AI SEO Glossary
A
Experimental approach comparing two versions of content to determine which performs better for specific objectives.
SEO toolset with AI features for backlink analysis, keyword research, and content gap identification.
Automated evaluation of a site's backlink profile to identify quality links, toxic links, and link-building opportunities.
Automated evaluation of a site's backlink profile to identify quality links, toxic links, and link-building opportunities.
Using generative AI tools to produce search-optimized content at scale, including blog posts, product descriptions, and SEO copy.
Using machine learning to predict how content will perform in search before publication, allowing for pre-optimization.
Strategic approach focusing specifically on optimizing content for AI-powered search engines and assistants rather than traditional search algorithms.
Using artificial intelligence to identify emerging search patterns and user behavior changes before they become mainstream.
The application of artificial intelligence technologies to enhance search engine optimization strategies, automating keyword research, content creation, technical audits, and performance analysis.
Comprehensive technical analysis of websites using machine learning to identify optimization opportunities and issues affecting search performance.
Comprehensive technical analysis of websites using machine learning to identify optimization opportunities and issues affecting search performance.
Using machine learning to identify competitors' SEO strategies, content gaps, and ranking opportunities based on multiple data points.
Rules and formulas social platforms use to determine which content appears in users' feeds, increasingly AI-powered.
Technology integrated seamlessly into environment without requiring conscious interaction, creating new marketing touchpoints.
The clickable text of a hyperlink that provides contextual signals about the linked page's content.
Strategy focused on structuring content to directly answer specific questions, increasing chances of appearing in featured snippets and AI assistant responses.
Process of identifying which SEO efforts led to specific outcomes, now enhanced by predictive AI.
Framework for analyzing which marketing touchpoints receive credit for conversions across customer journeys.
Measure of a website's credibility and expertise in specific topics as determined by search algorithms.
B
A link from an external website to your website, considered the single most powerful off-page ranking signal.
Google's natural language processing model that better understands context and semantics in search queries by analyzing words in relation to all other words in a sentence.
Content strategies aligned with Google's Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers algorithm, which better understands natural language context and user intent.
Enterprise SEO platform with AI-powered content optimization and performance prediction capabilities.
C
Prompting technique that instructs AI to show its reasoning process step-by-step, improving accuracy for complex tasks.
OpenAI's language model used for SEO tasks like keyword research, content ideation, and meta description creation.
Using OpenAI's language model for keyword research, content ideation, meta description creation, and SEO strategy development.
Anthropic's AI assistant that can help with SEO research, content analysis, and optimization recommendations.
AI-powered platform that helps create content matching search intent through natural language processing analysis.
Technique of grouping related keywords, topics, or content into logical segments to build comprehensive content strategies.
Researching broader concepts and entities related to topics rather than focusing solely on exact-match keywords.
Techniques for ensuring content precisely matches search intent through comprehensive topical coverage and contextual relevance.
The surrounding information that helps search engines understand the meaning of content and queries.
Maximum amount of text an AI model can consider at once, limiting how much information it can process in a single interaction.
Incorporating semantically related terms and phrases in content to signal topic relevance to search engines beyond primary keywords.
Search approach focusing on natural language queries as used with voice assistants and AI chatbots.
Google's set of specific metrics that measure user experience, including loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability.
D
AI model architecture used in image generation tools like Midjourney and DALL-E that gradually transforms random noise into coherent images.
A strategy focused on creating newsworthy content, studies, or campaigns that journalists and bloggers want to write about, earning high-authority backlinks at scale.
Virtual replica of physical products, processes, or systems used for simulation and optimization in marketing.
Process by which search engines determine the specific meaning of ambiguous queries or terms.
A Google tool that allows you to submit a list of domains or pages you don't want Google to consider when assessing your backlink profile.
E
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness - Google's framework for evaluating content quality.
Dense vector representations of words or phrases that capture semantic meaning for AI systems.
User interaction metrics like time on page and click-through rates that influence AI-determined rankings.
Metric measuring audience interaction with content relative to reach or follower count.
Differentiated AI SEO strategies and tools based on business size, budget constraints, and scalability requirements.
Distinct objects, people, places, or concepts that search engines identify and associate with specific attributes and relationships.
SEO approach focusing on optimizing for entities (people, places, things, concepts) rather than just keywords to align with how modern search engines understand content.
Time-limited content that disappears after 24 hours, like Instagram and Facebook Stories.
F
Structured data markup specifically for FAQ pages that can trigger enhanced search results with expandable questions and answers.
Technique providing AI with a few examples within the prompt to guide it toward desired response formats.
Process of adapting a pre-trained AI model to specific tasks by training it on domain-specific data.
Federated Learning of Cohorts, Google's cookie alternative that groups users with similar browsing behaviors for privacy-preserving advertising.
The default link type that passes link equity and tells Google to count it as a ranking vote.
G
Google's multimodal AI model that can analyze text, images, and other content types for comprehensive SEO optimization.
Describing AI systems that can create original content for SEO purposes based on learned patterns.
Specialized SEO approach targeting AI generative systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to ensure content appears in AI-generated responses.
OpenAI's multimodal model that processes text, vision, and audio inputs in real-time conversations.
H
When AI generates plausible-sounding but factually incorrect information, a critical concern in AI content creation.
Help A Reporter Out, a platform connecting journalists seeking expert sources with professionals looking for media coverage and backlinks.
The logical structure of your website, from the homepage down to parent categories, subcategories, and finally, individual pages.
Structured data that marks up step-by-step instructions, increasing chances of appearing in featured snippets and visual search results.
An HTML attribute that tells Google which language and regional version of a page to show a user.
I
Measure of how effectively content can be processed, categorized, and stored by search engines.
Categories of social media influencers based on follower count, from nano (under 10K) to mega (1M+).
The purpose behind a user's search query, which modern SEO strategies aim to precisely match with relevant content.
J
Techniques users employ to circumvent an AI system's built-in safety measures and content policies.
AI writing assistant specialized in creating SEO-optimized content that ranks well in search engines.
K
When two or more pages on your own site compete for the same keyword and search intent.
Google's database of entities and their relationships, used to understand context and deliver more relevant search results.
L
Language Model for Dialogue Applications, Google's conversational AI designed to engage in open-ended conversations across topics.
Google's automated tool for measuring web page quality, performance, accessibility, and SEO factors that affect rankings.
The "power" or "authority" that a backlink passes from one page to another, with high-authority sites passing more equity.
A group of websites created solely to interlink with each other to manipulate search engine rankings, a dead black-hat tactic.
Finding mentions of your brand or content online that don't link back to you, then requesting the author add a clickable link.
The rate at which a website acquires new backlinks over time, with sudden spikes potentially triggering spam filters.
High-quality content (original research, free tools, definitive guides) so valuable that people naturally want to link to it.
Targeting specific, detailed phrases that align with how users interact with AI assistants through voice and conversational queries.
Targeting specific, detailed phrases that align with how users interact with AI assistants through voice and conversational queries.
M
Prospective customer who has engaged with marketing content and meets criteria for sales team handoff.
AI content intelligence and strategy platform that helps build topical authority through content planning and optimization.
Collection of marketing technologies and tools a company uses to execute, manage, and measure marketing activities.
AI systems that can process and optimize multiple content types (text, images, video) for search.
N
AI technique that identifies and classifies entities (people, organizations, locations) in text to improve content relevance.
AI technique that identifies and classifies entities (people, organizations, locations) in text to improve content relevance.
Leveraging NLP techniques to analyze and optimize content in ways that align with how modern search engines interpret text.
Referring to neural networks in AI that mimic human brain connections to recognize patterns in search behavior and content.
Google's deep learning algorithm that helps understand the concepts behind queries, even when they don't contain specific keywords.
Using brain activity and biometric measurements to understand subconscious consumer responses to marketing stimuli.
Contacting a site owner to add your link to an existing, already-published article that's relevant to your content.
Natural Language Processing technology that enables search engines to understand, interpret, and generate human language in useful ways.
O
Marketing approach creating seamless customer experiences across all channels and touchpoints.
Formal naming and definition of entities, categories, and relationships within a knowledge domain.
P
A third-party metric (from Moz/Ahrefs) that predicts the ranking potential of a single page based on its backlinks.
A network of high-authority websites controlled by one person to build links to their money sites, violating Google's guidelines.
AI search engine that conducts research and summarizes information from multiple sources, useful for SEO competitor analysis.
Tailoring of search results based on user behavior, preferences, and history using AI algorithms.
AI capability to forecast search trends, ranking changes, and content performance before publication.
Using machine learning to forecast search trends, traffic patterns, and ranking potential for specific keywords and content.
Using machine learning to forecast search trends, traffic patterns, and ranking potential for specific keywords and content.
Automated buying and selling of digital advertising using AI to optimize targeting and placement in real-time.
Security vulnerability where users trick AI systems into ignoring instructions by embedding commands in their inputs.
Q
R
Retrieval-Augmented Generation, technique that enhances AI responses by retrieving relevant information from external knowledge bases.
Google's machine learning system that interprets search queries and measures how users interact with results to refine rankings over time.
Techniques targeting Google's machine learning algorithm that interprets searches and measures user interaction with results to refine rankings.
Positions of web pages in search engine results pages for specific queries, now heavily influenced by AI.
Finding curated lists of resources in your industry and requesting inclusion by demonstrating your content's value.
S
Structured data markup vocabulary that helps search engines understand content context and display enhanced results like rich snippets.
Adding structured data markup to webpages to help search engines understand content context and display enhanced results like rich snippets.
Division of content, keywords, or audiences into distinct groups for targeted SEO strategies.
Enhancing content with related terms, entities, and concepts to better match user intent and provide comprehensive coverage of topics.
Advanced AI technique that identifies connections between topics, entities, and concepts to build more comprehensive content strategies.
Optimizing content to appear in results when users search using conversational language, questions, or ambiguous queries.
The study of meaning in language that helps search engines understand relationships between words, phrases, and concepts.
Comprehensive SEO platform offering AI-powered keyword research, content optimization, and competitor analysis tools.
Emotional tone of content as detected by AI, which can influence search ranking and user engagement.
AI-powered technique measuring the emotional tone of social media mentions and comments.
Advanced analytics that forecast ranking changes, competitor movements, and algorithm updates to enable proactive SEO strategy.
Search Engine Results Page, the complete display of results returned by search engines, including organic listings, paid ads, and featured elements.
Strategies specifically designed to win visibility in enhanced search features like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and People Also Ask boxes.
Search Generative Experience, Google's AI-powered search feature that provides AI-generated summaries and interactive results alongside traditional links.
Search Generative Experience - AI-powered answers that appear at the top of search results, synthesizing information from multiple sources.
Finding popular content in your niche, creating something significantly better, then reaching out to sites linking to the original.
Monitoring social media for mentions, trends, and conversations about specific topics, brands, or competitors.
A link attribute (rel="sponsored") used to identify paid or sponsored links, required by Google's guidelines.
Implementation of schema.org vocabulary to help search engines understand page content and display rich results.
Implementation of schema.org vocabulary to help search engines understand page content and display rich results.
AI content optimization tool analyzing top-ranking pages to provide specific content recommendations for improving rankings.
T
Hierarchical classification system for organizing content topics and establishing content relationships.
Using AI tools to automatically identify and fix technical SEO issues like broken links, duplicate content, and crawlability problems.
Using AI tools to automatically identify and fix technical SEO issues like broken links, duplicate content, and crawlability problems.
Parameter controlling randomness in AI responses, with higher values producing more creative but potentially less accurate outputs.
Process of breaking text into individual words or subwords for processing by AI language models.
Units of text processed by language models, with longer content requiring more tokens and potentially higher costs.
Using AI to identify and structure content around comprehensive topic clusters rather than isolated keywords.
Measure of a website's comprehensive expertise and credibility on a specific topic, built through extensive, interconnected content.
Low-quality, irrelevant, or manipulative backlinks that can harm your site's rankings and trigger Google penalties.
Technique where knowledge gained while solving one problem is applied to a different but related problem, fundamental to modern AI.
Advanced neural network architecture used in modern AI models like BERT that power search engines.
U
User-Generated Content created by consumers rather than brands, often more authentic and engaging than brand-created content.
A link attribute (rel="ugc") used to identify user-generated content links like forum posts and comments.
Instances where your brand, product, or content is mentioned online without a hyperlink, representing easy link opportunities.
V
Mathematical representations of words, phrases, or content used by AI to determine semantic similarity.
Measure of how prominently a website appears in search results across target keywords and topics.
W
X
Y
Z
A search query where the user finds their answer directly on the search results page without clicking through to any website.
Queries where users find their answer directly on the search results page without clicking through to any website.
Last updated by James Harrison on October 19, 2025