Terminology
Glossary.
The language around search, AI visibility and digital authority is changing quickly. These are the definitions Transform& uses across its work.
Where Transform& uses its own terminology, we say so.
Definitions
- AI Citation
An AI citation is when a generated answer presents your page or another source as supporting evidence for what it says, usually through a visible link or source reference. It is a stronger commercial signal than a simple mention because a source is being surfaced alongside the answer.
A citation shows that a page was surfaced as supporting evidence, not just named in passing.
Read more: AI citations, and why they matter- AI Mention
An AI mention is when a generated answer names or refers to a company, product or service. A mention does not by itself mean the company was cited as evidence or recommended as an option.
Transform& treats mentions, citations and recommendations as separate observable outcomes.
Read more: How Transform& works- AI Recommendation
An AI recommendation is when a generated answer puts a company, product or provider forward as an option in response to a buyer question. It is different from a simple mention and from a citation.
Being named is not the same as being put forward as an option worth considering.
Read more: How Transform& works- AEO / Answer Engine Optimization
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of making information easier for answer-producing systems to find, understand and use when responding to questions. Definitions vary across the industry; this is how Transform& uses the term.
Transform& treats AEO as one possible intervention within Commercial Authority, not as an isolated channel.
Read more: What Transform& does- AI Visibility
How often a company appears across a defined set of buyer questions in selected AI systems. Accuracy — whether what is said is correct — is measured separately.
It shows whether a business is present in the answers buyers use to build a shortlist.
Read more: What is AI visibility?- CASS
CASS, the Commercial Authority Signal System, is Transform&’s proprietary internal analysis system for Commercial Authority. Its detailed analysis logic is not published.
CASS is how Transform& analyses Commercial Authority. Its detailed analysis logic is proprietary.
Read more: CASS- External evidence
External evidence: What credible independent sources support or establish.
Independent evidence gives systems and buyers another source against which an important claim can be checked.
Read more: Commercial Authority- First-party information
Information published and controlled directly by the company.
It is the part a company controls most directly and the foundation for how it explains itself publicly.
Read more: Commercial Authority- Found / Trusted / Chosen
Found: the company can be discovered and correctly understood. Trusted: important claims are supported by clear, credible evidence. Chosen: the company is represented strongly enough to compete when buyers or systems compare options.
It is how Transform& describes the commercial outcomes behind Commercial Authority.
Read more: Commercial Authority- GEO / Generative Engine Optimization
Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, is the practice of making a business easier for AI systems to find, understand, verify and reference in generated answers. It overlaps heavily with technical SEO and information architecture. It is not a separate channel you can buy.
It overlaps heavily with technical SEO and information architecture, and does not replace either.
Read more: What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?- Search Visibility
An observable outcome: where and how often a business can be discovered in search results for the questions its buyers actually ask, including non-brand questions about the market, problem or category.
It shows the output. Commercial Authority describes the information and evidence behind it.
Read more: Commercial Authority
Where do these
apply to you?
For how Transform& structures an engagement, see the methodology.