a partnership, guest post or mention.

P

PageRank

Google's original algorithm that assigns importance to pages based on the links they receive. Today it is one signal among many, and it is the reason links bought to pass ranking violate the policies.

PBN (Private Blog Network)

A network of sites created only to sell or pass links. It is one of the patterns that raises risk the most. Learn more: PBNs: how they work and the risks.

Pillar page

A comprehensive page that serves as the center of a content cluster and receives links from the satellite pages.

Prompt

An instruction or question you write to an AI. Prompts tend to be long and contain context, unlike keywords. Learn more: prompts to test your brand's visibility.

Q

Query

The text a person types or speaks into a search engine or AI.

Query fan-out

A technique in which the AI turns one question into several related searches by subtopic and merges the results into the answer. Google confirms that AI Overviews and AI Mode may use it. Learn more: query fan-out.

R

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

An architecture in which the system retrieves relevant documents and hands them to the model to generate the answer, instead of relying only on training memory. That is why AI can cite current pages.

Redirect (301)

A permanent redirect from one URL to another, which transfers users and signals to the new address. It is the recommended way to handle permanent URL changes.

Referring domain

A unique site that points links to yours. Ten links from the same site count as one referring domain. Learn more: how many backlinks you need.

Rich results

Search results with extra elements, such as stars, price or images, which depend on correct structured data and on Google's decision.

robots.txt

A file at the root of the site that tells crawlers which URLs they can access. According to Google, it serves to manage crawl traffic and is not a mechanism for keeping a page out of search. See the official introduction to robots.txt.

S

Schema markup (structured data)

Code that describes the page's content in a standardized way, using the schema.org vocabulary. It helps systems understand the page and can enable rich results. Learn more: schema for AI Search.

Search intent

What the person really wants when typing a search: to learn (informational), to find a site (navigational), to compare or buy (commercial and transactional). Learn more: search intent: types and examples.

Search volume

An estimate of how many times a term is searched per month. It is a tool estimate, not exact Google data.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

The set of practices for getting pages found and well positioned in search engines, through technical work, content and authority.

SEO audit

A systematic review of the site to find technical, content and authority problems, with a prioritized fix plan. Learn more: SEO audit step by step.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The results page the search engine shows. Today it can include ads, maps, highlights, videos and AI summaries.

The proportion of mentions or citations of your brand, relative to competitors, across a set of searches or prompts. Learn more: how to measure AI visibility.

Sitemap

A file (usually XML) listing the URLs you want search engines to know about. It helps discovery, but according to Google it is not required.

Snippet

The excerpt that appears under the title in the result. Google generates it from the page, and the page must be snippet-eligible to appear as a supporting link in AI features.

Spam

A practice that tries to manipulate results without helping the user. Google's policies include link spam, cloaking, doorways and scaled content abuse.

SpamBrain (spam algorithm)

Google's automated system for identifying and neutralizing spam, including artificial links. When it acts, the link usually just stops counting, without notice. Learn more: is buying backlinks safe?.

The rel="sponsored" attribute, which Google recommends for marking paid links or ads. Together with nofollow and ugc, it makes up the group of link qualification attributes described in Google's documentation on outbound links.

In plain English: rel="sponsored" is like the "advertisement" label in a magazine. The reader and Google find out that it was paid for. Not hiding that is the honest way to handle sponsored links.

T

Technical SEO

The part of SEO that ensures the site can be crawled, indexed and loaded quickly. Learn more: technical SEO for non-programmers.

Thin content

A page with little useful content that does not really answer the search intent. It is not a matter of length, but of value.

Title tag

The page title in the code, shown in the browser tab and, in general, as the blue headline of the result. It is one of the most important on-page elements.

TTFB (Time to First Byte)

The time between the request for the page and the first byte of the server's response. It is part of LCP and indicates server speed.

U

UGC (User Generated Content)

Content created by users, such as comments and forum posts. Links in this kind of content can use the rel="ugc" attribute.

URL

The address of a page on the web. Good URLs are short, descriptive and stable.

W

White hat

Techniques that follow search engine guidelines, such as helpful content and editorial links earned on merit.

Y

YMYL (Your Money or Your Life)

Topics that can affect people's health, financial stability or safety. According to Google, its systems give even more weight to content with strong E-E-A-T on these topics. Learn more: GEO for clinics and law firms.

Z

Zero-click

A search in which the user gets the answer on the results page itself or in the AI answer, without clicking any site. Learn more: zero-click and AI Overviews.

For SEO professionals: zero-click does not mean zero value. Impressions and mentions still build a brand. The challenge is measuring that value without clicks, which requires looking at impressions, brand searches and presence in AI answers, not just sessions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?

SEO aims for position and clicks in search engines, AEO aims to be the direct answer and GEO aims to be cited in generative AI answers. All three share the same technical and content foundation. Google states that optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO. The full comparison is in the entry-point post of the AI cluster.

Where do I start learning SEO?

Start by understanding the three stages of search, crawling, indexing and ranking, then search intent and keywords. Next, learn the basics of on-page and technical SEO, and only then move on to links and AI. Each step builds on the previous one, and Search Console teaches you in practice.

Do I need to know all these terms to work in SEO?

No. The essentials are few: crawling, indexing, search intent, keyword, backlink, SERP, canonical and the Search Console metrics. You learn the rest on demand. Use the glossary as a reference when an unfamiliar term shows up in a report or in a conversation with a vendor.

Will the AI terms change?

Probably. The field is new, platforms change the rules and the names are not yet agreed on. Some labels, such as AEO and GEO, are industry terms, and Google does not treat them as separate disciplines. That is why this glossary states the origin when it matters, and why it is reviewed often.

Where do I find Google's official definitions?

In the Google Search Central documentation, which explains crawling, indexing, canonical, robots.txt, structured data, spam policies and AI features. Acronyms such as DR, DA, AEO and GEO are not Google's: they came from tools and the industry. When a term has an official source, this glossary links to it.

Next step

After learning the vocabulary, apply it to your site with the complete SEO guide and understand how the new landscape fits in with GEO: what it is and how to apply it. When the foundation is ready and you want to strengthen the authority of the pages that already deserve to rank, see Contentor's permanent backlinks on Brazilian sites, and first weigh the risks described in Google's spam policies. To keep up your content pace, generate articles with AI on Contentor.