Glossary
AI Overviews
Google's AI-generated answer block that appears above traditional search results for many queries.
Definition
AI Overviews (formerly Search Generative Experience) is Google's native answer engine inside Search. It synthesizes a response from multiple sources and lists the cited links. Because they appear above the traditional 10 blue links, AI Overviews can dramatically reduce click-through to your site — but being cited inside one is now a major visibility opportunity.
Example
Searching "what is the best note-taking app" on Google often returns an AI Overview that names 3–5 apps and links to the sources it pulled from.
Related terms
Answer Engine
A search product that returns a direct synthesized answer instead of a list of links — Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Google AI Overviews.
Citation
A specific URL or source that an AI engine links to when supporting a claim in its answer.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
The practice of optimizing your brand and content so that AI answer engines cite you when users ask direct questions.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
The practice of optimizing your brand and content to be cited, recommended, and described favorably by generative AI engines.
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