Glossary

The GEO glossary

Plain-English definitions of the terms behind Generative Engine Optimization. New to GEO? Start with the full guide to what GEO is.

AI citation

A brand or source being named or referenced in an AI answer.

A system that returns a synthesised answer instead of links.

A common synonym for GEO.

A distinct thing a search engine or AI can reason about.

Optimising a brand to be cited inside AI-generated answers.

AI-generated summaries shown atop Google results.

Basing an AI answer on retrieved sources.

When an AI states something false or unsupported.

The AI model behind assistants like ChatGPT and Claude.

A published file that guides AI systems to your key content.

Fetching live sources to ground an AI's answer.

How often AI names your brand versus competitors.

Machine-readable tags that describe page content.

A search answered without any click to a website.

Definitions are the theory. A free AI visibility audit shows you the practice, for your own brand.