AI Visibility Glossary

Definitions of key terms for AI visibility, generative engine optimization (GEO), and understanding how AI models perceive and recommend brands.

AI Visibility

AI visibility measures how often and how favorably AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity mention, recommend, or cite your brand in generated answers. High AI visibility means users asking relevant questions are likely to see your brand in AI responses.

Ghost Score

The Ghost Score is ghostedby.ai's proprietary 0-100 metric that aggregates how four AI platforms rate an entity. Each platform contributes 0-10 points; the sum is scaled to 100. Scores below 40 indicate significant AI invisibility (being ghosted).

Ghosted by AI

Being ghosted by AI means AI models do not mention, recommend, or acknowledge your brand when users ask relevant questions. ghostedby.ai measures this with the Ghost Score. With 37% of consumers starting searches in AI chatbots, being ghosted increasingly means losing potential customers.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

GEO is the practice of optimizing content so AI models cite and recommend your brand in generated responses. It includes structured data, clear definitions, factual content, and authority signals—all designed to make content easier for LLMs to extract and cite.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

AEO is closely related to GEO: optimizing for answer engines (e.g., AI chatbots, voice assistants) rather than traditional search. The goal is to appear in direct answers when users ask questions.

AI Search Visibility

AI search visibility refers to your brand's presence in AI-powered search experiences, including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT answers, Perplexity results, and other AI-generated responses. It extends beyond traditional SERP rankings.

AI Brand Sentiment

AI brand sentiment describes how AI models characterize your brand—positive, neutral, or negative—in their responses. ghostedby.ai captures this through platform-specific scores and reasoning in battle comparisons.

Zero-Click Searches

Zero-click searches occur when users get their answer directly from the search result (snippet, AI Overview, or featured answer) without clicking through to a website. AI answers increasingly satisfy queries without driving traffic to source sites.

AI Citation

An AI citation is when an AI model explicitly credits a source (e.g., a URL or brand name) in its response. Citations drive traffic and trust. ghostedby.ai helps brands understand whether they are being cited versus merely mentioned.

AI Mention

An AI mention is when an AI model includes your brand in an answer without necessarily citing your site. Mentions can still drive awareness. ghostedby.ai measures both visibility and recommendation strength across platforms.