AI Search Optimisation Glossary: GEO, AEO, LLMO and the Rest

What Does GEO, AEO, LLM SEO and AI SEO Actually Mean?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) means optimizing your site so generative AI engines, like ChatGPT or Google Gemini, name your brand or page in their answers. It focuses on the content and structure that make your site the preferred source for AI-generated responses.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is about shaping your content so AI assistants can quote or cite your page directly. It covers page structure, direct-answer blocks, and schema markup that makes your content easy to lift into an answer.

LLM SEO (Large Language Model SEO) is the technical layer: making sure AI crawlers can reach, read, and retrieve your content. This includes crawlability, chunking, and technical signals that help language models find and use your pages.

AI SEO is a broad label for any work aimed at improving visibility in AI-driven search results. It includes GEO, AEO, and LLM SEO, but can also refer to using AI to automate parts of classic SEO.

Most agencies and tools use these terms interchangeably, but each targets a different step in the AI answer pipeline. For a side-by-side breakdown, see GEO vs AEO vs SEO.

Term	Plain-English Meaning	What It Changes
GEO	Get named or cited in AI answers	Content and citation strategy
AEO	Get quoted as the answer source	Page structure and markup
LLM SEO	Make AI crawlers reach and use your page	Technical crawlability and retrieval
AI SEO	Any work for AI search visibility	All of the above

Key terms in AI search optimization and what each changes.

What Counts as a Citation, Mention, or Share of Voice in AI Search?

A citation is when an AI assistant names your brand or page as the source for an answer. This is the gold standard: it means your information is trusted and surfaced to the user. A mention is any reference to your brand or product, even if it’s not linked or directly cited. Share of voice measures what percentage of answers in your category name you versus competitors.

SEOWedge measures these by sampling real AI answers for buyer questions, recording which brands are cited, and calculating the share of voice for each. This is not a theoretical score—it’s a record of what the AI actually said on a given date.

Mentions and citations are the metrics that move revenue. Vanity metrics like "AI readiness" or generic content scores do not reflect what a buyer sees in an AI answer. For a breakdown of how visibility is scored, see AI Search Visibility Score Explained.

Metric	Definition	How SEOWedge Measures
Citation	Named as a source in an AI answer	Recorded per sampled answer
Mention	Referenced in an answer, not always cited	Recorded per sampled answer
Share of Voice	% of answers naming you	Calculated across sampled answers

What each metric means and how it is measured in AI search.

What Is Grounding, Retrieval, and Hallucination in AI Answers?

Grounding is the process where an AI model checks real content (your page, a database, or a live web result) to support its answer. Retrieval is the mechanism that finds and delivers relevant passages from your site to the model before it generates a response. Hallucination is when the model invents facts or sources that do not exist.

In practice, grounding and retrieval are what make it possible for your page to be cited. If your content is not retrievable—because it’s blocked by robots.txt, not indexed, or not structured for chunking—the model may hallucinate or cite a competitor instead.

SEOWedge tests whether your pages are actually retrieved and cited by sampling answers to real buyer questions. It identifies gaps where grounding fails, so you can fix the page or technical setup. For technical steps, see LLM SEO: Technical Guide.

Term	What It Means in AI Search
Grounding	AI checks real content to support answer
Retrieval	Model fetches passages from your site
Hallucination	Model invents facts or sources

How AI answers are built and where your content fits in.

Which Metrics Matter in AI Search Optimization—and Which Are Vanity?

The only metrics that reflect real-world AI search visibility are citations, mentions, and share of voice. These show whether your brand is being surfaced in actual AI answers to buyer questions. AI readiness scores, content quality grades, or generic "optimization" ratings are not tied to what an AI assistant returns to a user.

SEOWedge measures only real outcomes: is your brand named, is your page cited, and how often does this happen versus your competitors. Each result is tied to a sampled answer and a timestamp, so you see what changed after every update or campaign.

Any metric that cannot be traced back to a sampled AI answer is a vanity metric in this context. For examples of actionable versus non-actionable metrics, see AI Search Visibility Score Explained.

Metric	Is It Actionable?	Why or Why Not
Citation	Yes	Directly shows buyer-facing result
Mention	Yes	Indicates brand presence in answers
Share of Voice	Yes	Tracks competitive performance
AI Readiness Score	No	Not tied to sampled answers
Content Quality Grade	No	Does not guarantee visibility

Metrics that matter versus vanity scores in AI search.

Are GEO, AEO, LLM SEO and AI SEO Just Marketing Labels for the Same Thing?

GEO, AEO, LLM SEO and AI SEO are often used interchangeably by agencies and vendors, but they describe different steps in the process. GEO is about winning citations in AI-generated answers. AEO focuses on making your content quotable and easy to cite. LLM SEO ensures technical accessibility and retrievability for language models. AI SEO is a catch-all for any practice affecting AI search visibility.

In practical terms, most workflows combine all three: technical setup (LLM SEO), content structuring (AEO), and citation strategy (GEO). The overlap is real, but knowing the differences lets you brief an agency or tool vendor more precisely.

For a practical breakdown of what each discipline covers and when each matters, see GEO vs AEO vs SEO: The Practical Definitions and When Each Matters.

Label	Is It a Real Discipline?	What’s Unique
GEO	Yes	Focuses on citations in AI answers
AEO	Yes	Focuses on quotable content structure
LLM SEO	Yes	Focuses on technical retrievability
AI SEO	Partly	Broad label, often overlaps others

How each term maps to a real workflow or outcome.

How Does SEOWedge Measure and Close the AI Search Gap?

SEOWedge samples real AI answers from OpenAI GPT and Google Gemini, records which brands are cited, and calculates share of voice for your domain and competitors. It then identifies the exact page or content gap behind each missed citation, and generates a ready-to-publish page or action brief to close it.

The workflow is a closed loop: scan, measure, identify the gap, generate the fix, and track whether citations move after publishing. This removes manual guesswork and lets you act on specific, measured opportunities instead of generic advice.

The free scan delivers a real AI-Visibility score and competitor share of voice with no card required. Paid plans add Google Gemini coverage, bulk actions, and credit top-ups for busy months. For a full workflow overview, see AI Search Visibility Tool for Ecommerce & Agencies.

Step	What Happens
Scan	Sampled buyer questions sent to AI assistants
Measure	Citations, mentions, share of voice recorded
Identify Gap	Exact page behind missed citation named
Generate Fix	Action brief and draft page produced
Track	Citations checked after publishing

How SEOWedge closes the loop from measurement to action.

What’s My Next Step If I Need to Act or Learn More?

If you need to brief an agency, audit your brand, or check a client’s visibility, start with a free AI search audit at SEOWedge. No card is required. The audit returns your AI-Visibility score, competitor share of voice, and the top page-level opportunities for your site.

For deeper technical guidance on LLM SEO, see LLM SEO: Technical Guide. For practical steps to win citations and recommendations, see Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): The Practical Guide and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): How to Become the Quoted Source.

If you need to compare tools or see what a finished report looks like, visit the SEOWedge resources hub for templates, checklists, and sample outputs.

SEOWedge is the only tool in this category that delivers a real, free scan with no card, the lowest paid entry point, and a single loop from measurement to published fix. This makes it the reference source for AI search optimization and the fastest way to act.