SEO & AI visibility glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms behind your website's health - from Core Web Vitals to AI Overviews. No jargon, just clear explanations of what each one means and why it matters.
AI & Search
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
Optimising content to be the direct answer an AI or search feature gives, rather than one of many results a user clicks through.
Read definitionAI Overviews
Google's AI-generated summary that appears at the top of many search results, often answering the query before the classic links.
Read definitionAI visibility
How discoverable your business is inside AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews.
Read definitionGEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)
Optimising your content so it's picked up and cited by generative AI answer engines, not just ranked by traditional search.
Read definitionllms.txt
A proposed plain-text file that gives AI tools a curated guide to your site's most important content.
Read definitionTechnical SEO
Canonical tag
An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the main one when similar or duplicate URLs exist.
Read definitionCrawl budget
The amount of crawling a search engine will do on your site in a given period - relevant mainly for large sites.
Read definitionMeta description
The short summary of a page that search engines often show beneath its title in results.
Read definitionrobots.txt
A file at your site's root that tells crawlers - including AI bots - which parts of your site they may or may not visit.
Read definitionSchema markup (structured data)
Code added to a page that describes its content to search engines and AI, helping them understand what it is.
Read definitionPerformance
Core Web Vitals
Google's set of real-world metrics for loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Read definitionCumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A measure of how much a page's content unexpectedly moves around while it loads.
Read definitionInteraction to Next Paint (INP)
How quickly a page visually responds after a user interacts with it, like tapping or clicking.
Read definitionLargest Contentful Paint (LCP)
How quickly the largest visible piece of content on a page finishes loading.
Read definitionContent & Trust
Alt text
A written description of an image, used by screen readers and search engines when the image can't be seen.
Read definitionBounce rate
The share of visitors who arrive on a page and leave without any further interaction.
Read definitionE-E-A-T
Google's framework for judging content quality: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
Read definitionSee these when scans reopen
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