SEO glossary
From SimonWhite.wiki, an encyclopedic bio
This glossary defines search engine optimization (SEO) terms used in articles on SimonWhite.wiki, particularly Simon White, Methodology and SEO Fire Fighter. The definitions are general and neutral; they do not describe Simon White’s own work or claims.
- Answer engine optimization (AEO)
- The practice of structuring content so that search features and assistants quote it as a direct answer, for example in featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes and voice search. See Methodology.
- AI Overviews
- AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the web pages they draw on. See Methodology.
- Anchor text
- The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Search engines use it as a clue to what the linked page is about.
- Backlink
- A link from one website to another. Links from relevant, trusted sites are widely treated as a signal of a page’s authority.
- Canonical URL
- The preferred address for a page that is available at several URLs, usually declared with a rel="canonical" link so that search engines consolidate signals on one version.
- Core update
- A broad change to Google’s core ranking systems, announced several times a year, that can raise or lower rankings across many sites. Google says a drop after a core update is not a penalty. See Methodology.
- Core Web Vitals
- A set of Google metrics for real-world page experience that measure loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability. See Methodology.
- Crawling and indexing
- Crawling is the process by which search engine bots discover and fetch pages; indexing is the storing and analysis of those pages so they can appear in results.
- Disavow
- Google’s disavow links tool lets a site owner ask Google to ignore specific backlinks. Google recommends it mainly for sites with many unnatural links, such as those that led to a manual action. See Methodology.
- E-E-A-T
- Short for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness: qualities that Google’s search quality rater guidelines ask raters to assess when judging content.
- Entity
- A distinct, well-defined thing such as a person, business or place. Search engines and AI systems build knowledge about entities and the relationships between them. See Methodology.
- Featured snippet
- A highlighted excerpt from a web page shown near the top of Google results that answers a query directly. See Methodology.
- Generative engine optimization (GEO)
- The practice of improving the likelihood that generative AI search features, such as AI Overviews, cite or recommend a brand or page. See Methodology.
- Google Business Profile
- A free Google listing, formerly Google My Business, that shows a business’s name, address, hours, reviews and photos in Google Search and Maps. See Methodology.
- Google Search Console
- A free Google service that reports how a site performs in Google Search, including queries, indexing problems and any manual actions. See Methodology.
- Keyword research
- Finding and analysing the words and phrases people use in search engines, to decide which topics and queries a site should target.
- Link building
- Activities aimed at earning backlinks from other websites. Google’s spam policies prohibit buying links or using link schemes to manipulate rankings.
- Large language model optimization (LLMO)
- Efforts to improve how often and how accurately AI assistants based on large language models, such as ChatGPT or Claude, mention a brand in their answers. See Methodology.
- Local pack
- The block of map-linked business listings that Google shows for searches with local intent, drawn from Google Business Profiles. Also called the map pack. See Methodology.
- Local SEO
- Optimization aimed at visibility in searches tied to a place, such as “near me” queries, through business profiles, local citations, reviews and location-relevant content. See Methodology.
- Manual action
- A penalty applied by a human reviewer at Google when a site breaks Google’s spam policies. It is reported in Search Console, and the owner can request reconsideration after fixing the problem. See SEO Fire Fighter.
- Meta description
- An HTML element that summarises a page. Search engines may show it as the snippet under the page title in results.
- NAP citation
- A mention of a business’s name, address and phone number (NAP) on another website, such as a directory. Consistent citations support local search visibility. See Methodology.
- On-page SEO
- Optimization of elements within a page, such as title tags, headings, content and internal links, to make it relevant and clear to search engines and readers.
- People Also Ask
- A Google results feature listing related questions that expand to show short answers drawn from web pages. See Methodology.
- Schema markup
- Structured data, usually in the schema.org vocabulary and JSON-LD format, that describes a page’s content to search engines and can make it eligible for rich results. See Methodology.
- Search engine results page (SERP)
- The page a search engine returns for a query, which can combine standard links with ads, maps, snippets and AI-generated summaries.
- Technical SEO
- Work on a site’s infrastructure, such as crawlability, speed, mobile usability, site architecture and structured data, so search engines can access and understand it. See Methodology.
- The degree to which a site is seen as a comprehensive, trustworthy source on a subject, usually built by covering the topic in depth across related pages.
- Zero-click search
- A search that ends without a click to any website because the answer is shown on the results page itself. See Methodology.