# Definitions / glossary patterns

> Definition patterns are passages that explain terms in a clear form, such as 'Term: definition' or a glossary, which AI models can quote directly.

- **Check ID:** A12
- **Area:** [AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness)
- **Tool:** [AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/tools/ai-readiness)
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/definitions-glossary-patterns

## Why it matters

AI models actively search for term definitions to build their knowledge base. Pages with clearly marked definitions become an authoritative source for AI when explaining technical terms.

## In practice

MDN Web Docs (Mozilla) uses a consistent definition pattern for every web API and CSS property. That's why when you ask ChatGPT about CSS flexbox, the answer often comes from MDN definitions.

## How be1st checks it

Detects definition patterns and glossary sections on the page: for example, 'Term: definition' format, definition lists (dl/dt/dd), or dedicated glossary pages. If the page contains no definitions, the check is not counted (N/A).

[AI Readiness](https://be1st.ai/tools/ai-readiness), Content tab.

Every check ends as: Pass, Warning, Fail.

## Sources

- [Creating Helpful Content](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content) (Google)

## Related terms

- [Knowledge chunkability & content depth](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/knowledge-chunkability): Chunkability is how well a page splits into self-contained blocks, each answering one question under its own heading, which AI search can retrieve one by one.
- [Reference / evidence signals](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/reference-evidence-signals): Evidence signals are the references in a text that back up its claims: links to studies, statistics, named sources and citations.
- [Freshness signals](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/freshness-signals): Freshness signals show when content was published or last updated: a visible date, a `<time>` element or dateModified in structured data.
- [Entity & author completeness](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/entity-author-completeness): Entity and author completeness is how clearly a website says who is behind it: the author, the company, contact details and profiles elsewhere.
- [AI-friendly content formats & feeds](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/ai-friendly-content-formats): AI-friendly formats and feeds are versions of your content made for machines, such as RSS feeds, llms.txt, Markdown pages or a JSON API.
- [Linkability of key facts](https://be1st.ai/glossary/ai-readiness/linkability-of-key-facts): Linkability of key facts means the important parts of a page have their own anchors (#section), so anyone, an AI answer included, can link straight to them.