The key concepts around findability in AI — from GEO and AI Overviews to llms.txt and structured data. No jargon, just clearly explained.
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It is the art of getting found by AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Not through a search result, but as a source in an AI answer. Read on to understand why this is the biggest shift in online findability since Google itself.
Read explainerAn AI Overview is the block at the top of Google with an AI-generated answer, before the first search results. Google decides for itself which sources it uses. Appear in it and you are more visible than ever. Miss out and you may be skipped entirely. Read on.
Read explainerGoogle AI Mode is a fully AI-driven search experience where you no longer see a list of links, but a conversational interface. Google answers your question and asks follow-up questions. For businesses this changes the rules entirely. Read on to see what it means for your findability.
Read explainerllms.txt is a file on your website that tells AI systems who you are, what you do and which pages they may use as a source. It is the robots.txt of the AI age. Few websites have one yet. That is your opportunity. Read on.
Read explainerAn LLM citation is a mention of your website or business in an answer from an AI system. It is the new equivalent of a backlink. The more AI systems cite you, the greater your authority in the AI age. Read on to see how this works.
Read explainerAI systems do not work with keywords but with entities: recognisable concepts such as businesses, people and places. If an AI does not recognise your business as a clear entity, you are not cited. Read on to see how to fix that.
Read explainerThe knowledge graph is the network of facts, connections and entities that Google and AI systems use to understand how the world fits together. Those in it are recognised. Those who are not, do not exist for the AI. Read on.
Read explainerZero-click means a user gets an answer from Google or an AI without ever clicking a website. Research shows that 68% of Google searches now end without a click. What does this mean for your online strategy? Read on.
Read explainerShare of voice in AI measures how often your business is cited by AI systems compared with your competitors. It is the new KPI for online visibility. Those who score high win attention before the customer even searches. Read on.
Read explainerAEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation, GEO for Generative Engine Optimisation. They sound the same but aim at something different. AEO makes you the answer, GEO makes you the source. Read on for the full distinction.
Read explainerSemantic SEO is not about isolated keywords, but about meaning and coherence. Search engines and AI now understand context, not just words. Whoever writes about a topic instead of around a keyword wins. Read on.
Read explainerTopical authority is the degree to which search engines and AI see you as an expert on a particular subject. Not one good page, but a complete subject area determines your standing. Read on to see how to build it.
Read explainerA content cluster is a structure where a central page (the hub) is surrounded by in-depth pages (the spokes). Together they form a strong, coherent whole that search engines and AI understand. Read on.
Read explainerAuthor authority is about the recognisability and credibility of the person behind the content. AI and search engines place increasing value on a demonstrable, expert author. Anonymous content is losing ground. Read on.
Read explainerStructured data is structured information you add to your website so that search engines and AI understand exactly what is there. JSON-LD is the standard method for this. Invisible to visitors, crucial for machines. Read on.
Read explainerSchema markup is the shared vocabulary search engines use to understand content. It defines which types you can label: a business, a product, a recipe, an FAQ. Read on to see how it strengthens your visibility.
Read explainerFAQPage schema is a form of structured data that lets you explicitly mark frequently asked questions and answers. Ideal for answer engines and AI, which look precisely for question-and-answer pairs. Read on.
Read explainerCrawlability determines whether search engines and AI crawlers can find and read your pages. If your site is not properly crawlable, you simply do not exist for them. The foundation beneath all findability. Read on.
Read explainerCanonicalisation tells search engines which version of a page is the official one when the same content lives at several addresses. This prevents confusion and wasted authority. Read on.
Read explainerRobots.txt is a small file that tells crawlers which parts of your site they may and may not visit. Set incorrectly, you accidentally block your own findability. Read on.
Read explainerSemantic HTML uses code that describes the meaning of content, not just the layout. A heading is a heading, body text is body text. That makes your page readable for humans and machines. Read on.
Read explainerAI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot visit your site to gather content for AI systems. Whether they may enter, and what they take with them, is partly up to you. Read on.
Read explainerGrounding is the process where an AI bases its answer on concrete, verifiable sources rather than on memory alone. Good grounding means your content can be the source. Read on.
Read explainerFreshness is about how current your content is. Search engines and AI often give priority to recent, updated information. A neglected website slowly loses ground. Read on.
Read explainerRAG stands for Retrieval Augmented Generation. It is the technique where an AI first retrieves relevant sources and only then formulates an answer. It explains why good content must be findable for AI. Read on.
Read explainerEmbeddings are the way AI translates meaning into numbers, so it can grasp the connections between concepts. It explains why coherent content is so powerful. Read on.
Read explainerVector search finds information based on meaning, not exact words. It is the search technology behind many AI systems and explains why substantive relevance beats keywords. Read on.
Read explainerTokenisation is the way AI divides text into small pieces, tokens, in order to process it. Among other things, it explains why concise, clear content is easier to process. Read on.
Read explainerThe context window is the amount of information an AI can process and hold in mind at once. It determines how much of your content can be taken in at the same time. Read on.
Read explainerA hallucination is an answer an AI gives with conviction, but that is factually incorrect. It explains why trustworthy, verifiable sources have become so important. Read on.
Read explainerMultimodality means AI understands several kinds of input: text, image, sound. That changes how you should approach photos, video and visual content. Read on.
Read explainerE-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust. It is the framework Google and AI use to judge whether your content can be trusted. Read on to see how you score on it.
Read explainerA brand mention is every time your business name is named somewhere on the web, with or without a link. AI systems weigh these mentions when determining your authority. Read on.
Read explainerSentiment in AI answers is about the tone in which an AI speaks about your business. Not only whether you are named, but how. A positive tone strengthens your reputation, a negative one harms it. Read on.
Read explainerAn AI agent is a system that does not only answer, but carries out tasks independently: searching, comparing, planning, acting. They are becoming the new intermediary between customer and business. Read on.
Read explainerAgentic search is an advanced form of search where the AI independently takes multiple steps: breaking a question down, consulting several sources and combining everything into an answer. Read on.
Read explainerConversational search is searching through natural conversations instead of isolated keywords. People ask AI what they used to force awkwardly into keywords. That changes how you should write content. Read on.
Read explainer
