Glossary
SEO, GEO and AEO glossary The terms of organic and AI search, defined plainly.
This glossary defines the terms organic search teams now work with, from classic SEO to generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO). Each entry opens with a short definition you can quote, then explains why the term matters, how it is measured and what to do, with its sources.
AI search terms
Search now has a second results page: the answer an AI system writes. These six terms describe it: the two disciplines that work on it, the feature most people meet first, the unit that is counted, the measure built from that unit, and one proposed file that is often misunderstood.
From the entryGenerative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Classic search terms
AI answers are built on pages that search engines can already find, understand and trust. These three terms are behind many of the problems an audit turns up: a page that answers the wrong question, two pages fighting over one query, and duplicate addresses that split a page’s signals.
From the entryKeyword Cannibalization
QueryRev terms
Two of these are QueryRev’s own names, and their entries say so: the unit that plans are measured in, and the record of every change. The third is an industry term that QueryRev holds to a stricter rule than most reports do: four kinds of revenue, never added into one number.
From the entryOrganic Revenue Attribution
Glossary FAQ
Short answers first.
What is the difference between SEO, GEO and AEO?
SEO earns positions and clicks in a list of search results. AEO structures content so that one question gets your passage as its direct answer. GEO makes a brand and its pages more likely to be cited and described accurately in AI-generated answers. The three share most of their groundwork: crawlable pages, clear facts and content that answers the question.
Are these the standard definitions?
Yes, where the term is an industry term: each definition follows common usage among search professionals. Three entries carry QueryRev’s own vocabulary and say so. Managed URL and Change Ledger are QueryRev’s terms, and the entry on organic revenue attribution uses QueryRev’s four labels for revenue: known, influenced, modeled and incremental.
What is the difference between an AI citation and a brand mention?
A citation links or refers to a specific page as a source of the answer. A brand mention names a company or a product without pointing to a page. A brand can be mentioned without being cited, and cited without being named, so the two are counted separately.
Can I quote a definition from this glossary?
Yes. Every entry opens with a definition of 40 to 60 words that is written to stand on its own, and ends with a suggested citation you can copy. Its link goes to the definition itself, at an anchor that does not change.
Where do the figures in the entries come from?
Every worked example is sample data and is labelled so. Any other figure comes from a primary source, such as a search engine’s documentation or QueryRev’s own research, and carries a numbered mark that leads to it. The glossary contains no customer results.
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