Glossary

The AI search glossary

Plain-English definitions of the AI search and GEO terms that matter in 2026 — generative engine optimization, answer engine optimization, Google AI Overviews and llms.txt — each linking to a full guide.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content so that AI answer engines — ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Gemini — cite it when generating answers.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content to win direct answers — featured snippets, voice results and AI answers — by answering specific questions concisely and clearly.
Google AI Overviews
Google AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries shown at the top of Google’s search results that answer a query directly and link to a small set of cited source pages.
llms.txt
llms.txt is a proposed plain-text standard file, placed at a site’s root, that gives AI engines a curated, machine-readable index of a site’s most important content.
E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is the framework Google’s quality raters use to judge content quality and source reliability — now a key signal for AI citations too.
Entity SEO
Entity SEO is the practice of optimizing for the people, places, products and concepts (entities) that search engines and AI models understand and connect, rather than for keyword strings alone.
Topical authority
Topical authority is the degree to which a site is treated as a comprehensive, trusted source for an entire topic — earned through complete coverage and tight internal linking, not isolated keywords.

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