SEO, Google and AI: The Key Terms Explained Simply

This SEO glossary explains the most important terms around Google, search engines and artificial intelligence in plain words. It is written for owners and managing directors who do not need to know every technical term, but want to understand what agencies, tools and reports are talking about. Every term has its own address, so you can link to it directly.

What do SEO, GEO, LLM and digital visibility mean?

Four terms come up in almost every conversation about online marketing right now. SEO makes your website findable for traditional search engines such as Google. GEO aims to get your company mentioned in answers from AI systems. An LLM is the language model that produces those answers. And digital visibility is the goal that links all three: being found where your customers search.

Traditional search and AI answers are growing together, because AI systems also often draw on content from the web. If your pages are good, easy to understand and technically clean, you have the foundation for both.

All terms from A to Z

Tap a letter to jump straight to the term. The detailed explanations are in the topic sections below.

Understanding Google and search engines

Before a page appears in the results, it goes through three steps at Google: it is found (crawling), stored (indexing) and sorted (ranking). The following terms explain how these steps fit together and what you can see of them.

What is a search engine?

A search engine searches the internet automatically and shows the best-matching pages for a search query. The best known is Google. Others include Bing, DuckDuckGo and Ecosia. For most companies in Austria, Google is the most important, because most search queries are made there.

What is the SERP?

SERP stands for "Search Engine Results Page", the page with the search results. Today it does not consist only of ten blue links. It can contain ads, maps, images, answer boxes and AI summaries. How your company appears there depends on the search query.

What is crawling?

Crawling means that a search engine program visits your website and follows the links from page to page to find content. Pages the crawler cannot reach cannot appear in the results later either. Well-linked pages and a clean XML sitemap help with this.

What is the Googlebot?

The Googlebot is Google's crawling program. It retrieves your pages, much like a visitor with a browser, but automatically and in large numbers. You control which areas it may visit through the robots.txt. In your server logs it appears under the name "Googlebot".

What is indexing?

During indexing, the search engine stores a page it has found in its index, a huge database. Only indexed pages can appear in the search results. A page being crawled does not automatically mean it will be indexed: Google decides this based on, among other things, the quality and uniqueness of the content. In Google Search Console you can see which of your pages are in the index.

What does ranking mean?

Ranking is the order in which results appear for a search query. The search engine weighs many factors for this, such as relevance, content quality, how usable the page is and the search intent. Nobody can guarantee a specific position; reputable SEO improves the conditions.

What is a search query?

A search query is what someone types into the search box, for example "tax advisor Vienna" or "How much does a new website cost?". It shows what people really want to know and is the basis for researching keywords.

What is search intent?

Search intent describes what someone wants to achieve with a search query: to get information ("What is a passive house?"), to find a specific page ("Provova website check") or to buy or commission something ("order website check"). Your page should match exactly this goal. Otherwise it stays invisible despite good technology.

What is a snippet?

A snippet is the entry of a result in the search: a title, an address and a short description text. The title usually comes from the title tag, and the description often from the meta description. Google can change both if other passages of text fit the search query better.

What is a featured snippet?

A featured snippet is an answer box above the normal search results. It shows the answer directly and links to the source. Short, clearly worded answers placed right under a fitting heading raise the chance of being selected. There is no guarantee.

What is the Google Business Profile?

The Google Business Profile (formerly "Google My Business") is the free listing for your company in Google Search and Google Maps, with address, opening hours, photos and reviews. For companies with customers on site, it is often the first impression. It is part of local SEO.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization covers everything that makes your website easier to find and easier to understand for search engines and visitors: from content and technology to links from other sites.

What does SEO mean?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It means all measures that help your website appear in the unpaid search results, for the topics your customers search for. SEO is not a one-off project but ongoing care, because search engines, competitors and your content keep changing.

What is digital visibility?

Digital visibility describes how easily people find and notice your company online: in search engines, on maps, in AI answers, in directories and on social networks. SEO is an important part of it, but not the only one. What matters is that you appear where your customers search.

What is on-page SEO?

On-page SEO covers everything you improve on your own website: content, titles, headings, internal links, images and how easy the texts are to understand. It is the area you control most directly yourself.

What is off-page SEO?

Off-page SEO means influences outside your website, above all backlinks, which are links from other sites to yours, as well as mentions and reviews. You can only control them to a limited extent. They come about best through good content and real relationships.

What is technical SEO?

Technical SEO makes sure search engines can read your website without problems: fast loading times, clean URLs, working redirects, mobile display and clear signals such as the canonical tag and the robots.txt. Errors here can make good content invisible.

What is local SEO?

Local SEO makes your company visible for regional searches, such as "electrician in Graz". What matters: a well-kept Google Business Profile, consistent details for name, address and phone number across the web, reviews and regional content on your website.

What is a keyword?

A keyword (search term) is a word or phrase people search for, for example "passive house ventilation". Keyword research shows you which terms your customers actually use. Important: texts should sound natural and not be stuffed with keywords.

What is a long-tail keyword?

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific searches such as "retrofit ventilation system in old building cost". They are searched less often, but they usually show a clear search intent and are often easier for smaller companies to rank for than general terms.

What is the title tag (SEO title)?

The title tag is the page title that appears in the browser tab and as the blue headline in search results. It should name the topic of the page clearly, include the most important keyword early and not be too long (as a guide, 50 to 60 characters). Every page needs its own.

What is the meta description?

The meta description is a short description of the page in the HTML code, often around 120 to 160 characters long. It does not directly affect ranking, but it can appear in the snippet and helps decide whether someone clicks. Google sometimes replaces it with a more fitting text excerpt.

What is the heading structure (H1–H3)?

Headings organize a page like a table of contents: the H1 is the main title and appears once per page, H2s are the main sections, H3s are the subpoints. A clear structure helps readers, screen readers and search engines understand the content.

What is a backlink?

A backlink is a link from another website to yours. It works like a recommendation: when trustworthy, relevant sites link to you, it strengthens your position. Quality counts more than quantity. Buying or swapping links violates Google's guidelines and can harm you.

What is internal linking?

Internal linking means that the pages of your website point to each other. It shows visitors and search engines which content belongs together and which pages matter most. Descriptive link text such as "Basics of search engine optimization" is better than "click here".

What is duplicate content?

Duplicate content exists when the same or a very similar text can be reached at several addresses, for example with and without "www", or through filters in a shop. Search engines then have to choose which version to show. With the canonical tag and redirects, you set the address you want.

What is the canonical tag?

The canonical tag (rel="canonical") tells the search engine the preferred address of a page when there are several similar versions. It is a hint, not a command: Google follows it most of the time, but not always.

What does E-E-A-T mean?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Google uses these criteria in its guidelines for quality raters to describe good content. It is not a single ranking factor but a guideline: show who is behind the content, and back up your statements.

What is SEA?

SEA stands for search engine advertising, meaning paid ads in the search results, for example with Google Ads. They bring visitors quickly, but cost money with every click. SEO works more slowly, but lasts longer. You can combine both.

Artificial intelligence and large language models

Artificial intelligence is changing how people search for information and how answers are produced. These terms help you understand the technology behind it, without having to program it yourself.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that take over tasks that used to require human thinking, such as understanding text, recognizing patterns or preparing decisions. In everyday life, you meet it in translation tools, voice assistants and chatbots. AI provides suggestions and calculations; responsibility for decisions stays with people.

What is generative AI?

Generative AI creates new content, for example text, images or program code, based on patterns it has learned from huge amounts of data. Chat assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini are examples. The results often sound convincing, but they must be checked.

What is an LLM?

LLM stands for "Large Language Model". It was trained on huge amounts of text and calculates which word is most likely to come next, which is how coherent answers are produced. Models such as GPT, Claude or Gemini are LLMs. They do not "know" anything in the human sense; they recognize and continue language patterns.

What is a prompt?

A prompt is the input or instruction you give to an AI, such as a question or a work task. The more clearly the task, the target audience and the desired format are described, the more useful the answer is. Search queries in AI systems are also prompts, often longer and more personal than in classic search.

What is a token?

A token is a small piece of text that a language model works with: a short word, a syllable or a punctuation mark. Longer words often consist of several tokens. Tokens determine how much text a model can process at once and how much its use costs.

What is a hallucination?

We speak of a hallucination when an AI presents false information convincingly, for example invented numbers, sources or quotes. It happens because the model forms sentences that sound likely, rather than looking up facts. Always check important statements against reliable sources.

What is training data?

Training data is the texts, images and other content from which an AI model learns its patterns. What appears there shapes what the model knows, and what it does not know or reproduces in a distorted way. Recent events and details about small companies are often missing, unless the model also retrieves them through a search.

What is RAG?

RAG stands for "Retrieval-Augmented Generation", meaning roughly: answers with a prior lookup. The system first searches for suitable sources, for example web pages or documents, and has the language model base its answer on them. This makes answers more current and easier to verify. Many AI search systems work on this principle, which is why clearly readable, well-supported content on your website matters.

What is an AI agent?

An AI agent is a system that pursues a goal on its own in several steps and uses tools along the way, such as search, databases or software. Instead of only answering a question, it can complete a task, for example researching information and summarizing it. Clear limits and human oversight are important.

Visibility in AI search systems

More and more people ask AI assistants or read AI summaries in search instead of going through lists of results. These terms describe how you get mentioned and represented correctly there.

What does GEO mean?

GEO stands for "Generative Engine Optimization": measures to make sure your company and your content appear in answers from AI systems and are represented correctly. These include clear, well-supported statements, unambiguous information about your company and an easy-to-follow structure. GEO is a young industry term with no single definition; much of it overlaps with good SEO.

What does AEO mean?

AEO stands for "Answer Engine Optimization". It means optimizing so that your page is chosen as the direct answer to a question, for example in answer boxes, by voice assistants or by AI systems. The line between it and GEO is blurry, and the two terms are used in different ways.

What are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are summaries generated by Google that appear above the results for certain search queries and link to sources. They answer many questions right in the search. Being named as a source can bring attention, even if fewer people click on the results below.

What is a zero-click search?

In a zero-click search, someone gets the answer directly in the search, for example in the answer box or in an AI Overview, and does not visit any website. This may reduce the number of clicks, even though your page is visible. That is why it matters not only how many people visit, but also whether your name and your statements appear in such answers.

What is an entity?

An entity is a clearly identifiable thing that search engines and AI can understand: a person, a company, a place, a product. The more clearly your website shows who you are, what you offer and what you are connected to (for example through structured data and consistent information), the more reliably systems can match you correctly.

What is a citation in AI answers?

A citation is the source reference in an AI answer, often as a link or footnote. It shows which pages the system used for the answer. Sources are more likely to be cited when content is clear, well-supported and easy to find. The providers do not disclose how the selection works in detail.

What is llms.txt?

llms.txt is a proposal for a text file in the root directory of a website that gives AI systems a simple overview of the most important content. It is not a recognized standard, and providers have not made any binding commitment to read the file. It can be useful, but it replaces neither good content nor the XML sitemap.

What is the Knowledge Graph?

The Knowledge Graph is Google's knowledge database, in which people, places, organizations and their relationships are linked as entities. It produces, for example, info boxes next to the search results. Clear, consistent information about your company makes it easier for it to be captured correctly there.

Website technology and performance

The technology behind your site decides whether search engines and visitors can use it reliably. Many of these points can be found quickly with an automatic check.

What is structured data?

Structured data is extra information in a page's code that tells search engines clearly what the page is about, for example a company, address, event or product. The usual choice is the Schema.org vocabulary in JSON-LD format. It can enable richer displays in search and helps systems classify content correctly. There is no guarantee of special displays.

What is robots.txt?

The robots.txt is a text file in the root directory of your website that tells crawlers which areas they should not fetch. It controls crawling, not indexing: a blocked address can still appear in the index if other pages link to it. A mistake in this file can make the whole website invisible.

What is an XML sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file that lists all the important addresses of your website for search engines. It makes it easier to find new and changed pages, but it does not replace good internal links. Submit it in the Google Search Console.

What does noindex mean?

"noindex" is an instruction telling search engines not to add a page to the index. It is set with a meta tag or an HTTP header and is useful for internal or duplicate pages. Important: the page must be reachable for the crawler, otherwise it never sees the instruction. An accidental noindex is a common reason why pages are not found.

What is a redirect (301 redirect)?

A redirect automatically sends visitors and search engines from one address to another. A 301 redirect marks the move as permanent and passes the value of the old address on to the new one. It is important for a relaunch, a renaming or a switch to HTTPS. A 302 redirect is treated as temporary.

What is an HTTP status code?

An HTTP status code is your server's response to a page request. 200 means "OK", 301 "moved permanently", 404 "not found", 410 "removed on purpose" and 5xx a server error. Search engines use these codes to decide what to do with an address. An error page that wrongly returns 200 ("soft 404") confuses them.

What are the Core Web Vitals?

The Core Web Vitals are Google's metrics for the user experience of a page: how fast the main content appears (LCP), how fast the page responds to input (INP) and how stable the layout stays while loading (CLS). According to Google, good values are an LCP of at most 2.5 seconds, an INP of at most 200 milliseconds and a CLS of at most 0.1. They are one signal among many, but fast pages keep visitors better.

What is mobile-first indexing?

With mobile-first indexing, Google generally assesses a website based on its mobile version. Content that is missing or harder to reach on a smartphone therefore counts for less. Make sure that texts, images and important links are fully available on mobile.

What is HTTPS?

HTTPS is the encrypted version of the connection between browser and website, recognisable by the padlock symbol. It protects data, for example in forms, and builds trust. Browsers warn about pages without HTTPS, and Google uses it as a light signal. In addition, every address should redirect automatically to the HTTPS version.

What is alt text?

Alt text is a short description of an image in the HTML code. Screen readers read it aloud, which helps people with visual impairments, and image search also uses it to recognise the content. Describe what can be seen and what the image is for, without stringing keywords together. Purely decorative images get an empty alt text.

What is hreflang?

With hreflang you mark that a page has versions in other languages or for other countries, for example German and English. This lets search engines show each person the right version. The entries must confirm each other: each version points to the others and to itself.

Analysis, metrics and measuring success

Without measurement, SEO is just a gut feeling. These terms and tools show whether your actions work and where you should improve.

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your website performs in Google Search: which search queries show and get clicks for it, which pages are indexed and where technical problems exist. It only provides data from Google Search, but it comes straight from the source. The data goes back about 16 months.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a tool from Google that measures what visitors do on your website: where they come from, which pages they view and whether they take a desired action. It complements Search Console, which shows what happens before the visit. In the EU, using it generally requires the visitor's consent; have the setup checked for data protection compliance.

What is the click-through rate (CTR)?

The click-through rate (CTR) shows what percentage of people who saw your search result clicked on it. Example: 50 clicks from 1,000 impressions is 5 percent. A low click-through rate with a good position often points to a title that is not convincing or a weak description.

What is organic traffic?

Organic traffic is the visits that reach your website through unpaid search results. It differs from visits via ads, social networks or by typing in the address directly. It is seen as a measure of SEO success, but on its own it says nothing about business success.

What is a conversion?

A conversion is a desired action on your website, for example an inquiry, an appointment booking, a purchase or a download. It shows whether visitors become customers. What matters is not how many people visit, but how many of them do something that benefits your business.

How do SEO, Google and AI fit together?

Google discovers your pages through crawling, stores them during indexing and sorts them in the ranking. AI search systems use these same foundations: they draw on content that can be found and read easily, and base their answers on it (RAG).

This is not a conflict, but a sequence:

• Technology first: If pages cannot be crawled or indexed, they are not a source in Google or in AI answers.
• Content next: Clear, well-supported statements with an easy-to-follow structure help readers, search engines and AI alike.
• Clarity: Consistent information about your company and structured data make it easier to assign it correctly.
• Measuring: Google Search Console shows what happens in Google Search. For AI answers, metrics are less mature and providers hardly disclose them.

To see how well your website is set up for this, use the free website check from Provova.