SEO Glossary

SEO Terms and Definitions

These SEO terms and definitions run A to Z, and each one opens a video that explains it. When two shows disagree, Google's own Search Central documentation is the place to settle it.

1. AEOAnswer engine optimization: getting a brand named in AI answers. Most of the work is still SEO.
2. AI OverviewGoogle's AI summary at the top of some results, with links to its sources.
3. Anchor textThe clickable words in a link, which tell Google what the linked page is about.
4. BacklinkA link from another site to yours, and the main way authority moves around the web.
5. Canonical URLThe URL Google picks as most representative from a set of duplicate pages.
6. Core updateA broad change to Google's ranking systems, made several times a year.
7. Crawl budgetThe set of URLs Google can and wants to crawl on a site. Mostly a worry for very large sites.
8. Domain authorityA score from Moz that estimates ranking strength. It is a vendor metric, not a Google one.
9. E-E-A-TExperience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google says it isn't a specific ranking factor.
10. GEOGenerative engine optimization: getting cited in AI answers. Close to the same job as AEO.
11. GooglebotGoogle's crawler. David G Quaid calls it a courier that fetches pages for Google's other systems.
12. IndexingGoogle storing a page so it can appear in results. Crawled does not mean indexed.
13. Keyword researchFinding the words people search for, and how many of them do.
14. llms.txtA proposed file that lists a site's key pages for AI models. Google says its Search doesn't use it.
15. Meta descriptionThe short summary you write for a page. Google often writes its own instead.
16. PageRankGoogle's original link-based score for a page, still part of its core ranking systems.
17. Parasite SEOPublishing on a stronger site to borrow its rankings. Google's site reputation policy covers the spam version.
18. PBNPrivate blog network: sites built to link to another site. Google counts that as link spam.
19. Programmatic SEOBuilding many pages from a template and a data set.
20. Query fan-outA set of related searches an AI system runs at once to answer one question.
21. Ranking factorSomething Google's systems use to order results. Most public lists of them are guesswork.
22. RedirectAn instruction that sends a visitor to another URL. A 301 says the move is permanent.
23. Robots.txtA file that tells crawlers what not to fetch. It does not keep a page out of Google.
24. Schema markupCode that labels a page for machines. David G Quaid says it is not a ranking factor.
25. Scaled content abuseGoogle's spam policy on making many pages mainly to manipulate rankings.
26. Search intentWhat a person actually wants when they type a search.
27. SERPSearch engine results page: everything you see after you search.
28. SitemapA file that lists the URLs you want a search engine to know about.
29. Title tagThe page title that shows in search results and on the browser tab.
30. Topical authorityThe idea that a site covering a subject in depth earns more trust on it.
31. Toxic linksA label some tools put on bad backlinks. David G Quaid says to quit the report.
32. Zero-click searchA search that ends without a click to any website.

SEO FAQs

SEO FAQs below are the questions people keep asking Google, and each one has a full page of its own.

Is SEO Dead?

SEO is not dead, and AEO and GEO sit on top of search instead of replacing it. Is SEO dead or evolving has the data.

Can a Beginner Do SEO?

A beginner can do SEO, starting with Google's free guide and a test site of their own, as this answer explains.

Is SEO High Paying?

SEO is high paying at senior level and modest at the start, and the salary page has the numbers by role.

Who Is the Father of SEO?

The father of SEO is Bruce Clay, the person the industry most often gives that name, and his story is worth reading.