Reference

Terms Explained

Plain-English definitions for the AI visibility terms CiVallo uses. Written for local service business owners, not developers.

CiVallo Score
AVaTR™ Score

CiVallo's AI Visibility and Trust Readiness score from 0 to 100. It measures how well AI systems can find, understand, and recommend your business when someone asks a local question.

Optimization
GEO: Generative Engine Optimization

The practice of making your website readable and citable by AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Different from traditional SEO, which focuses on Google rankings.

Optimization
AEO: Answer Engine Optimization

Structuring your content so AI systems can pull it directly as an answer to a question. AEO targets the specific query patterns local customers ask chatbots, not just search rankings.

Technical File
llms.txt

A file on your website that tells AI language models how to read and understand your business. Think of it as a welcome mat for AI crawlers, giving them structured context about who you are and what you offer.

Technical File
robots.txt

A file on your website that controls which bots are allowed to crawl your pages. A misconfigured robots.txt can accidentally block AI crawlers from ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity, making your business invisible to AI search.

Structured Data
JSON-LD

A type of structured data code embedded in your website that tells AI systems and search engines exactly what your business does, where it operates, and what customers say about it. It is invisible to visitors but readable by machines.

Structured Data
Schema Markup

Structured labels added to your website so AI and search engines understand your business type, services, location, and hours without guessing. LocalBusiness, Service, and FAQPage schema are the core types for local businesses.

Data Consistency
NAP Consistency

Matching name, address, and phone number across every place your business is listed online. Inconsistent NAP data confuses AI systems and lowers your citation rate because they cannot confidently verify you are the same business.

Risk Signal
Ghost Risk

How likely an AI system is to skip, misread, or misattribute your business when answering a local query. High ghost risk means a competitor gets cited in your place, even if your business is the better answer.

AVaTR™ Category
AI Crawler Access

Whether the bots used by ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity are permitted to index your website. Without confirmed access, your business cannot appear in AI-generated answers regardless of how good your content is.

AVaTR™ Category
Review Velocity

The rate at which new customer reviews arrive on your Google Business Profile. AI models treat recent reviews as a trust signal. A business with 40 reviews from the past six months typically outranks one with 200 reviews from three years ago.

AVaTR™ Category
Response Infrastructure

Whether your business has working contact points: a real phone number, a contact form, and a booking link. When AI sends a lead your way, they need to be able to reach you immediately or the referral is lost.

AVaTR™ Category
Google Business Profile (GBP)

Your free business listing on Google. AI systems including Google's own AI Overview pull your name, category, service area, and reviews directly from your GBP. A missing, unclaimed, or incomplete profile is the most common source of low AVaTR™ scores.

Next Step

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