SEO and AI terms, explained plainly

An experiment where visitors see version A or B of a page at random. With enough data, the version that converts better wins.

Google’s AI-generated summaries shown above the regular results, with links to a few sources. Being cited there brings visibility, even when fewer people click.

How often and how favourably AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini mention or cite your business. It is measured by asking a fixed set of questions over time.

The preferred address of a page when the same content exists at several URLs. A canonical tag in the page’s head tells search engines which version to index.

Systematic work to get more visitors to act, such as buying or booking a meeting. It builds on data, user research and tests.

Google’s measures of page experience: loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and visual stability (CLS). They count in rankings and affect conversion.

Crawling is when search engines fetch your pages. Indexing is when they store them so they can appear in results. A page that is not indexed cannot rank.

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. The term comes from Google’s quality rater guidelines and describes signs of credible, first-hand content.

The work of getting AI assistants to mention and cite your business in their answers. It builds on SEO, with extra focus on clear answers, sources and trust.

An attribute that tells search engines which language a page is for and where its other language versions are. It helps show each visitor the right version.

Links between pages on your own site. They help visitors and search engines find pages, and show which pages matter most.

A proposed standard: a Markdown file at the root of a site with a short summary and links to its key pages. It helps AI systems understand the site quickly.

A text file at the root of a site that tells crawlers which parts they may visit. It controls crawling, not indexing – a blocked page can still be indexed if others link to it.

Code, usually JSON-LD, that describes a page in a format machines understand, such as an organisation, product or FAQ. It can enable rich results and helps AI read facts.

The goal behind a search: to learn, compare, buy or find a specific site. Pages that match the intent rank and convert better.