Reference
SEO & GEO Glossary
Plain-English definitions of 20 terms every small business should know — from Core Web Vitals and schema markup to llms.txt, AI Overviews, and Generative Engine Optimization.
On-Page SEO
Optimization of elements on your own website.
- The practice of optimizing elements directly on a website so search engines can accurately parse and rank each page. Includes title tags, meta descriptions, heading hierarchy (H1–H6), schema markup, URL structure, internal linking, image alt text, and page content quality.
Off-Page SEO
Authority-building activities outside your website.
- SEO activities that happen outside of a website — primarily backlinks from authoritative domains, brand mentions, business directory citations, PR and guest posts — that signal authority and trust to search engines.
Schema Markup
Structured JSON-LD that tells Google exactly what's on a page.
- Structured data in JSON-LD format embedded in a web page that tells search engines exactly what information the page contains (business, product, FAQ, review, rating) rather than requiring them to infer from prose. Enables rich snippets and AI answer extraction.
Core Web Vitals
Google's page-experience performance metrics.
- Google's page-experience metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP, target under 2.5s), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS, target under 0.1), and Interaction to Next Paint (INP, target under 200ms; replaces First Input Delay). A confirmed Google ranking factor.
SEO Architecture
The technical foundation that makes a site rankable.
- The technical foundation of a website that determines whether search engine crawlers can discover, parse, and rank its pages. Includes title tags, schema markup, internal linking, XML sitemaps, robots.txt rules, URL structure, and Core Web Vitals performance.
Google Trust
Aggregate authority signals Google uses to weigh a domain.
- The aggregate authority signals — backlinks from trusted domains, brand mentions, citation consistency, and E-E-A-T markers (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) — that cause Google to treat a domain as a credible source worth ranking and citing in AI Overviews.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust.
- Google's framework for evaluating content quality: Experience (first-hand), Expertise (domain knowledge), Authoritativeness (recognized authority), and Trust (accurate, safe, transparent). Especially weighted for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics.
Canonical Tag
HTML link telling Google which URL is the master version.
- An HTML link tag (<link rel="canonical" href="..." />) that tells search engines which version of a URL is the master when duplicate or near-duplicate content exists across multiple URLs. Prevents duplicate-content issues and consolidates ranking signals.
Backlink
A link from another site pointing to your site.
- A hyperlink from another website pointing to your website. Backlinks remain one of Google's strongest ranking signals; quality (authoritative, topically relevant domains) matters more than quantity.
Anchor Text
The clickable text of a hyperlink.
- The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text (e.g. "complete guide to SEO optimization") signals topical relevance to search engines; generic anchors ("click here") waste the signal.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages Googlebot will crawl on your site.
- The number of pages Googlebot is willing to crawl on a site in a given time window. Determined by site authority, server speed, and content freshness. Wasting it on low-value pages (duplicate content, faceted URLs, admin pages) means important pages get crawled less often.
Indexing
Google adding a URL to its searchable database.
- The process of Google adding a URL to its searchable index after crawling it. A page must be crawled, indexed, and considered high-quality before it can appear in search results.
SERP
Search Engine Results Page.
- Search Engine Results Page — the page Google returns after a query. Modern SERPs include organic results, paid ads, AI Overviews, featured snippets, People Also Ask, local packs, and knowledge panels.
AI Overviews
Google's generative-AI answer at the top of SERPs.
- Google's AI-generated answer section that appears above traditional organic results on many queries, synthesizing information from multiple cited web sources. Being cited in AI Overviews requires strong schema markup, E-E-A-T signals, and topical authority.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Optimizing content to be cited by AI search engines.
- Generative Engine Optimization — the practice of optimizing a website so AI search engines (ChatGPT Search, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini) cite its content when generating answers. Key levers: allowing AI crawlers in robots.txt, publishing llms.txt, extractable facts, schema markup, and E-E-A-T signals.
llms.txt
A Markdown file that describes your site to AI crawlers.
- A proposed standard Markdown file placed at /llms.txt that provides a concise, structured summary of a website for Large Language Models. Lists key facts, pages, pricing, and content pointers that help AI systems understand and accurately cite the site.
IndexNow
Protocol for instantly notifying search engines of new URLs.
- An open protocol (supported by Bing, Yandex, Naver, Seznam) that lets websites instantly notify search engines when URLs are added, updated, or deleted, replacing the slower crawl-discovery cycle. Requires a verification key file on the domain.
Rich Snippet
Enhanced SERP result with extra data (stars, FAQ, etc.).
- An enhanced search result that includes extra data extracted from schema markup — star ratings, FAQ, HowTo steps, recipe info, event details — displayed beside or under the standard title/description. Typically increases click-through rate by 20–30%.
Internal Linking
Links between pages on the same website.
- Hyperlinks that connect one page on a website to another page on the same site. Strategic internal linking flows authority from high-traffic pages to target pages and can raise rankings of secondary pages by 30–50% without new backlinks.
XML Sitemap
A file listing every important URL on your site.
- An XML file (typically at /sitemap.xml) listing every important URL on a website, along with last-modified date, change frequency, and priority. Submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools to accelerate crawling and indexing.
Need the architecture behind these concepts implemented on your site?
See RankFrame SEO Plans →