SEO Glossary

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)

AEO is the practice of optimising content so AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews pick it as the direct answer.

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are Google's AI-generated summaries that appear above the organic results on many queries and cite several source URLs.

Pages cited in Google AI Overviews can gain visibility even when they rank below the top blue links.

Alt Text

Alt text is a short description in an image's HTML tag that tells search engines and screen readers what the image shows. Good alt text improves accessibility and helps your images rank in Google Image Search.

Anchor Text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Search engines use it to understand the context and relevance of the linked page, so it matters for both on-page and off-page SEO.

Ask Maps

Ask Maps is a conversational feature in Google Maps that answers detailed, multi-condition questions (say, "a pet-friendly cafe open now with outdoor seating") using Google Business Profile data, reviews, and other signals.

A complete, accurate profile makes your business eligible to appear in Ask Maps answers.

Backlink

A backlink, or inbound link, is a link from another website to yours. Backlinks from authoritative, relevant sites signal trust to search engines and are one of the strongest ranking factors in Google's algorithm.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave after viewing one page and taking no other action. A high bounce rate can mean your landing page content or user experience misses what visitors expected.

Brand SERP

A brand SERP is the results page shown when someone searches your brand name.

A clean, controlled brand SERP (Knowledge Panel, sitelinks, accurate snippets) signals brand authority to users and the AI engines that mine SERPs for context.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a navigation trail, usually a horizontal row of links, that shows the path from your homepage to the current page. They improve usability and can appear as rich results in search listings.

Canonical URL

A canonical URL is the preferred version of a page that search engines should index, set with an HTML element (rel="canonical"). Canonical tags stop duplicate content issues when the same content lives on multiple URLs.

Citation (Local SEO)

A citation is any mention of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) on an external website, with or without a link.

Consistent local citations across directories like Yellow Pages SG, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms strengthen your local ranking signals.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR is the percentage of people who click a link after seeing it. In SEO, CTR shows how well your title tags and meta descriptions draw searchers to your page.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content to attract and keep a clearly defined audience. Done well, it builds brand authority, earns natural backlinks, and drives organic traffic over time.

Content Pruning

Content pruning is the removal, merging, or noindexing of weak pages to focus ranking signals on your best content. It's common on older sites where thin or outdated pages dilute topical authority.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, like buying, filling out a form, or subscribing. Lifting it is often more cost-effective than chasing more traffic.

Core Web Vitals

Core Web Vitals are a set of Google metrics that measure real-world user experience on a page: loading (LCP), interactivity (INP, which officially replaced FID in March 2024), and visual stability (CLS).

They are confirmed ranking signals in Google's algorithm. Our guide on how to fix Core Web Vitals and site speed covers the practical playbook.

Crawling

Crawling is how search engine bots like Googlebot discover new and updated pages by following links. A page must be crawled before it can be indexed and appear in search results.

Disavow File

A disavow file is a text file you upload to Google Search Console listing backlinks Google should ignore. It is rarely needed in 2026, as Google ignores most spammy links automatically, but still useful after a manual action or hostile SEO attack.

Domain Authority

Domain Authority is a proprietary score from Moz that predicts how likely a site is to rank. Google does not use it directly, so treat it as a relative benchmark for comparing domains, not a measure of Google's own authority signals. For proof of what moves it, see how we grew ours from 1 to 25.

Doorway Page

A doorway page is a low-quality page built mainly to rank for specific keywords and funnel users elsewhere. They break Google's spam policies and trigger algorithmic suppression.

Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is identical or substantially similar content found at more than one URL. It confuses search engines about which version to index and rank, and can dilute ranking signals across the copies.

E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, the framework Google's Search Quality Raters use to judge content quality. Experience was added in December 2022 to stress first-hand familiarity with the topic.

E-E-A-T matters most for YMYL topics, where accuracy can directly affect a reader's health, finances, or safety.

Featured Snippet

A featured snippet is a result at the top of Google's organic listings (often called "position zero") that pulls a concise answer straight from a web page. It can be a paragraph, list, table, or video.

GA4 (Google Analytics 4)

GA4 is Google's event-based analytics platform that replaced Universal Analytics in July 2023. It uses an event-and-parameter data model, tracks across devices via Google Signals, and reports modelled conversions when consent is missing.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)

GEO is the practice of shaping how generative AI engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot) describe, recommend, and cite your business.

GEO combines classic SEO with brand mention strategy, structured data, and direct outreach to dataset compilers.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is Google's free tool for managing your presence on Search and Maps. Set yours up with our GBP setup guide for Singapore, then keep it sharp with ongoing optimisation to stay in the local pack.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool for monitoring and troubleshooting your site's presence in Google search results. It reports search queries, indexing status, crawl errors, and Core Web Vitals performance.

Helpful Content Update

The Helpful Content Update is a Google system (folded into the core algorithm in March 2024) that demotes content made mainly for search engines rather than people.

Affected sites usually need a sitewide quality lift, not single-page fixes.

Hreflang

Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines the language and regional target of a page. It helps them serve the right language or regional version to users in different countries.

HTTP Status Codes

HTTP status codes are three-digit server responses to a browser's page request.

Common ones are 200 (OK), 301 (permanently redirected), 404 (not found), and 500 (server error), and each affects SEO and user experience differently.

Impressions

Impressions are the number of times a URL from your site appears in search results. They count whether or not the listing is clicked, making them a handy gauge of search visibility and brand awareness.

Indexability

Indexability is whether a page is technically eligible for indexing, based on robots.txt, meta robots, canonical, X-Robots-Tag, and HTTP status. A page can be crawlable but not indexable, a common audit finding.

Indexing

Indexing is how search engines store and organise the content they crawl so it can be retrieved and shown in results. A page that is not indexed will not appear for any query, no matter how good it is.

Internal Linking

Internal linking means adding links between pages on your own site. A strong internal link structure helps search engines find content, spreads page authority around the site, and improves navigation.

INP (Interaction to Next Paint)

INP is a Core Web Vitals metric, introduced in March 2024, that measures the time from a user's interaction (click, tap, keystroke) to the next visual update. It replaced FID as the official interactivity Core Web Vital.

Keyword Density

Keyword density is the percentage of a page's words that are the target keyword. There's no ideal density, and overusing keywords (keyword stuffing) can trigger penalties and hurt readability.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of finding and analysing the terms people type into search engines to reach information, products, or services. It's the foundation of any effective SEO strategy, revealing user intent and opportunity.

Knowledge Graph

The Knowledge Graph is Google's database of entities and how they relate. It powers Knowledge Panels, rich results, and query understanding. Earning an entry for your brand strengthens almost every other ranking signal.

Knowledge Panel

A Knowledge Panel is the info box on the right of desktop SERPs for entities Google recognises (brands, people, places). It pulls from the Knowledge Graph and authoritative sources like Wikipedia and your official website.

Link Building

Link building is the work of earning links from other websites to lift your search rankings. Good link building targets high-quality, relevant links won through content, outreach, and digital PR.

LLM (Large Language Model)

An LLM is a machine learning model trained on massive text corpora that generates human-like text, answers questions, and reasons about content. LLMs power AI search engines, chatbots, and increasingly the AI Overviews in Google SERPs.

Local Pack

The local pack is the block of three local business listings with a map that Google shows for local-intent queries. Rankings depend mainly on Google Business Profile signals, reviews, proximity, and on-page local relevance. Our playbook on how to rank on Google Maps in Singapore covers the full process.

Local SEO

Local SEO is search engine optimisation for businesses that serve a specific geographic area. Local SEO tactics include optimising your Google Business Profile, earning local citations, and targeting location-based keywords.

Log File Analysis

Log file analysis is the study of your server's raw access logs to see exactly how Googlebot and other crawlers hit your site. It's the only fully accurate measure of crawl frequency, crawl budget waste, and new URL discovery.

Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases with lower search volume but higher conversion rates. They're easier to rank for and match the precise intent of searchers further along the buying journey.

Manual Action

A manual action is a penalty applied by a human Google reviewer, not an algorithm, and shown in Google Search Console. Unlike algorithmic suppression, it needs an explicit reconsideration request to lift.

Meta Description

A meta description is an HTML element that summarises a page's content, usually shown beneath the title in search results. It's not a direct ranking factor, but a compelling one can lift click-through rates. Preview yours with our free SERP simulator before publishing.

Meta Title

A meta title, also called the title tag, is the HTML element that sets a page's title and appears as the clickable headline in search results. It's one of the most important on-page SEO elements for rankings and CTR.

NAP Consistency

NAP consistency means using the same Name, Address, and Phone number on your website, Google Business Profile, and every external citation. Inconsistent NAP weakens local SEO and can stop Google confidently attributing reviews to your business.

Nofollow

Nofollow is a link attribute (rel="nofollow") that tells search engines not to pass ranking credit (link equity) to the linked page. It is common on sponsored content, user-generated links, and untrusted sources.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO means optimising elements on your own pages: title tags, headings, content, internal links, schema markup, and Core Web Vitals. Its counterpart is off-page SEO (backlinks, brand mentions, citations).

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic is the visits your site gets from unpaid search results rather than paid ads. It's generally the most sustainable, cost-effective source of visitors over the long term.

Orphan Page

An orphan page is a page that no other page on your site links to. Crawlers usually miss them, they gain no internal link equity, and they often signal broken information architecture.

Page Speed

Page speed is how fast a page's content loads. It is a confirmed Google ranking factor that directly shapes user experience, and slower pages tend to see higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates.

People Also Ask (PAA)

PAA is Google's expandable list of related questions inside the SERP. PAA boxes are a strong source of long-tail traffic and a handy research signal for content briefs.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

PPC is an online advertising model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. PPC campaigns like Google Ads give you immediate visibility in search results and often run alongside SEO for a complete search strategy.

Programmatic SEO

Programmatic SEO is the bulk creation of landing pages from a structured data source, usually targeting long-tail keyword variations. It works when the data is genuinely useful (comparison pages, location pages) and turns spammy when the pages add no real value.

Query Fan-Out

Query fan-out is a retrieval technique in AI search engines that rewrites one user prompt into several related sub-queries, runs each against the index, then combines the results into one answer.

Optimising for AI search means earning visibility across that whole family of related queries, not just the user's literal prompt.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

RAG is a technique AI search engines like Google AI Overviews use to ground answers in real, up-to-date web content. Instead of relying only on what the language model already knows, the system pulls relevant pages from a search index in real time and uses them as source material.

For SEO and GEO, this means traditional search ranking decides whether your page is even eligible for citation in AI answers.

Robots.txt

Robots.txt is a text file in your site's root directory that tells crawlers which pages or sections they can or can't crawl. It's a key tool for managing crawl budget and controlling indexation.

Rich Snippet

A rich snippet is a search result showing extra detail beyond the title, URL, and meta description, like star ratings, prices, or recipe info. Rich snippets come from structured data (schema markup) on your page.

Schema Markup

Schema markup is a standard vocabulary of structured data (from schema.org) added to your HTML so search engines understand your content better. Schema markup for SEO can unlock rich snippets, knowledge panels, and other enhanced search features.

SERP

A SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is the page a search engine returns for a query, holding organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, and other SERP features. Knowing its layout helps you optimise for maximum visibility.

Site Architecture

Site architecture is how the pages, categories, and internal links on your website are organised. Strong site architecture and website structure concentrates link equity on commercial pages, clarifies topical relevance to search engines, and improves navigation.

Site Migration

A site migration is a change to your site's domain, URL structure, CMS, or hosting that affects URLs and SEO signals. It is high risk and needs full 301 redirect mapping plus monitoring before and after launch.

Sitemap

A sitemap is an XML file that lists the important pages on your site so search engines can discover and crawl them more efficiently. Submitting your sitemap via Google Search Console is best practice for full indexation.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the work of making your website's infrastructure easy for search engines to crawl, index, and render. It covers site speed, mobile-friendliness, structured data, XML sitemaps, secure connections (HTTPS), and fixing the crawl errors that quietly kill rankings.

Title Tag

A title tag is the HTML element that sets a page's title, shown in browser tabs, search results, and social shares.

Keep it concise (under 60 characters), include primary keywords, and describe the page's content accurately.

Topical Authority

Topical authority is the cumulative signal that your site is a credible, comprehensive source on a subject, built by publishing in-depth, well-linked content that covers the topic from every angle.

Universal Analytics (UA)

Universal Analytics (UA) is Google's legacy session-based analytics platform, sunset on 1 July 2023 and replaced by GA4.

URL Structure

URL structure is how a page's web address is formatted and organised. Clean, descriptive URLs with relevant keywords and a logical hierarchy improve user experience and help search engines understand your content.

User Experience (UX)

UX is how visitors experience your website as a whole, from page speed and navigation to design and content quality. Google increasingly uses UX signals, including Core Web Vitals, as ranking factors.

YMYL (Your Money or Your Life)

YMYL is Google's category for content that can seriously affect a user's health, finances, safety, or wellbeing.

YMYL content is held to a higher E-E-A-T standard and faces stricter quality scrutiny in core updates. Common YMYL niches we work in include licensed money lenders and aesthetic clinics.

Zero-Click Search

A zero-click search is a query answered entirely on the SERP (via featured snippet, Knowledge Panel, AI Overview, or direct answer box), so the user never visits a website.

The rise of zero-click search is the single biggest reason traditional SEO traffic numbers are flattening even as visibility grows.