Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the key terms in AI Authority, Generative Engine Optimisation, Answer Engine Optimisation, and how AI agents cite businesses. Written for marketing leaders and decision-makers, not technologists.

Last updated: 30 April 2026
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A
Agent-to-agent commerce
A model of commercial transaction in which AI agents acting on behalf of buyers communicate directly with the systems of suppliers, including requesting quotes, comparing options and placing orders. Forecast by Gartner to account for $15 trillion of B2B spend by 2028, with 90% of B2B buying AI-agent intermediated.
AEO
See Answer Engine Optimisation.
AI Authority
The degree to which AI platforms recognise and trust an organisation as a credible source on the topics relevant to its business. An organisation with strong AI Authority is cited, referenced and recommended in AI-generated answers. Without it, the organisation is absent regardless of how well-established it is in the real world.
AI Authority Audit
A structured, documented investigation into how an organisation currently appears across all major AI platforms. Covers citation frequency, sentiment, entity definition, technical accessibility and competitive positioning. Delivered as a written report with prioritised roadmap. From £1,500, 1 to 2 weeks delivery.
AI Authority Ladder™
KnownEntity.ai's proprietary four-stage methodology for moving an organisation from invisible to appropriately and strategically cited in AI answers. The four stages are Diagnostic Audit, Entity Build (EntityCore™), Citation Strategy, and Tracking and Measurement. Each stage builds on the one before.
AI Authority Snapshot
KnownEntity.ai's complimentary, top-level analysis of how an organisation currently appears across the major AI platforms. Turned around within 48 hours of request. Designed to give a sense of the opportunity before any paid engagement.
AI agent
A software system that uses generative AI to perform tasks autonomously on behalf of a user. AI agents can browse, summarise, evaluate options, draft responses and increasingly transact. The buyer-side AI agent is the audience whose decisions AI Authority work is designed to influence.
AI Overview
Google's name for the AI-generated summary that appears at the top of search results for many queries. Draws on a curated set of sources rather than the full ranked list, making AI Authority within those sources commercially significant.
Answer Engine Optimisation
The practice of structuring an organisation's expertise, content and online presence so that AI platforms recognise it as a credible, citable source and feature it in synthesised answers. Sometimes abbreviated AEO. Used interchangeably with Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
B
Buyer journey
The sequence of stages a B2B buyer moves through from first awareness of a problem to final supplier selection. Research from 6sense and Gartner shows that the majority of this journey now happens before a supplier is contacted, with 73% of B2B buyers using AI tools in their purchase research and 95% of winning vendors already on the buyer's Day One shortlist.
C
Citation
In the context of AI search, a reference made by an AI platform to a specific business, product or source within a generated answer. Can be implicit (mentioning the business by name) or explicit (linking to the source URL). Citations are the primary outcome AI Authority work is designed to influence.
Citation frequency
A measurement of how often an organisation is cited or mentioned across a defined set of AI prompts. Tracked over time as a key indicator of AI Authority growth or decline.
Citation graph
The network of third-party sources that mention or cite an organisation, used by AI systems to assess credibility and decide whether to feature the organisation in answers. Includes trade press, expert commentary, review platforms, industry bodies, LinkedIn authority content and Wikipedia.
Citation Strategy
The third stage of the AI Authority Ladder™. The systematic development of an organisation's external citation graph through trade press coverage, expert bylines, review platforms, LinkedIn authority and Wikipedia where evidence supports it. Every placement is logged and tracked as a potential AI citation source.
Claude
A family of large language models built by Anthropic. One of the major AI platforms KnownEntity.ai monitors and optimises for, alongside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot.
Copilot
Microsoft's AI assistant, integrated across Microsoft 365 and Bing. One of the major AI platforms KnownEntity.ai monitors and optimises for.
D
Diagnostic Audit
The first stage of the AI Authority Ladder™. A systematic prompt audit across all major AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot) to establish citation baseline, share of voice, sentiment and entity definition. Produces the documented starting point against which all subsequent work is measured.
E
Earned media
Coverage, commentary and citation that an organisation receives from third-party sources, including trade publications, industry bodies, journalists, review platforms, expert directories and podcasts. Called earned because it is not paid for and not self-published. Fundamental to AI Authority because AI systems trust content that third parties also trust.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. The framework Google publishes for evaluating content quality, increasingly used as shorthand for the signals AI platforms also consider when deciding which sources to cite.
Entity
In the language of AI and knowledge systems, a person, organisation, product or concept that an AI platform has structured information about and can reference with confidence. The opposite of an entity is an unknown or ambiguous reference that AI cannot place.
Entity Build
The second stage of the AI Authority Ladder™. The construction of EntityCore™, KnownEntity.ai's proprietary structured, machine-readable source of truth that AI agents consult when deciding whether to recommend a business.
Entity definition
The structured understanding an AI platform holds about what an organisation is, what it does, who it serves and what it stands for. The Diagnostic Audit assesses the current entity definition; the Entity Build refines and asserts it.
EntityCore™
KnownEntity.ai's proprietary, structured, machine-readable source of truth for a client. The content repository AI agents consult when deciding whether to recommend the business. Hosted at a subdomain of the client's existing website. Built specifically for AI extraction with question-first structure, complete answers and deep topical coverage. Costs £6,000 to £12,000 to build, delivered in 4 to 6 weeks.
G
Gemini
Google's family of large language models, used in Google's AI Overviews and standalone Gemini products. One of the major AI platforms KnownEntity.ai monitors and optimises for.
Generative AI
A class of AI that produces new content (text, images, code, audio) rather than just classifying or retrieving existing content. The basis of all the major AI platforms relevant to AI Authority work.
Generative Engine Optimisation
The practice of structuring and positioning an organisation's expertise, content and online presence so that AI platforms recognise it as a credible, citable source. Where SEO aims to rank a website highly in search results, GEO aims to ensure a business is present in the synthesised answer that an AI platform delivers directly. Often abbreviated GEO. Used interchangeably with AEO.
GEO
See Generative Engine Optimisation.
K
Knowledge graph
A structured representation of entities and the relationships between them. Used by AI systems to ground generated answers in factual structure rather than free-form prediction. EntityCore™ functions as a knowledge graph for the businesses KnownEntity.ai works with.
Knowledge Graph Build
See EntityCore™. The service in which KnownEntity.ai constructs a client's EntityCore™ knowledge graph.
L
Large language model
A type of AI model trained on large volumes of text to predict and generate language. The underlying technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and other generative AI products. Often abbreviated LLM.
LLM
See Large language model.
M
Measurement (in AI Authority)
The fourth stage of the AI Authority Ladder™. Monthly prompt audits using the same structured query set across all major AI platforms, tracking citation frequency, sentiment and competitor share of voice over time. Closes the loop on AI Authority work and provides evidence of progress.
P
Perplexity
An AI-native search engine that synthesises answers from live web sources rather than relying primarily on pre-trained knowledge. One of the major AI platforms KnownEntity.ai monitors and optimises for. Distinctive in its emphasis on conversational, experience-based content.
Prompt audit
A structured exercise in which a fixed set of buyer-relevant prompts is run across the major AI platforms and the responses are analysed for citation frequency, sentiment, accuracy and share of voice. The core measurement instrument of AI Authority work, run once at baseline and then monthly thereafter.
Properly known
KnownEntity.ai's brand essence. Captures the distinction between merely appearing in AI answers and being cited for the right things, in the right context, when it matters commercially. The opposite of generic visibility.
R
Retainer
See Authority Retainer. KnownEntity.ai's monthly service combining ongoing prompt audits, EntityCore™ expansion, citation outreach and reporting. Priced at £1,000 to £3,000 per month on a rolling three-month minimum.
S
Schema markup
Structured data added to web pages, typically in JSON-LD format, that describes the content in a machine-readable way. Helps search engines and AI platforms understand what a page is about and which facts it asserts. A foundational technical practice for AI discoverability.
Sentiment analysis
Assessment of the tone and framing with which an organisation is described in AI answers. Positive, neutral or negative. Tracked over time as part of the monthly Authority Report; off-strategy or negative sentiment is itself a signal that AI Authority work is needed.
Share of voice
The proportion of relevant AI prompt responses in a given category that mention or cite a particular organisation, relative to its competitors. The most useful single number for understanding competitive position in AI search.
Source attribution
The practice of naming the original source of a fact, statistic or claim within content. Important both for human readers and for AI systems, which use attribution as a trust signal when deciding whether to extract and cite a passage.
Structured data
See Schema markup. Information presented in a machine-readable format with explicit relationships, as opposed to unstructured prose.
T
Topic cluster
A group of related pages or articles centred on a specific topic, with a hub page and supporting detail pages. The architectural unit of an EntityCore™ build, with a typical engagement covering 20 to 40 clusters mapped to the questions a client's buyers actually ask.
Tracking and Measurement
The fourth stage of the AI Authority Ladder™. See Measurement (in AI Authority).
U
Universal Commerce Protocol
Google's open standard for agent-to-agent commerce, launched at the National Retail Federation event in January 2026. Establishes a framework for AI agents to communicate with retailer and supplier systems for product discovery, evaluation and transaction. Marker of how close agentic commerce is.
W
Wikidata
The structured-data sister project to Wikipedia, holding facts about entities in a machine-readable format. Used by AI systems as a high-trust source for verifying basic facts about people, organisations and things. Present in Wikidata is itself an AI Authority signal where the evidence supports it.
Wikipedia
Among the highest-trust sources used by AI platforms when generating answers. ChatGPT in particular draws a substantial share of its citations from Wikipedia. Inclusion in Wikipedia, where the evidence trail genuinely supports a notable entry, is one of the most valuable citation outcomes.

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If there's a term you've seen in AI Authority or AI search that we haven't covered, email hello@knownentity.ai and we'll add it. We update this page as the field evolves.