Plain-English definitions of 38 terms business owners hear about AI search, GEO, SEO, local SEO, websites and ads, from generative engine optimization and AI Overviews to schema markup, E-E-A-T and cost per lead. Written by Tech Engineers Group.
An AI citation is a source that an AI assistant links to or names as the basis for its answer.
Being cited, whether your website, your Google Business Profile or a directory listing, is how businesses gain visibility and trust in AI answers.
AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the sources it used.
When an AI Overview answers a question, fewer people scroll to regular results, so being one of the cited sources matters more.
AI SEO is search engine optimization that uses AI tools to research, create and improve content faster, while preparing a site for AI-powered search results.
AI speeds up the work, but expertise, accuracy and local detail still decide what ranks.
AI visibility is how often and how accurately a business appears in answers from AI assistants for the questions its customers ask.
It is measured by testing a fixed set of real customer prompts in each AI tool and recording whether, and how, the business is mentioned.
Answer engine optimization is the practice of structuring content so search engines and voice assistants can pull it directly as a short answer to a question.
AEO overlaps heavily with GEO. Both reward pages that answer a question clearly in the first sentence, then add detail.
A backlink is a link from another website to yours.
Links from relevant, trusted sites such as local news, chambers of commerce and industry associations help search engines see a business as credible.
Call tracking uses unique phone numbers to record which website, ad or listing produced each phone call.
It shows which marketing actually brings customers, so budget can move to what works.
A canonical URL is the preferred version of a page that search engines should index when similar or duplicate versions exist.
Canonical tags prevent duplicate versions of a page, such as with and without tracking parameters, from competing with each other.
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as calling, booking or submitting a form.
Improving conversion rate means more customers from the same traffic, often with changes like tap-to-call buttons and clearer offers.
Core Web Vitals are Google's measurements of real-world page experience: loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability.
They are a ranking factor and a big influence on whether mobile visitors stay or leave.
Cost per click is the price an advertiser pays for each click on an ad.
CPC varies widely by industry and location; urgent, high-value services usually cost more per click.
Cost per lead is the average amount spent on marketing to get one inquiry, such as a call or form submission.
It is usually a more useful measure than cost per click, because it reflects how well ads and landing pages turn clicks into real inquiries.
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, the qualities Google's guidelines use to judge whether content is reliable.
Showing real team members, credentials, reviews, case studies and accurate information all strengthen E-E-A-T.
In search, an entity is a clearly defined thing such as a business, person, place or service that search engines and AI tools can recognize and connect to facts.
Tech Engineers Group is an entity with an address, phone number, services and service areas. The more consistently those facts appear online, the more confidently AI tools can describe it.
A featured snippet is a highlighted answer box that Google shows at the top of some results, taken from a web page.
Pages that answer a question directly in a short paragraph, list or table are more likely to be chosen.
Generative engine optimization is the practice of making a business easy for AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to understand, trust and recommend in their answers.
Where SEO aims for a ranking in a list of links, GEO aims for a mention inside an AI-written answer. For a plumber in Yonkers, that means being the name ChatGPT gives when someone asks who to call for a burst pipe.
Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows a business on Google Search and Google Maps, including its address, hours, reviews, photos and services.
For local service businesses it is often the biggest single source of calls, and AI tools also read it.
Indexing is when a search engine stores a page in its database so it can appear in search results.
A page that is not indexed cannot rank. Submitting a sitemap in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools speeds up indexing.
An internal link is a link from one page of a website to another page on the same site.
Internal links help visitors and search engines find important pages, for example linking a service page to its cost guide.
The Knowledge Graph is Google's database of entities and the relationships between them, used to power information panels and answers.
Consistent business details, structured data and a well-managed Google Business Profile help Google connect your business to the right facts.
A large language model is an AI system trained on large amounts of text that can understand questions and generate written answers, such as the models behind ChatGPT and Gemini.
LLMs power AI assistants. Some answer from what they learned in training, others also search the live web before answering.
Largest Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the main content of a page, usually the headline or hero image, to appear.
Google considers an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less to be good.
llms.txt is a proposed plain-text file placed at the root of a website that summarizes the site and its key pages for AI tools.
It is an emerging, optional standard. It does not replace good content or structured data but can make a site easier for AI tools to navigate.
A local citation is any online mention of a business's name, address and phone number, such as on Yelp, Apple Maps, BBB or industry directories.
Accurate citations on trusted directories support both local rankings and AI recommendations.
Local Services Ads are Google ads for eligible service businesses that appear at the top of results and charge per lead rather than per click.
They can show a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge after verification.
The map pack is the group of usually three business listings with a map that Google shows for local searches such as "plumber near me".
Ranking there depends mainly on relevance, distance from the searcher and prominence, including reviews and consistent listings.
A meta description is a short summary of a page that search engines may show under the title in search results.
It does not directly change rankings, but a clear description with a price or benefit can improve how many people click.
Mobile-first indexing means Google mainly uses the mobile version of a website to decide how it ranks.
A site that looks fine on desktop but is slow or hard to use on phones will struggle in search.
NAP consistency means a business's name, address and phone number are exactly the same everywhere they appear online.
Inconsistent details confuse search engines and AI tools, and can cause them to show wrong information or skip the business.
Pay-per-click is online advertising where the advertiser pays each time someone clicks an ad, as with Google Ads.
PPC brings traffic quickly, while SEO builds traffic that does not require paying per click.
A prompt is the question or instruction a person types or speaks to an AI assistant.
Customer prompts are often longer and more specific than search keywords, for example "Who is the best HVAC company near White Plains with same-day service?"
Return on ad spend is the revenue earned for every dollar spent on advertising.
A ROAS of 5x means $5 in revenue for every $1 of ad spend.
Schema markup is code added to a web page that labels its information, such as a business name, address, services, prices or FAQs, in a standard format search engines and AI tools can read.
It removes guesswork for machines. Common types for local businesses include LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage and BreadcrumbList.
Search engine optimization is the work of improving a website so it ranks higher in search engines like Google and Bing for relevant searches.
For local businesses, SEO covers technical fixes, service and location pages, content, reviews and Google Business Profile.
Search intent is the goal behind a search, such as learning something, comparing options or hiring someone now.
"Emergency plumber Yonkers" has urgent hiring intent, while "how does a heat pump work" is informational. Pages should match the intent of the searches they target.
A service area business serves customers at their location, such as plumbers or landscapers, rather than only at its own address.
Service area businesses can list the towns they serve on Google Business Profile and benefit from dedicated area pages.
A title tag is the HTML title of a page, shown as the clickable headline in search results and in browser tabs.
Good title tags are under about 60 characters and lead with the service and location people search for.
An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website's important pages to help search engines find and index them.
Submitting your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools is one of the first steps after launching a site.
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