What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO optimizes for ranked links in search engines; GEO optimizes for being cited inside AI-generated answers. Both rely on crawlable, structured, trustworthy content.
Reference
Growth, SEO, and AI discovery glossary.
Clear definitions for the terms used across our services and guides, written to be useful to people and citable by AI assistants.
01 / Overview
These definitions cover the vocabulary of connected growth: search and AI discovery, analytics, conversion, lifecycle, and operations. Each one is written to be accurate and quotable.
Use them as a quick reference, or follow the related links to the services and guides that go deeper.
02 / Definitions
Plain-language definitions for connected growth.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The practice of improving a website so it ranks higher in search engines for relevant queries through technical health, content, and authority.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Optimizing content and signals so AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can find, understand, and cite your business accurately.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Structuring content to directly answer questions so it can be featured in answer boxes, voice results, and AI-generated responses.
llms.txt
A plain-text file at a domain's root that summarizes the site and links to canonical pages, helping AI systems understand and cite it accurately.
Structured data (Schema.org)
Machine-readable markup that describes the entities and relationships on a page, helping search engines and AI assistants understand its meaning.
Core Web Vitals
Google's metrics for loading, interactivity, and visual stability that act as both a ranking signal and a measure of user experience.
Crawlability
How easily search engine and AI crawlers can access and read a website's pages, which is a prerequisite for indexing and citation.
Indexation
The process of a search engine storing and organizing a page so it can appear in results; an unindexed page cannot rank.
Canonical URL
The preferred version of a page declared to search engines to consolidate ranking signals and avoid duplicate-content issues.
Topic cluster
A pillar page plus supporting articles interlinked around one theme to build topical authority around buyer intent.
Internal linking
Links between pages on the same site that spread authority and help engines and AI understand how topics relate.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
Improving the percentage of visitors who take a desired action by diagnosing and removing the reasons they hesitate.
A/B testing
An experiment comparing two versions of a page or element to learn which performs better against a defined metric.
Attribution
The methods used to assign credit for conversions across the channels and touchpoints a customer interacts with.
GA4 (Google Analytics 4)
Google's current analytics platform, built on an event-based data model that rewards a clear measurement plan.
Server-side tagging
Routing analytics and marketing tags through a server container for improved data reliability, control, and performance.
Lifecycle marketing
Email, SMS, and CRM programs that move contacts from first touch to repeat purchase based on where they are in the journey.
Revenue operations (RevOps)
The alignment of marketing, sales, and customer success systems, data, and processes so demand turns into managed pipeline and retention.
Ideal customer profile (ICP)
A definition of the accounts or customers a business is best positioned to serve and most likely to win and retain.
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
An AI pattern that grounds a language model's answers in retrieved source content, improving accuracy and reducing hallucination.
AI agent
A task-specific AI system that can take actions and use tools to complete a workflow rather than only answering questions.
Product-led growth (PLG)
A growth motion where the product itself drives acquisition, activation, and expansion, often through free trials or freemium.
Growth system
The connected set of offer, demand, experience, lifecycle, measurement, and operations that turns strangers into repeat customers.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Revenue generated for every unit of advertising spend, used to judge the efficiency of paid media.
03 / FAQ
Direct answers for buyers, search engines, and AI assistants.
Why does structured data matter?
Structured data helps search engines and AI assistants understand the entities and relationships on a page, which supports rich results and accurate citation.
What is a growth system?
A growth system is the connected set of offer, demand, experience, lifecycle, measurement, and operations that turns strangers into repeat customers.
04 / Related