SEO, GEO and SEM glossary.

Also: permanent redirect

A permanent redirect from an old URL to a new one. It tells Google the page has moved for good, so the new URL takes over the old one's signals. The basis of every migration.

On the blog: Online store migration without losing traffic: an SEO checklist

See also: 302 redirect, Site migration, 404 error

Also: temporary redirect

A temporary redirect. It tells search engines the page will return to the old address, so Google may keep showing the old URL. For permanent changes, use a 301.

See also: 301 redirect, Site migration

Also: page not found

A server response saying there is nothing at a given URL. A few 404s are normal, but removed pages that had traffic or links are worth redirecting.

See also: Soft 404, 301 redirect

Also: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot

Crawlers run by AI companies. Some collect data for model training (such as GPTBot), others fetch pages in real time to answer a user (such as ChatGPT-User). Access is controlled in robots.txt.

See also: robots.txt, llms.txt, JavaScript rendering

Also: AI mentions

Links to and mentions of your site or business in answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or AI Overviews. The main measure of GEO results.

On the blog: How to check if ChatGPT recommends your business: a step-by-step AI visibility test

See also: GEO, AI Overviews, LLM

A Google search mode in the form of a conversation with AI, with follow-up questions. Answers include links to sources. Available in Poland since October 2025.

See also: AI Overviews, GEO, AI citations

AI-generated answers that Google shows above the regular search results, with links to the pages they draw on. Available in Poland since March 2025.

Read more → See also: AI Mode, GEO, Zero-click search, Featured snippet

Also: alt attribute

An image description in the page code. Screen readers and search engines read it, and Google uses it among other things in image search.

See also: Headings H1-H6

The clickable text of a link. It tells Google and users what the target page is about. "SEO audit pricing" works better than "click here".

See also: Internal linking, Backlink

In Search Console, the average of the topmost positions at which a site appeared in results. Useful for tracking trends, but easy to misread because it mixes different queries and devices.

See also: CTR, Impressions, Google Search Console

Also: inbound link

A link from another website pointing to yours. For Google it is still an important trust signal, but quality and topical relevance count, not sheer numbers.

See also: Link building, Anchor text, Nofollow, Disavow

Also: white hat, grey hat

Techniques that try to trick search engines, such as hidden text, cloaking or buying links. They can work quickly but risk penalties. The opposite is white hat, which follows Google's rules.

See also: Cloaking, Spam update, Manual action

A trail such as Home > Category > Product showing where you are in the site structure. It helps users and tidies up internal linking.

See also: Internal linking, Structured data

Also: rel=canonical, canonical URL

A hint telling Google which URL is the main one when the same or very similar content is available at several addresses. It is set with a link rel="canonical" tag in the page code.

Read more → See also: Duplicate content, Indexing, Faceted navigation, 301 redirect

Showing search engine crawlers different content than people see. One of the more serious violations of Google's rules.

See also: Black hat SEO, Manual action

Also: Cumulative Layout Shift

Cumulative Layout Shift, a measure of how much page elements move around while loading, for example when a banner suddenly appears. Up to 0.1 is good.

See also: Core Web Vitals, LCP, INP

A Google mechanism that adjusts how Analytics and Google Ads behave based on the user's cookie consent. In the European Economic Area it is needed, among other things, to use advertising features fully.

See also: Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager

An action you care about: a purchase, a form submission, a phone call, a newsletter sign-up. Measuring conversions shows what SEO or ad traffic is really worth.

See also: Google Analytics 4, ROAS

A large change to Google's main ranking systems, announced a few times a year. It is not a penalty aimed at specific sites, but it can reshuffle the results significantly.

See also: Google algorithm, Spam update, E-E-A-T

Three Google metrics describing user experience: how fast the main content loads (LCP), how quickly the page responds to interactions (INP) and how stable the layout is (CLS). Measured on data from real Chrome users.

On the blog: How fast are business websites in Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot? I tested 100 sites in PageSpeed Insights

Read more → See also: LCP, INP, CLS

Also: cost per click

Cost Per Click, the price of one ad click. It depends on auction competition and ad quality.

See also: PPC, Quality Score, ROAS

The number of URLs Googlebot can and wants to crawl on a site in a given period. It mostly matters for large sites, such as stores with tens of thousands of products.

Read more → See also: Googlebot, Indexing, Faceted navigation, robots.txt

Also: click-through rate

Click-Through Rate, the share of people who clicked a result or ad out of those who saw it. In Google it depends on position, title, description and rich elements.

See also: Impressions, Average position, Title tag

Also: disavow links

A Google tool for listing links you do not want counted when your site is assessed. Google recommends it mainly after a manual action for unnatural links, not as a precaution.

See also: Backlink, Manual action

The same or nearly the same content available at several URLs, for example through URL parameters or www and non-www versions. It is not penalised as such, but it splits signals and wastes crawl budget.

See also: Canonical tag, Faceted navigation, Thin content

Also: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. The qualities Google uses to judge whether content can be trusted: the author's first-hand experience and knowledge, and the authority and reliability of the site.

Read more → See also: YMYL, Helpful content, Core update

Also: semantic SEO

A specific, uniquely identifiable thing: a company, a person, a place, a product. Search engines and AI models increasingly think in entities rather than words, so consistent information about a business across the web matters.

See also: Knowledge Graph, Structured data, NAP

Also: store filters

Store filters (size, colour, brand, price) that create new URLs. Left unchecked, they can generate millions of combinations that waste crawl budget and duplicate content.

On the blog: Faceted navigation and SEO: how to set up store filters without cluttering the index

See also: Crawl budget, Canonical tag, Duplicate content, Pagination

Also: position zero

A highlighted excerpt from a page with a direct answer, shown above the regular results. Google picks it automatically from pages ranking on the first page.

See also: SERP, People Also Ask, AI Overviews, Zero-click search

Also: clean URL, SEO-friendly URL

A readable address that says what is on the page, such as /running-shoes/ instead of /index.php?id=123. Easier for people to understand and share.

See also: 301 redirect, Breadcrumbs

Also: Generative Engine Optimization

Generative Engine Optimization. Work that makes it more likely that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or AI Overviews mention your business or cite your website in their answers.

Read more → See also: SEO, AI Overviews, AI citations, llms.txt

Google's advertising platform: ads in Search, Shopping, YouTube, Gmail and partner sites. You pay for clicks or other actions, and an auction decides the position.

See also: PPC, CPC, Quality Score, Performance Max

The set of systems that decide which pages Google shows for a query and in what order. Google changes it every day and announces the bigger changes as updates.

See also: Core update, Spam update

Also: GA4

Google's tool for analysing website traffic: where users come from, what they do and how many buy or send a form. It is built around events.

See also: Conversion, Google Tag Manager, UTM parameters, Consent Mode

Also: GBP, Google My Business

A free business listing on Google, shown in Maps and local results, with address, opening hours, photos and reviews. The foundation of local SEO.

On the blog: How to rank your Google Business Profile: a step-by-step optimisation guide

See also: Local Pack, NAP, Local SEO

Also: GSC

A free Google tool showing which queries a site appears for, how many clicks it gets, which URLs are indexed and what technical problems it has.

See also: CTR, Impressions, Average position, Indexing

Also: GTM

A tool for managing tracking codes (Analytics, Google Ads, Meta and others) in one place, without changing the site code every time.

See also: Google Analytics 4, Consent Mode

Also: Google crawler

Google's crawler that visits pages, fetches their content and passes it on for indexing. It crawls most sites as a mobile user.

See also: Crawl budget, Indexing, Mobile-first indexing, AI bots

Also: H1, H2, HTML headings

Tags that structure page content from the most important (H1) to the least (H6). They help readers scan the text and help search engines and AI understand its structure.

See also: Title tag

Google's approach of rewarding content written for people, with first-hand experience and substance, rather than for search engines. Once a separate system, part of the core algorithm since March 2024.

See also: E-E-A-T, Thin content, Core update

An attribute that tells Google a page has versions in other languages or for other countries, and which one to show to a given user. The foundation of multilingual SEO.

Read more → See also: Canonical tag, Indexing

Also: SSL certificate

An encrypted connection between the browser and the server, shown as a padlock in the address bar. Now the standard: browsers warn users about sites without it.

See also: 301 redirect

In Search Console, the number of times a link to your site appeared in search results, even if the user did not scroll down to it.

See also: CTR, Average position, Google Search Console

Also: Google index

Storing a page in Google's database after the crawler has fetched and analysed it. Only an indexed page can appear in search results.

Read more → See also: Googlebot, Noindex, Crawl budget, XML sitemap

Also: Interaction to Next Paint

Interaction to Next Paint, the time from a click or tap until the page visibly responds. It replaced FID in Core Web Vitals in March 2024. Up to 200 milliseconds is good.

See also: Core Web Vitals, LCP, CLS

Also: internal links

Links between pages of the same website. They help Google discover pages, understand what they are about and which matter most, and help users move on to related content.

Read more → See also: Anchor text, Orphan page, Breadcrumbs, Topic cluster

Also: JavaScript SEO

Running a page's JavaScript to see it the way a user does. Google does this, but with a delay and not always fully, and many AI bots do not run JavaScript at all. Key content should be in the HTML.

See also: Googlebot, AI bots, Indexing

Also: search term, key phrase

A query people type into a search engine and that you want your page to appear for. Today the need behind the query matters more than its exact wording.

See also: Long tail, Search intent, Keyword research, Keyword cannibalization

When several pages of the same site target the same query and compete with each other. Google cannot tell which one to show, so often none of them ranks well.

Read more → See also: Search intent, Keyword, Canonical tag, Duplicate content

Finding out how people search for your products and services, how many such searches there are and how hard they are to rank for. It is the basis for planning site structure and content.

See also: Keyword, Long tail, Search intent, Topic cluster

Also: knowledge panel

Google's knowledge base about people, companies, places and things and how they connect. It powers features such as the knowledge panels beside the results.

See also: Entity, Structured data

Also: Largest Contentful Paint

Largest Contentful Paint, the time it takes for the largest visible element, usually an image or heading, to load. Google considers up to 2.5 seconds good.

See also: Core Web Vitals, INP, CLS

Earning links from other websites. Safe approaches include expert publications, working with industry media and content people want to link to. Buying links breaks Google's rules.

See also: Backlink, Nofollow, Black hat SEO

Also: large language model

Large Language Model, the technology behind ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. It generates text from what it learned in training and, increasingly, from live search results.

See also: RAG, GEO, AI bots

A Markdown text file in the root of a website that briefly describes the business and points language models to its key pages. A 2024 proposal, not an official standard.

Read more → See also: robots.txt, AI bots, GEO

Also: map pack

The block with a map and a few businesses that Google shows for local searches such as "mechanic Gdańsk". The businesses come from Google Business Profiles.

See also: Google Business Profile, Local SEO, SERP

SEO for businesses serving customers in a specific area. It covers the Google Business Profile, reviews, consistent listings in directories and location-specific service pages.

On the blog: What is local SEO? How it works and who needs it

See also: Google Business Profile, Local Pack, NAP

Also: long-tail keywords

Longer, more specific queries, such as "women's trail running shoes" instead of "shoes". Each has fewer searches, but together they bring a lot of traffic, usually with better conversion.

See also: Keyword, Search intent

Also: Google penalty

A penalty applied to a site by a Google reviewer for breaking the rules, for example for unnatural links. It shows up in Search Console, and after fixing the issue you can request a review.

See also: Disavow, Spam update, Google Search Console

A short page description in the code that Google may show under the title in search results. It does not directly affect rankings, but a good one encourages clicks.

See also: Title tag, CTR

The principle that Google evaluates and indexes pages based on their mobile version. If content or links are missing on mobile, Google will not take them into account.

See also: Googlebot, Core Web Vitals

Also: Name, Address, Phone

Name, Address, Phone. In local SEO they should be identical on your website, in your Google Business Profile and in directories.

See also: Google Business Profile, Local SEO, Entity

Also: rel nofollow, sponsored, ugc

A link attribute asking Google not to treat the link as an endorsement. Paid links should use rel="sponsored" and user-generated content rel="ugc". Google treats them as hints.

See also: Backlink, Link building

Also: meta robots noindex

An instruction in the page code (meta robots) or a server header telling Google not to show a URL in search results. Google has to be able to crawl the page to see it, so do not block the same page in robots.txt.

See also: robots.txt, Indexing, Canonical tag

Visits that come from free search results, as opposed to traffic from ads, social media or newsletters.

See also: SEO, CTR, Google Analytics 4

A page with no internal links pointing to it. Google struggles to find it and treats it as unimportant, even if it is in the sitemap.

See also: Internal linking, XML sitemap

Splitting a long list, such as products or posts, into numbered pages. Each page should have its own URL and plain links so Google can reach every item.

See also: Faceted navigation, Crawl budget, Canonical tag

Also: site reputation abuse

Publishing third-party content on a well-known site so it benefits from that site's standing in Google, such as coupons or rankings on a newspaper site. Google calls it site reputation abuse and has penalised it since 2024.

See also: Spam update, Manual action, Black hat SEO

A section of expandable questions related to the query. A good source of ideas for content and FAQs.

See also: SERP, Featured snippet

Also: PMax

A Google Ads campaign type where a single campaign runs ads across all Google channels and the algorithm picks placements and audiences. Popular with online stores.

See also: Google Ads, ROAS

Also: pay per click

Pay Per Click, an ad pricing model where you pay for each click rather than for impressions. Most search campaigns work this way.

See also: CPC, Google Ads, SEM

A Google Ads rating from 1 to 10 showing how well an ad and its landing page match a keyword. It is based on expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience.

See also: CPC, Google Ads, CTR

Also: Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Retrieval-Augmented Generation. How AI search works: it first finds and fetches matching pages, then writes an answer based on them. That is why visibility in regular search also helps in AI.

See also: LLM, GEO, AI citations

Also: retargeting

Showing ads to people who have already visited your site, for example viewed a product but did not buy it.

See also: Google Ads, Conversion

Also: rich snippets

Search results enhanced with extra elements such as star ratings, price, availability or event dates. They usually require structured data, but Google does not guarantee to show them.

See also: Structured data, SERP, CTR

Also: return on ad spend

Return On Ad Spend, ad revenue divided by ad cost. A ROAS of 500% means 5 in revenue for every 1 spent on ads, but it says nothing yet about profit.

See also: Conversion, CPC, Performance Max

A file in the root of a website that tells search engine crawlers and AI bots which parts of the site they may access. It blocks crawling, but does not guarantee a URL stays out of the index.

Read more → See also: Noindex, AI bots, Crawl budget, llms.txt

Producing large numbers of pages mainly to capture Google traffic, with no real value for readers, whether written by people or AI. Described separately in Google's spam policies since 2024.

See also: Thin content, Spam update, Helpful content

Also: user intent

What the person typing a query actually wants: to learn something, find a specific site, compare options or buy. A page that does not match the intent will not hold a high position.

See also: Keyword, Long tail, Keyword cannibalization

Also: Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing, all marketing in search engines. In everyday use it usually means paid search campaigns such as Google Ads, although the broader definition also covers SEO.

Read more → See also: SEO, Google Ads, PPC, CPC

Also: search engine optimization

Search Engine Optimization. Work on a website, its content and its presence across the web so that Google shows it higher in the free, organic search results more often.

Read more → See also: SEM, GEO, SERP, Organic traffic

A review of a site's technical setup, content, links and visibility, ending with a list of issues and tasks. A good audit tells you not only what is wrong but where to start.

On the blog: What does an SEO audit include? Scope, process and how to judge a good report

See also: SEO, Google Search Console

Also: search engine results page

Search Engine Results Page. Besides regular links it now includes ads, a map with businesses, AI answers, videos and a questions section.

See also: Featured snippet, People Also Ask, Local Pack, AI Overviews

Also: SEO migration

Changing a site's domain, URLs, platform or structure. Done badly, it can wipe out most of the Google traffic, so it needs a redirect map and checks before and after launch.

On the blog: Online store migration without losing traffic: an SEO checklist

See also: 301 redirect, Canonical tag, XML sitemap

A page that looks empty or missing (for example "no products found") while the server returns a 200 status as if everything were fine. Google flags these in Search Console and usually does not index them.

See also: 404 error, Thin content, Google Search Console

An update that improves how Google detects sites breaking its spam policies, for example by buying links or publishing low-quality content at scale.

See also: Core update, Manual action, Scaled content abuse, Black hat SEO

Also: schema.org, JSON-LD

Extra code, usually JSON-LD with the schema.org vocabulary, that tells machines what a page contains: a product with a price, a business with an address, an article with an author. It can make a page eligible for rich results.

Read more → See also: Rich results, Knowledge Graph, Entity

Pages with very little value for readers: empty categories, text written only for keywords, copied manufacturer descriptions. A large number of them can weaken how the whole site is assessed.

See also: Duplicate content, Helpful content, Soft 404

Also: meta title, page title

The page title set in the title tag. Google usually uses it as the headline of the search result, although it sometimes rewrites it. One of the more important on-page elements.

See also: Meta description, Headings H1-H6, CTR

Also: pillar page, content cluster

A group of related content around one topic: a main pillar page plus several detailed pages, linked together. It shows Google that the site covers the topic in depth.

See also: Internal linking, Keyword research, Keyword cannibalization

Also: UTM

Tags added to a link URL (such as utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) that tell Analytics which campaign or placement a visitor came from.

See also: Google Analytics 4

Also: sitemap.xml

A file listing the URLs you want Google to know about, often with the date of the last change. It helps Google discover new and updated pages faster, but does not guarantee indexing.

See also: Indexing, Google Search Console, robots.txt

Also: Your Money or Your Life

Your Money or Your Life: topics where bad information could harm someone, such as health, finance, law or safety. Google holds them to higher standards of trustworthiness.

See also: E-E-A-T, Helpful content

Searches that end without a click on any result because the answer is visible right in Google, for example in AI Overviews, a featured snippet or a Business Profile.

See also: AI Overviews, Featured snippet, CTR