Glossary

AI visibility

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility is how present a business is in the answers AI assistants give when someone asks about its field. Unlike a search ranking, it is not about the order of links - it is about whether the business is named in the answer at all.

Share of voice

What is share of voice?

Share of voice is the share of all businesses named across a set of questions that belongs to one brand. If 60 businesses are named across 20 questions and 12 of those mentions are one brand, its share is 20%. It is the main comparative indicator.

Mention

What is a mention?

A mention is the business name appearing in an answer, whether or not it is recommended. It can also appear in a neutral or negative context.

Citation

What is the difference between a citation and a mention?

A citation is a reference to a specific source - usually a link to a website - as the basis for the answer. A mention is the name appearing in the text. A business can be cited as a source without being named as a choice, and the other way round - so the two are counted separately.

Recommendation

What is a recommendation in AI visibility?

A recommendation is when the business is named as a suitable choice, not just as a business that exists. Of the four indicators, it is the one most directly tied to sales.

Structured data

What is structured data?

Structured data is additional information in a page's code that describes its content in a standard way - that it is a service, an article, an organization or an answer to a question. It helps automated systems understand the page without having to interpret it.

Entity signals

What are entity signals?

Entity signals are the sources an automated system uses to recognize a business: its website, directories, professional profiles, reviews, publications and mentions. When these sources contradict each other, the system cannot form a clear picture.

Client-side rendering

What is client-side rendering and why does it matter?

It is a way of building a website where content is generated by JavaScript in the browser instead of being sent ready from the server. Most AI systems do not execute JavaScript and see such a page as empty - so a site that looks great to a person may not exist for them.

AI Overviews

What are Google AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are the summarized answers Google shows above its search results. They draw on several sources and do not necessarily match the ranking below them.

AI Mode

What is the difference between AI Mode and AI Overviews?

AI Mode is a separate conversational mode in Google, distinct from AI Overviews. Its behavior and sources differ, so it is measured as a surface of its own.