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Glossary

Clear definitions of the terms used in AI search and AI visibility, from AI Overviews to query fan-out. Each entry says where the term comes from and links to the source.

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A

AI Mode

AI Mode is Google’s interactive AI search experience, with generated responses, supporting web links, and follow-up questions.

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are Google’s generated search summaries with supporting links; published click studies report associations, not a controlled estimate of their effect on traffic.

AI visibility

AVJ defines AI visibility through whether, how often, and how accurately a system names, describes, or cites a brand, organization, or website.

Answer engine optimization (AEO)

Google describes AEO and GEO as terms for work focused on visibility in AI search, while treating that work as SEO within Google Search.

B

Brand mention (AI answer)

AVJ defines a mention as a brand or organization named in an AI answer’s text, with or without a link.

C

Citation (AI answer)

AVJ defines a citation as a linked source URL attached to an AI answer, separate from a brand name appearing in its text.

G

Generative engine optimization (GEO)

GEO describes work intended to improve content visibility in generative AI answers; Google treats optimization for its own AI search features as SEO.

Grounding

Google uses grounding to describe supplying retrieved information for an AI response, including content from its Search index at prompt time.

Q

Query fan-out

Google uses query fan-out to describe related searches generated while developing an AI response; its Search Console impression report does not expose those queries.

R

Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)

RAG combines a language model with retrieved information; Google documents its use of the technique to retrieve relevant pages for AI search responses.