Plain-language definitions, no hype. Updated as the terms actually change.
Last updated: July 2026Google's AI-generated answer summaries shown above traditional search results, pulling from a mix of ranked pages to construct a direct answer.
The practice of structuring content so generative AI systems (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) are more likely to cite it in their answers. The AI-era counterpart to traditional SEO.
Optimizing content to directly answer a specific question, often used interchangeably with GEO, with a slightly stronger focus on featured snippets and voice assistants.
The technique AI systems use to pull real-time information from the web before generating an answer, this is the mechanism that makes your content citable in the first place.
An instance where an AI system references or links to your specific page as the source of an answer, the AI-era equivalent of a ranking.
Leading a page or section with a direct, complete answer before supporting detail, the format AI systems most reliably extract and cite.
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness, Google's framework for content quality, now also a strong signal for which sources AI systems trust enough to cite.
A search where the user gets their answer directly from an AI Overview or featured snippet without clicking through, making citation visibility more important than ranking position alone.
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