Glossary — AEO, SEO & Website Terms Explained

AEO & GEO

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation): Structuring content so AI answer tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity can find, understand and cite a business directly inside their generated answers, rather than only listing a link.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): The broader practice of optimising for AI-generated search results across engines such as Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and ChatGPT search — AEO is the answer-specific subset of this. See our full guide to GEO.
AI Overview: Google's AI-generated summary shown above traditional search results for certain queries, citing multiple source pages inline. Read more in how to rank in Google AI Overviews.
Featured Snippet: A short, extracted answer Google displays at the top of results, pulled from a page that answers the query clearly in its first few sentences — the format AI Overviews frequently reuse.
Entity SEO: Making it unambiguous to search engines and AI systems exactly who or what a business is, so it gets correctly identified and cited rather than confused with a similarly named business elsewhere.
Schema Markup: Structured data code added to a page that explicitly labels its content — a question, a business, a service — in a format search engines and AI systems can parse directly instead of guessing. See schema markup for AEO.
AI Citation: An instance where an AI tool names a specific business by name inside its generated answer, the core metric AEO/GEO work is trying to earn.

Local SEO: The practice of improving a business's visibility in local search results and the Google Map Pack for people searching in or near its service area.
Google Business Profile (GBP): The free Google listing showing a business's hours, location, reviews and photos in Search and Maps — a primary local ranking factor. See the full optimization guide.
Map Pack (Local Pack): The set of three local business results with a map that appears above organic results for location-relevant Google searches.
NAP Consistency: Keeping a business's Name, Address and Phone number identical across every directory and listing online — a foundational trust signal for local rankings. See citations & NAP consistency explained.
Citation: Any online mention of a business's name, address and phone number on a directory, platform or website — even without a link — that reinforces its legitimacy to search engines.
Service-Area Business: A business model (used by Digitaliate) where a company serves clients across a wide area or worldwide without a single fixed public storefront address.
Multi-Location SEO: The practice of structuring profiles, pages and citations so that multiple branches of one business rank individually instead of competing against each other. See multi-location Local SEO done right.

Core Web Vitals: Google's three measured signals for real-world page experience: loading speed (LCP), visual stability (CLS) and interaction responsiveness (INP).
301 Redirect: A permanent redirect that sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, preserving most of the original page's ranking value. See planning a 301 redirect map.
Mobile-First Indexing: Google's practice of using the mobile version of a page as the primary basis for ranking and indexing, regardless of what device a searcher is using.
Responsive Design: A website layout that automatically adapts to fit any screen size, from a phone to a desktop monitor, without needing a separate mobile site.
XML Sitemap: A machine-readable file listing every important URL on a site, submitted to search engines to help them discover and crawl pages efficiently.
SSL / HTTPS: The encryption standard that secures data between a visitor's browser and a website, shown as a padlock icon — a baseline trust and ranking requirement today.

Digital Presence: The combined footprint a business has online: its website, Google Business Profile, social profiles, and how consistently they represent the same brand.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action — a form submission, a call, a booking — out of total visitors.
CTA (Call to Action): The specific instruction given to a visitor to take the next step, such as "Get a Quote" or "Book a Call" — the difference between a page that informs and one that converts.
Organic Traffic: Visitors who arrive at a website through unpaid search engine results, as opposed to paid ads or direct/social referrals.
Backlink: A link from another website pointing to yours, historically one of the strongest signals search engines use to judge a page's authority and trustworthiness.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page — often a sign that a page didn't answer what the visitor was looking for.