AI visibility glossary
Short, plain definitions of the terms that come up when you work on being named in AI answers. Each one links to a longer explanation where we have one.
AI visibility · Generative engine optimization (GEO) · Answer engine optimization (AEO) · LLM SEO · AI search optimization · AI Overviews · Answer engine · Retrieval and grounding · Citation · Mention rate · Share of voice (AI) · Prompt set · Sampling · Entity · NAP consistency · Schema markup (structured data) · llms.txt · AI crawlers · Zero-click search · SeenRate · Directional result · Verified fix
- AI visibility
How often AI assistants name your business when someone asks a question you should be the answer to, measured across engines and over time. Read the guide.
- Generative engine optimization (GEO)
The practice of improving how often and how accurately generative AI engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude) mention and cite a business. The term comes from a 2023 research paper of the same name. GEO explained.
- Answer engine optimization (AEO)
Optimizing content so that systems which return a direct answer (AI assistants, voice assistants, featured snippets) use it. Often used interchangeably with GEO. GEO vs AEO vs SEO.
- LLM SEO
Another name for GEO, emphasizing large language models. Also called LLM optimization.
- AI search optimization
The umbrella term for making a business easy for AI search tools to find, trust and quote. The practical guide.
- AI Overviews
Google’s AI-generated summaries shown above search results for many queries, with links to the sources used. AI Mode is Google’s conversational search built on the same idea.
- Answer engine
Any system that responds to a question with a written answer rather than a list of links: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot.
- Retrieval and grounding
The step where an assistant searches the web or an index, reads pages, and bases its answer on them. Grounded answers usually cite their sources, which is why ranking pages and listings matter for AI visibility.
- Citation
A link or named source an AI answer points to. Being cited is different from being mentioned: you can be named without your site being cited, and vice versa.
- Mention rate
The share of sampled AI answers that name your business for a given prompt set.
Your mentions as a share of all business mentions across a prompt set. Useful for comparing yourself with the competitors named instead of you.
- Prompt set
The list of buyer questions a tool runs against AI engines. A good prompt set is built from your services and location, not a generic keyword list.
- Sampling
Running the same prompt more than once and aggregating, because AI answers vary between runs. A single answer is an anecdote.
- Entity
A business, person or thing that search engines and language models recognize as one distinct item, with consistent facts attached (name, location, category).
- NAP consistency
Your name, address and phone number matching exactly across your site and every listing. Agreement is how an engine confirms a local business is real.
- Schema markup (structured data)
Machine-readable JSON-LD on your pages that states facts such as your business type, address, services and hours. Schema for AI search.
- llms.txt
A proposed plain-text file at the root of a site that lists its key pages for AI tools, similar in spirit to a sitemap. Optional and low cost. What is llms.txt?
- AI crawlers
Bots that fetch pages for AI products, such as OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot and Google-Extended. Blocking them in robots.txt can keep you out of AI answers.
- Zero-click search
A search that ends without a click to any website because the answer was shown directly. AI answers push more searches this way.
- SeenRate
Frontpagely’s 0 to 100 score: AI answer visibility (50 percent) blended with search signals (35 percent) and site health (15 percent), with confidence gating and a public, versioned methodology. What is a SeenRate?
- Directional result
A measurement built on a thin sample. The trend is probably right; treat the exact number loosely.
- Verified fix
A completed change confirmed by a measured signal (schema found on the page, listing resolved, next measurement picked it up), as opposed to a self-reported one.