Every SEO term
clearly explained.

Google's AI-generated summary that appears at the very top of search results — above all organic listings — for an increasing range of queries. Powered by Google's Gemini model, AI Overviews synthesise answers from multiple web sources. Appearing as a cited source is the highest-value SERP real estate available in 2025.

A change to Google's ranking algorithm that affects how pages are ranked. Major updates include Core Updates (broad quality changes), Helpful Content Updates (targeting AI-generated spam), and Page Experience Updates (adding Core Web Vitals as ranking signals). Algorithm updates can significantly affect rankings for affected sites.

The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Anchor text sends keyword relevance signals to search engines — a link with anchor text "SEO agency London" passes topical authority about both SEO and location. Over-optimised anchor text (too many exact-match anchors) can trigger Google penalties.

The practice of optimising content to appear in Google's structured answer formats — featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, knowledge panels and voice search results. AEO focuses on the existing answer-extraction features within Google Search rather than the generative AI layer (which is the focus of GEO).

A hyperlink from another website pointing to your website. Backlinks are one of the strongest ranking signals in Google's algorithm — they function as editorial endorsements. Quality matters far more than quantity: a single link from a relevant DR 70 publication outperforms hundreds of low-quality directory links.

A navigational aid showing a user's location within a website hierarchy (e.g. Home > Services > SEO > Technical SEO). Breadcrumbs with correct BreadcrumbList schema markup appear in Google SERPs, improving click-through rate and helping Google understand your site architecture.

An HTML element (<link rel="canonical">) that tells Google which version of a page is the original or preferred version. Used to resolve duplicate content issues — for example, when the same product page exists at multiple URLs due to URL parameters. Incorrect canonical usage is a common cause of indexation problems.

The number of pages Googlebot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe. Large sites with thousands of pages need to carefully manage crawl budget — ensuring Google prioritises crawling high-value pages and does not waste budget on low-value URLs (faceted navigation variants, duplicate pages, parameter URLs).

Google's three performance metrics that measure user experience and are direct ranking factors: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP, measuring loading speed), Interaction to Next Paint (INP, measuring interactivity) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS, measuring visual stability). Pages that pass CWV thresholds get a ranking advantage.

Ahrefs's proprietary metric (0–100) measuring the strength of a website's backlink profile. Higher DR indicates a stronger link profile and generally correlates with ranking ability. While DR is an Ahrefs metric rather than a Google metric, it is widely used as a proxy for domain authority when evaluating link building opportunities.

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness — Google's quality evaluation framework used by Search Quality Raters to assess page quality. Particularly important for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) content in health, finance and legal sectors. Strong E-E-A-T signals include author credentials, original research, accurate citations and positive reputation signals.

A distinct, uniquely identifiable thing — a person, place, organisation, product or concept — that Google represents in its Knowledge Graph. Building strong entity signals for your brand (consistent NAP data, Wikipedia presence, schema markup, citation density across authoritative sources) improves both traditional rankings and AI citation probability.

A selected search result displayed in a box at Position Zero — above all organic results — that directly answers the user's query. There are four types: paragraph, list, table and step-by-step. Featured snippets earn 8% of all clicks on a SERP and are the primary source for voice search answers.

The practice of optimising your brand's online presence to appear in AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity. Unlike traditional SEO which targets blue-link rankings, GEO targets the conversational answers AI systems generate in response to queries about your category or brand.

A hyperlink from one page on your website to another page on the same website. Internal links are how PageRank flows through your site — they determine which pages Google considers most important. Strategic internal linking channels authority from high-authority pages to priority ranking targets.

Google's database of entities and their relationships — people, places, organisations, products and concepts. When Google recognises your brand as a verified entity in its Knowledge Graph, you gain a Knowledge Panel in search results, stronger brand query rankings and improved citation probability in AI-generated answers.

A Core Web Vitals metric measuring how quickly the largest visible element on a page loads. Google's target threshold is under 2.5 seconds. LCP is typically a hero image, large text block or video. Common causes of poor LCP: unoptimised images, render-blocking resources, slow server response times and lazy-loaded above-fold content.

The process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. High-quality backlinks improve Domain Rating and pass authority to target pages, improving their ranking potential for competitive keywords. Quality matters enormously — one editorial link from a relevant DR 60+ site typically outperforms 100 low-quality directory links.

A highly specific search query, typically 4+ words, with lower search volume but higher conversion intent than generic head terms. Long-tail keywords are often less competitive and easier to rank for. They also signal clearer user intent — someone searching "best accounting software for freelancers under $50" is much closer to purchasing than someone searching "accounting software".

The three pieces of business information that must be consistent across all online directories for local SEO. Inconsistent NAP data (different phone formats, abbreviated vs full street names, old addresses) confuses Google and suppresses local rankings. NAP consistency across 50+ directories is a foundational local SEO requirement.

A directive that instructs search engines not to include a page in their index. Implemented via the meta robots tag (<meta name="robots" content="noindex">) or X-Robots-Tag HTTP header. Used for low-value pages like thank-you pages, admin pages and filtered category variants. A common technical SEO error is accidentally no-indexing important pages.

Google's original algorithm for ranking web pages, based on the quantity and quality of links pointing to a page. While no longer public, PageRank still underlies Google's link evaluation. PageRank flows through both internal and external links — which is why internal link structure matters as much as acquiring external backlinks.

Expandable question boxes appearing in Google SERPs that show related questions other users have asked. PAA appears in 43% of all Google searches. Each PAA result includes a source attribution — earning a PAA position provides brand visibility and referral traffic. Multiple PAA positions for the same domain on one SERP are common.

A technique where AI systems like ChatGPT retrieve live web content before generating their answer, rather than relying solely on training data. RAG-enabled AI systems (GPT-4o with web search, Perplexity) can cite current web content and are influenced by the same authority signals as Google — making traditional SEO increasingly relevant for AI visibility.

A text file at the root of your domain (domain.com/robots.txt) that tells search engine crawlers which parts of your site to access or avoid. Robots.txt errors — such as blocking CSS or JavaScript files, or accidentally blocking entire sections of the site — are a common cause of crawling and indexation problems.

Code added to your website in a standardised vocabulary (schema.org) that tells search engines exactly what your content means — describing entities, products, reviews, events, FAQs and more in a machine-readable format. Schema markup qualifies pages for rich results in SERPs, improves AI citation probability and strengthens entity signals.

The underlying goal or motivation behind a search query. The four main types are informational (learning), navigational (finding a specific site), commercial investigation (researching before buying) and transactional (ready to buy). Matching your content type to the dominant search intent for a target keyword is one of the most important factors in achieving and maintaining rankings.

The HTML element (<title>) that specifies the title of a web page. Title tags appear in browser tabs, social share previews and — usually — Google SERPs as the blue clickable headline. The title tag is the single most important on-page element for keyword rankings. Google rewrites approximately 60% of title tags it deems poor.

A file listing all the important pages on your website that you want search engines to crawl and index. Submitted through Google Search Console, an XML sitemap helps Googlebot discover all your pages efficiently. A good sitemap excludes paginated pages, no-index pages, redirected URLs and other non-canonical content.

Google's classification for content topics that could significantly impact a user's health, finances, safety or wellbeing — medical advice, financial guidance, legal information, major purchase decisions. YMYL pages are subject to the highest quality evaluation standards, requiring demonstrable expertise, authoritative authorship and strong trust signals to rank well.

An HTML attribute that tells Google which language and geographic version of a page to serve to users in different countries. Critical for multilingual and multi-territory websites — incorrect hreflang causes wrong versions to be served and can result in duplicate content penalties across all target markets simultaneously.