SEO, AEO, and GEO. Explained, then fixed.
This site explains how technical SEO and AI search optimization actually work (crawling, indexing, AI citations, all of it), free to read, with sources. Written and run by Kuraib Ali, search & growth consultant.
Free to read · No email required · Nothing here is for sale
- Clusters
- 2
- Guides
- 23
- Glossary
- 24 terms
SEO and AI search, actually explained
Each cluster is a pillar page linked to focused spoke guides, sourced or clearly labeled and reviewed as search and AI platforms change.
SEO
Crawling, indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data, and internal linking: the technical foundations that decide whether a page can be found and ranked at all.
AI Search
AEO, GEO, and AI Overviews: how AI systems actually decide what to read, trust, and cite, explained mechanically, not sold as a service line.
Plain-language notes, no lecture
How Does hreflang Actually Work?
Hreflang fails silently more often than almost any other SEO signal. Google's own documentation explains exactly why, and Search Console stopped warning you about it in 2022.
How Does ChatGPT Actually Decide What to Cite?
Independent research reverse-engineered ChatGPT's retrieval system by capturing 1,200 real answers. What it found looks nothing like a search engine.
Does rel="next"/"prev" Still Matter for Pagination SEO?
Google quietly stopped using rel=next and rel=prev years before it said so publicly. A lot of pagination advice still treats them as a working signal.
How to Track AI Referral Traffic From ChatGPT and Other AI Assistants in GA4
Google Analytics quietly added a dedicated AI Assistant channel in 2026. Most site owners haven't turned on the parts that actually catch the traffic beyond the three sources it names.
Do rel=nofollow, sponsored, and ugc Links Still Work the Way You Think?
Nofollow stopped being a directive in 2020. Most explanations of these link attributes still describe the old rule, not the current one.
Structured Data Isn't a Ranking Factor: So Why Does It Keep Winning AI Citations?
Google says schema markup isn't a ranking signal. The evidence for why it still matters for AI citations.
Do Sitemap Priority and Changefreq Tags Actually Matter to Google?
The sitemap protocol has four fields. Google's own documentation says it ignores two of them entirely, and only conditionally trusts a third.
Which Schema Types Actually Still Produce Rich Results in 2026
Not every schema type Google once supported still produces a visible rich result. What still works, and what happened to FAQ schema.
A knowledge hub, not a service page
Everything here is free, and there's nothing to buy on this domain. Claims are labeled by how they were established (verified, observed, or inference), not stated as fact by default. Learn here. If you want it applied to your own site, that's separate work for businesses across the UAE and the wider Gulf, at kuraib.site.
Read the editorial standards →Fixed scope, no monthly bill, at kuraib.site. The engagement ends when the work does.
AEO and GEO run on the same fundamentals Google's own documentation describes.
This describes what's aligned with Google's and Microsoft's published guidance. No one can guarantee a ranking or an AI citation.
Want this applied to your own site, not just read about it?
This is the free version, evidence-labeled and yours to read at no cost. Applying it to your own site (technical SEO, AI search visibility, and GEO in one pass) is separate, paid work at kuraib.site.