SEO

American  

abbreviation

Digital Technology.

1. search-engine optimization: the methods used to boost the ranking or frequency of a website in results returned by a search engine, in an effort to maximize user traffic to the site.

   The first step in SEO is to generate keywords that are relevant to your site's content.

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SEO British  

abbreviation

1. computing search engine optimization

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Etymology

Origin of SEO

First recorded in 1995–2000

Example Sentences

For instance, with traditional SEO, getting a single link from a very authoritative site meant more for ranking purposes than hundreds of mentions on other sites.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

In traditional SEO, techniques that worked for Google would generally also work for Bing, Yahoo and other search engines, and what worked for sites in one industry would usually work in others.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

AI systems like ChatGPT are changing online search, shifting standards from traditional SEO rankings to a company’s visibility online, in places like review sites and forums.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

Evan Bailyn is chief executive of First Page Sage, which started as an SEO firm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

The global SEO and AEO services market will grow to $171 billion by 2030 from $81.4 billion last year, partly driven by growing AI optimization efforts, according to a prediction by research firm MarkNtel Advisors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025