The AI search
glossary.
Plain-language definitions for generative engine optimization (GEO), AEO, AI SEO, LLMO and the rest of the vocabulary that has shown up in B2B marketing in the last 18 months.
Reference · 18 terms · Updated October 2026
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- The practice of getting cited by name in answers from generative AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. The companion practice to SEO. In AI search, GEO stands for generative engine optimization; it has nothing to do with geographic or geo-targeted SEO.
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
- A near-synonym for GEO. AEO emphasizes optimization for answer-style results (Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, AI assistant answers). In practice the work overlaps almost entirely with GEO.
- AI SEO
- The umbrella term covering traditional SEO plus GEO and AEO as a single integrated practice. An "AI SEO agency" runs all three together against the same scorecard. AI SEO is also called GEO, AEO, LLMO, or LLM SEO, depending on who is writing.
- LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)
- Another near-synonym for GEO, focused specifically on optimizing for the large language models that power AI search.
- AI Visibility
- A measurement category. The percentage of category-relevant AI prompts that surface your brand by name. The Reneka audit benchmarks AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude.
- Citation Share of Voice
- The percentage of AI answers in your category that cite your brand by name, benchmarked against named competitors. Reneka's headline metric for AI search performance.
- Citation Surface
- The set of third-party domains that show up in AI answers in your category. Different from your backlink profile because AI assistants cite from different sources than Google ranks.
- Entity Statement
- A Wikipedia-style opening sentence that names the brand, says what it does, and where it is based. Retrieval models lift these verbatim. Every site Reneka builds has one.
- AAIA Framework
- Reneka's four-stage GEO methodology: Audit, Architect, Implement, Amplify. See the method.
- AI Overviews
- Google's AI-generated answer summary at the top of search results. Optimizing for AI Overviews is part of the AEO practice.
- LLM SEO
- Search optimization aimed at the large language models behind AI assistants. In practice a synonym for GEO and LLMO. See LLM SEO explained.
- AI Mode
- Google's conversational search mode, built on Gemini, that answers a question in prose with linked sources instead of a list of ten results. Distinct from AI Overviews, which sit on top of a normal results page.
- Query Fan-Out
- The technique AI search engines use to split one question into many related sub-queries, run them in parallel, and synthesize the results into a single answer. Google names it as the method behind AI Mode. It is why a page can be cited for a question it never targeted.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- The architecture behind AI search: the model retrieves live documents first, then writes its answer from them. Pages that are crawlable, fast, and clearly structured are easier to retrieve, which is the mechanical basis of GEO.
- Grounding
- Tying an AI answer to retrieved sources so each claim can be traced to a page. Grounded answers are where citations come from; an ungrounded answer draws only on training data and cites nothing.
- AI Crawlers
- The bots AI companies use to fetch web pages, such as GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI), ClaudeBot (Anthropic), and PerplexityBot. Google-Extended is a robots.txt control token rather than a separate crawler. Most AI crawlers do not render JavaScript, so content must be in the HTML. See AI search statistics.
- llms.txt
- A proposed standard, published by Jeremy Howard in 2024, for a Markdown file at a site root that gives language models a curated map of the site. No major AI engine has confirmed using it, so treat it as cheap insurance rather than a ranking factor. See Reneka's llms.txt.
- Zero-Click Search
- A search that ends on the results page or in an AI answer without a click to any website. As AI answers grow, being named in the answer matters as much as the click.
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