A through D
AI Overviews: Google's AI-generated summary that appears at the top of search results for some queries. Often pulls from multiple sources rather than linking to one.
Backlink: a link from another website to yours. Quality and relevance of the linking site matter more than quantity.
BERT: a language model Google uses to better understand search queries. Improves understanding of conversational and long-tail queries.
Citation: a mention of a business name, address, and phone number on another website (Yelp, BBB, Yellow Pages, etc.). Citation consistency is a Google ranking factor for local search.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): one of the Core Web Vitals. Measures visual stability — how much the page jumps around as it loads.
Core Web Vitals: Google's set of performance metrics (LCP, CLS, INP) that affect ranking. Must be in the green for competitive ranking.
Crawl Budget: the number of pages Google's crawler will visit on your site in a given time window. Larger sites need to optimize crawl budget through good site architecture.
Duplicate Content: when the same or very similar content appears on multiple URLs. Penalized heavily by Google for service-area pages.
E through H
E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially for YMYL (your money, your life) topics.
Entity: a person, place, organization, or thing that Google's knowledge graph recognizes. Strong entity declarations help both SEO and GEO.
FCP (First Contentful Paint): the time from page load start to the first visual content appearing. A Core Web Vital component.
FAQPage Schema: structured data that marks up Q&A content. Major signal for both SEO featured snippets and GEO citation eligibility.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): the discipline of getting cited by AI answer engines.
GBP (Google Business Profile): formerly Google My Business. The free business listing that appears in Maps and the Local Pack.
HSTS: HTTP Strict Transport Security. Forces browsers to use HTTPS. Improves security and is a minor positive ranking signal.
I through P
INP (Interaction to Next Paint): a Core Web Vital. Measures responsiveness — how fast the page reacts to user input.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): the time from page load start to the largest visible element appearing. Most heavily weighted Core Web Vital.
Local Pack: the 3 business listings highlighted at the top of most local search results. Above all blue links. Drives 60 to 80 percent of local search clicks.
LocalBusiness Schema: structured data declaring that a webpage represents a local business. Foundation for both SEO and GEO.
NAP: Name, Address, Phone. Must be consistent across the website and all citations.
PageSpeed Insights: Google's tool for measuring Lighthouse scores including Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO.
Pillar Page: a comprehensive resource page on a topic, linked to from many related pages. A core internal linking strategy.
Q through Z
Schema Markup: structured data added to a webpage in JSON-LD format to help search engines and AI engines understand the page content.
SERP: Search Engine Results Page. The page Google returns after a query.
Service Area: the geographic region a service business operates in. Configured in GBP and reinforced through service area pages on the website.
TTFB (Time to First Byte): the time from page load start to the first byte of response from the server. Server quality and CDN affect TTFB heavily.
Voice Search: queries made through voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant. Tends to be longer and more conversational than typed queries.
YMYL (Your Money, Your Life): content categories Google holds to a higher quality standard — finance, health, legal, safety. Affects most local service business content.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SEO and SEM?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is organic — you do not pay for clicks. SEM (Search Engine Marketing) usually refers to paid search (Google Ads, Bing Ads). Some practitioners use SEM as an umbrella that includes both SEO and paid search.
What does "schema markup" actually look like?
Schema markup is JSON-LD code embedded in your webpage's HTML. It declares structured facts: business name, address, phone, services, prices, FAQ content. Search engines and AI engines parse the JSON-LD to extract these facts reliably.
What is the local pack and why does it matter?
The Local Pack is the group of 3 highlighted business listings that appears above the blue links for most local search queries. Ranking in the Local Pack drives the majority of clicks for local searches — businesses outside the top 3 capture only a small share of traffic.
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