The AI visibility glossary.
39 plain language definitions of the terms used in AI search, measurement and optimization. Each one starts with a direct definition, then explains why it matters.
A
- AI crawlerSources
- An AI crawler is an automated program, run by an AI company, that fetches web pages to train models, build a search index or answer a user's request.
- AI ModePlatforms
- AI Mode is a conversational search experience in Google Search that answers longer questions and follow ups with AI.
- AI OverviewsPlatforms
- AI Overviews are AI generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to supporting pages.
- AI referral trafficMeasurement
- AI referral traffic is website visits that arrive from AI assistants or AI search products, usually identified by the referring domain.
- AI visibilityConcepts
- AI visibility is how often and how favourably a brand appears in AI generated answers, recommendations, comparisons and cited sources for the questions its customers ask.
- Answer engine optimization (AEO)Optimization
- Answer engine optimization is the practice of structuring content so that search engines and AI assistants can extract a direct, accurate answer from it.
- Answer-first contentOptimization
- Answer-first content states the conclusion at the start of a page or section and then supports it with detail, so a passage can be quoted without losing its meaning.
B
- Brand IntelligenceProduct
- Brand Intelligence is a structured, evidence backed record of a brand, in which every fact carries its source, a confidence level and a review status.
- Brand mentionMeasurement
- A brand mention is any occurrence of a brand's name in an AI generated answer.
C
- Citation coverageSources
- Citation coverage is the share of AI answers that carry a visible source link back to a brand's website.
- Citation rateSources
- Citation rate is the share of eligible AI answers that show a link to a brand's own pages as a source.
- Co-mentionMeasurement
- A co-mention is when two or more brands are named in the same AI answer.
E
- Eligible observationMeasurement
- An eligible observation is an answer that is relevant to the brand and topic being measured, and therefore counts in the denominator of a rate.
- EntityConcepts
- An entity is a distinct thing that search and AI systems recognise, such as a company, product or person, and can link facts to.
G
- Generative engine optimization (GEO)Optimization
- Generative engine optimization is the practice of improving how often and how accurately a brand or page is used in answers written by generative AI systems.
- GroundingConcepts
- Grounding is connecting an AI model's answer to external sources, such as search results, so that claims can be supported and cited.
H
- Hallucination (in brand answers)Concepts
- A hallucination is an AI statement that sounds plausible but is false or unsupported.
I
- IntentConcepts
- Intent is what a person is trying to do when they ask a question, such as discovering options, comparing them or deciding.
L
- Large language model (LLM)Concepts
- A large language model is an AI system trained on very large amounts of text to predict and generate language.
- llms.txtOptimization
- llms.txt is a proposed convention for a plain text file at a site's root that summarises the site and links to its key pages for language models.
M
- Mention rateMeasurement
- Mention rate is the share of eligible AI answers that name a brand.
O
- ObservationMeasurement
- An observation is one stored answer to one prompt on one AI platform at one point in time.
- OmissionMeasurement
- An omission is a confirmed attribute of a brand that AI answers consistently leave out.
P
- Position (in AI answers)Measurement
- Position in AI answers is where a brand appears when an answer names several options, and how it is described there.
- PromptConcepts
- A prompt is the question or instruction a person gives an AI system.
- Prompt setMeasurement
- A prompt set is a defined, stable list of prompts, grouped by topic and intent, that is rerun over time to measure AI visibility.
Q
- Query fan-outPlatforms
- Query fan-out is when an AI search system breaks one question into several related sub-queries, runs them and combines the results into one answer.
R
- Recommendation rateMeasurement
- Recommendation rate is the share of eligible AI answers that actively recommend a brand, rather than only naming it.
- Retrieval augmented generation (RAG)Concepts
- Retrieval augmented generation is a technique in which a system retrieves relevant documents and gives them to a language model to use when writing an answer.
S
- sameAs (schema.org)Optimization
- sameAs is a schema.org property that lists other official web pages describing the same entity, such as verified profiles, so that machines can connect them.
- Sample sizeMeasurement
- Sample size is the number of observations that sit behind a reported rate.
- Sentiment (interpreted)Measurement
- Sentiment is a label, such as neutral or positive, that describes the tone with which an AI answer treats a brand.
- Share of voice (in AI answers)Measurement
- Share of voice in AI answers is a brand's mentions divided by all tracked brand mentions across the same set of answers.
- Source gapSources
- A source gap is a domain or page that AI answers cite repeatedly for a topic but that does not mention or link to a brand.
- Structured dataOptimization
- Structured data is markup, commonly schema.org in JSON-LD, that describes the meaning of a page's content in a form machines can read.
T
- TopicConcepts
- A topic is a subject a brand wants to be known for, such as invoicing for freelancers.
- Topical authorityOptimization
- Topical authority is the depth and consistency with which a site and its wider web presence cover a subject, so that systems treat it as a reliable source on that topic.
V
- Verification (of an action)Product
- Verification is rerunning the same observation set after a change and comparing the result with the earlier baseline.
Z
- Zero-click searchConcepts
- A zero-click search is one where the person gets what they need from the results page or an AI summary and does not click through to a website.
Measure these terms on your own brand.
Start with a first audit. We show where you appear, who is named instead, and what to fix first.