Glossary · 25 terms
The words people use about getting found online can make simple ideas sound complicated. Here's what each one actually means, and why it matters to you as a business owner. Every term has its own link, so you can share exactly the one you need.
Making your business easy for answer engines, such as Google's AI features, ChatGPT and Perplexity, to understand, trust and quote. In practice it's mostly good local SEO: clear pages, accurate listings, real reviews and mentions on trusted sites.
Why it matters: The goal is to be the business an AI tool names when someone asks a direct question, like "who's the best tax preparer near me?"
Related: GEO, AI Overviews
A conversational search experience inside Google Search. You ask a full question, it runs several related searches behind the scenes, and it answers with links to the pages it used.
Why it matters: Google says there are no special requirements to appear in AI Mode beyond normal search basics and an up-to-date Business Profile.
Related: AI Overviews, Query fan-out
The AI-written summaries that appear at the top of some Google search results, with links to the pages they drew from. They only show up when Google's systems think a summary adds something.
Why it matters: Google counts clicks and impressions from AI Overviews in Search Console's Performance report.
Related: AI Mode, Google Search Console
Apple's free tool for claiming and managing how your business appears in Apple Maps, Siri, Spotlight and Wallet.
Why it matters: In BrightLocal's 2026 consumer survey, the share of people using Apple Maps for reviews nearly doubled, to 27%.
Microsoft's free business listing for Bing search and Bing Maps, similar to a Google Business Profile. It can import your details from Google.
Why it matters: ChatGPT has relied on Bing's search results for local questions, so a complete Bing listing helps more than many owners expect.
Related: Google Business Profile, Citation
Any place online that lists your business name, address and phone number, such as Yelp, Facebook, an industry directory or the chamber of commerce site.
Why it matters: Consistent citations help search engines and AI tools confirm you're a real business at a real location.
Related: NAP, Unstructured citation
Short for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. It's the set of qualities Google's search quality raters are asked to look for in content and the people behind it.
Why it matters: It isn't a single ranking switch. Showing who you are, what you've done and why you're qualified, on your own site and elsewhere, is how you demonstrate it.
Related: Entity, Unstructured citation
A specific, identifiable thing that search engines and AI tools keep track of, such as your business, you as a person, or your city. Each entity has facts attached: name, location, type, website, profiles.
Why it matters: The clearer and more consistent your facts are across the web, the more confidently machines can recognize your business as one entity and describe it accurately.
Related: sameAs, Schema markup
Your free business listing on Google, shown in Google Maps and in the local results on Search. It holds your name, category, address or service area, hours, photos, reviews and posts.
Why it matters: It's the most important listing a local business has. Google's AI features also draw on Business Profile information.
Related: Primary category, Local pack
Another name for helping your business appear in answers written by generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity. It's used almost interchangeably with AEO.
Why it matters: There's no separate secret playbook. The same signals matter: a clear website, consistent listings, reviews and third-party mentions.
Crawling is when a search engine's software visits your pages. Indexing is when it stores them so they can appear in results. A page that isn't indexed can't be found in search or in Google's AI features.
Why it matters: Search Console shows which of your pages are indexed and why others aren't.
Related: Google Search Console, XML sitemap
A short Markdown file at the root of a website (yoursite.com/llms.txt) that lists its most important pages for AI tools. It was proposed by Jeremy Howard in 2024 and isn't an official standard.
Why it matters: Some AI tools may read it. Google says you don't need AI text files to appear in its AI features, so treat it as a cheap, helpful extra, not a ranking factor.
Related: robots.txt, XML sitemap
The box of usually three businesses with a small map that appears in Google results for local searches like "plumber near me".
Why it matters: Being in the local pack depends mainly on relevance, distance and prominence.
Related: Google Business Profile, Relevance, distance and prominence
Your business's name, address and phone number. "NAP consistency" means those three details are written exactly the same way everywhere they appear online.
Why it matters: Mismatched NAP, like an old phone number on Yelp or a different suite number on Facebook, makes it harder for machines to be sure all those listings are the same business.
The main category you choose on your Google Business Profile, like "Family law attorney" or "Bakery". You can add secondary categories, but the primary one carries the most weight.
Why it matters: Whitespark's 2026 survey of local search experts ranked it the top factor for showing up in Google Maps. Google says to choose the fewest categories that describe your core business.
Related: Google Business Profile, Local pack
When an AI search tool breaks your question into several smaller searches, runs them all, and combines the results into one answer.
Why it matters: It's why AI answers can cite pages that wouldn't rank for your exact words, and why answering many specific customer questions on your site helps.
Related: AI Mode, AI Overviews
The three main factors Google says decide local results. Relevance is how well you match the search, distance is how close you are, and prominence is how well known you are, including reviews and links.
Why it matters: You can't move your building, so the work is on relevance (a complete profile and clear pages) and prominence (reviews and mentions).
Related: Local pack, Google Business Profile
How recently your reviews were written. A business with a steady flow of new reviews looks active and trustworthy.
Why it matters: In BrightLocal's 2026 survey, 74% of consumers said they only consider reviews from the last three months.
Related: Google Business Profile, Citation
A plain text file at yoursite.com/robots.txt that tells search engine and AI crawlers which parts of your site they may visit. It can also point to your sitemap.
Why it matters: A mistake here can hide your whole site from search, so check it whenever your site changes.
Related: Indexing, XML sitemap
A property in schema markup that lists your official profiles elsewhere, such as your Google, Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram pages.
Why it matters: It tells machines "these profiles are all the same business," which helps tie your entity together.
Related: Schema markup, Entity
A block of code on your website, usually JSON-LD, that states facts about your business in a standard vocabulary from schema.org: type, name, address, phone, hours and more. Visitors don't see it.
Why it matters: Google says no special schema is needed for its AI features, but accurate markup removes guesswork. It must match what's visible on the page.
Google's free tool that shows how your site performs in Google Search: which searches you appear for, clicks, impressions, indexing problems and more.
Why it matters: Traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode is counted in its Performance report, and Google began rolling out dedicated generative AI reports in June 2026.
Related: Indexing, AI Overviews
A business that goes to its customers rather than having customers visit, like a plumber, mobile groomer or house cleaner.
Why it matters: Google says a service-area business that works from a home address should hide that address on its Business Profile and set a service area instead.
Related: Google Business Profile, NAP
A mention of your business inside normal writing, like a news article, a blog post, a "best of" list or an association page, rather than in a directory listing.
Why it matters: In Whitespark's 2026 survey, several of the top factors for AI visibility were about these mentions and lists.
A file, usually at yoursite.com/sitemap.xml, that lists the pages on your site you want search engines to find, with the date each was last updated.
Why it matters: It doesn't guarantee indexing, but it helps search engines find new and updated pages faster. Submit it in Search Console.
Related: Indexing, robots.txt
These terms make the most sense in context. The full guide walks through how Google Maps and AI answers choose businesses, and what to do this week.
Read the guide