# Rankscale Search Academy: Glossary

Every term used across the 8-module Academy, split into Foundational and Advanced. Each term has a one-line definition and a module tag so you can jump back to the source.

Every term used across Modules 0–8, split into Foundational and Advanced. Each term links to its own definition page with module tags so you can jump back to the source.90 terms total · ~10 min to scan.

## How to use this glossary

- **Foundational**: What you need to understand before you can diagnose. Roughly Modules 1–3, plus structural concepts from 4–5 you cannot skip.
- **Advanced**: What kicks in once you start fixing, scaling, reporting, or operationalising. Roughly Modules 4–8 specifics.
- **Module tag**: Shows where the term is introduced or most heavily used. Click the tag to go to the source module.

## Foundational GEO terms (43 terms)

Understand these before diagnosing - Modules 1–3 plus structural concepts from 4–5.

### 3 Gaps Framework
Every low visibility score traces to one of three gaps: SEO Gap, PR Gap, Content Gap. Fix in that order.

### 3x2x2 Prompt Group
Minimum viable prompt set: 3 intents × 2 scopes × 2 visibility-hygiene states = 12 tracked prompts per segment.

### AEO
Answer Engine Optimization. Older term, largely subsumed by GEO.

### AI Citation
Your URL is linked as a source inside an AI answer. Signals trust.

### AI Mention
Your brand name appears in the AI answer text without a linked citation. Signals awareness.

### AI Search
The shift from keyword + 10 blue links to natural-language question + one synthesized answer, with brands competing to be cited inside the source pool.

### Answer Economy
The post-click-economy reality: 60% of searches end without a click, so you compete to be in the answer, not for a blue link.

### BLUF
Bottom Line Up Front. A 40-80 word direct answer in the first paragraph. The single highest-leverage content pattern.

### Branded Prompt
A prompt that contains your brand name. Tests visibility hygiene: does AI know you exist and describe you correctly?

### Chunk
A paragraph-or-heading-bounded unit that RAG systems extract, embed, and quote. The unit AI engines actually cite - not pages.

### Chunkability
How easily an LLM can lift a self-contained answer block from your page. Driven by 50-120 word self-contained paragraphs, clear headers, BLUF.

### Click Economy
The pre-AI-search world of keyword → 10 blue links → click-through. Collapsing now.

### Content Gap
Third of the 3 Gaps. Either content on the topic does not exist, or it exists but AI engines cannot extract a clean answer. Four patterns: BLUF, Justification, Freshness, Evidence.

### Detection Rate
% of prompt runs where your brand appears at all (mention OR citation). Branded detection below 90% = entity emergency.

### Entity
A named thing an AI engine recognises: company, product, person, place, concept. GEO is partly the fight to become a recognised entity.

### GEO
Generative Engine Optimization. Optimising to be visible, cited, and recommended inside AI-generated answers.

### Grounding Page
One canonical URL AI engines reach for ground-truth facts about your brand. The anchor for branded visibility.

### Intent Tags
Prompts carry one of three intents: Information (learning), Consideration (comparing), Transaction (buying). One of the three required tag dimensions.

### JSON-LD
The schema format AI engines prefer. A <script type="application/ld+json"> block declaring entities, products, FAQs in machine-readable form.

### Justification Block
Pros/cons, comparison tables, "best for X" statements. What engines extract when deciding who to recommend.

### Knowledge Panel
Google's structured entity card. Strong signal you are an established entity; wrong panel data spreads faster than right data.

### LLM Crawler
Bot that fetches pages for LLM training or live retrieval. Must be allowed: GPTBot, CCBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot.

### Non-Branded Prompt
A prompt without your brand name. Tests whether AI associates you with the category. Where the real competitive battle is.

### Page Audit V2
Rankscale feature. Audits a single URL against AI-engine readiness criteria (crawlability, schema, hierarchy, chunkability).

### Position
Where you show up in the answer: #1-3 strong, #4-6 mid, #7+ weak, Not Found.

### PR Gap
Second of the 3 Gaps. Third-party sources do not know, cite, or describe your brand the way they cite competitors.

### Probability-Based Engine
An AI engine that generates answers by predicting likely tokens from training data + retrieval, not by matching keywords. Why each extra word shifts the output.

### Prompt Cluster
A thematic bundle of prompts around one topic, job-to-be-done, or funnel stage. The "what we're tracking."

### Prompt Group
A structured set of prompts varying across intent / scope / visibility-hygiene. Minimum viable: 3x2x2.

### Prompt Variation
Different formulations of the same prompt group to sample performance across buying journey phases, branded vs non-branded, and segment vs niche.

### Rankscale Scout
Rankscale feature. Auto-generates per-prompt, per-engine recommendations and content ideas from the Sentiment Radar.

### RAG
Retrieval-Augmented Generation. The mechanism by which AI engines retrieve relevant chunks and synthesise answers. Explains why chunkability matters.

### Schema.org
The vocabulary JSON-LD uses. Defines Organization, Article, Product, FAQPage, HowTo, and more.

### Scope Tags
Second required tag dimension: Segment vs Niche in segment vs Niche-in-niche vs Geography. Narrower scope = easier to win first.

### Semantic HTML Hierarchy
One H1, 3-8 question-format H2s, scannable H3s, no skipped levels. The structure RAG uses to define chunk boundaries.

### Sentiment
How AI describes you: positive, neutral, mixed, negative. Below 55% positive = reputation risk.

### SEO Gap
First of the 3 Gaps. Technical or structural issues blocking AI engines from reaching, parsing, or chunking your pages. Fix first; nothing else compounds without it.

### Share of Citations
Your % of citations in a prompt group vs all competitors. Headline metric for the "We're Defending" narrative.

### Share of Voice
Your % of mentions + citations vs competitors. Broader than Share of Citations. Use this as a market benchmark.

### Tags
Labels on every prompt variation. Three required (visibility hygiene, intent, scope); optional extensions. No tags = no action possible later.

### Trust Gap
The gap between being mentioned and being cited. AI knows your name but will not source your pages.

### Visibility Hygiene
First required tag dimension: Branded vs Non-Branded. Branded is the floor; non-branded is the ceiling.

### Visibility Score
Your aggregate 0-100 score on a prompt variation or prompt group. Headline metric. Distinguish between branded & non-branded prompts. Hides the diagnosis unless paired with the other 6.

## Advanced GEO terms (47 terms)

Fix, scale, report, and operationalise - Modules 4–8 specifics.