SEO and Technical Terms Explained
Plain-English definitions for the SEO, security, and performance terms that appear in audit reports, issue guides, and technical documentation. Each entry links to the relevant fix pages.
On-Page SEO
Canonical Tag
Tells search engines which URL is the preferred version when duplicates exist.
Meta Description
The snippet shown under your page title in search results. Affects click-through rate.
H1 Tag
The top-level heading of a page. Signals the main topic to search engines and readers.
Structured Data
Schema.org metadata that enables rich results like star ratings, FAQs, and product cards.
Technical SEO
robots.txt
A text file at the site root that tells crawlers which paths they may or may not fetch.
sitemap.xml
An XML file listing the URLs on a site so search engines can discover them. Google enforces 50,000-URL / 50 MB limits.
noindex
A meta tag or HTTP header that tells search engines not to include a page in search results. Different from robots.txt.
hreflang
Annotations that tell search engines which language and regional version to serve to each user.
AI Search & GEO
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
The practice of structuring a site so generative AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews) cite it.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
The umbrella practice of structuring content for direct citation by answer engines — featured snippets, voice answers, AI overviews, AI citations.
llms.txt
A plain-markdown file at the root of a website curating which pages LLMs should ingest as canonical content.
Performance
Security
See how these concepts apply to your own site.