Glossary
The language of AI search.
Plain-English definitions of the terms that decide whether an AI engine recommends your firm — each linked to the deeper explanation where one exists.
AI search
Answer engine
An answer engine is an AI tool like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI Mode that gives one direct answer or recommendation instead of a list of ten blue links. Optimizing to be that single answer is called generative engine optimization, or GEO.
AI search
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of structuring a website, entity data, and citations so AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews recommend a business when someone asks. It is the AI-search version of SEO: instead of ranking a link, you become the answer.
AI search
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content so answer engines can extract a clean, self-contained answer and cite the page. It is nearly identical to GEO: front-load the answer, keep passages self-contained, add structured data, and back claims with sources.
AI search
AI Authority System
An AI Authority System is a library of authority pages, each answering one specific client question so thoroughly and credibly, with citations, real data, and clear structure, that AI and search engines treat it as a trusted source worth quoting. It is built so AI keeps citing the firm.
Schema & entities
AI Entity Optimization
AI entity optimization is the practice of structuring a brand's digital footprint so AI engines can unambiguously recognize, classify, and recommend it. Instead of targeting keywords, you provide structured, verifiable data and consistent identity across the web so the model can reason about the firm as a real entity.
Measurement
AI Answer Monitoring
AI answer monitoring means regularly asking the major AI engines the questions your clients ask and tracking whether they recommend your firm, which competitors they name, and how that changes over time. It is the AI-era replacement for keyword rank tracking.
Authority
Digital PR
Digital PR is earning mentions, profiles, and links on credible third-party sites like news outlets, directories, and bar associations, because AI and search engines weigh what the wider web says about a firm, not just its own site. Those earned mentions are called citations.
Schema & entities
Schema markup
Schema markup is structured data, written in JSON-LD, that tells search and AI engines what a page means rather than making them guess. For a law firm it defines the organization, its services, location, and FAQ content so engines can recognize the firm as a credible entity and cite it accurately.
AI search
Large Language Model (LLM)
A large language model (LLM) is the AI system behind tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. It is trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate language, and it powers the answer engines that increasingly recommend businesses directly instead of returning a list of links.
AI search
Google AI Overviews
Google AI Overviews are the AI-generated answers that appear at the top of Google results, summarizing an answer and citing sources. They appear on more than half of all queries and reach over a billion users a month, often recommending businesses before a user scrolls to the classic links.