> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wiki.platelunchcollective.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Semantic HTML

> Semantic HTML is the use of HTML elements that convey meaning about the structure and content of a page — using elements like article, section, header, nav, ...

*Technical implementation* · *Technical SEO*

## Definition

Semantic HTML is the use of HTML elements that convey meaning about the structure and content of a page — using elements like article, section, header, nav, main, and aside rather than generic div and span containers. Semantic HTML aids both accessibility and machine understanding.

## Why It Matters for AI Search

Semantic HTML is the document structure layer of AI SEO. AI crawlers use semantic HTML elements to understand content hierarchy: what is the main content, what is the header, what is the article body, what is supplementary navigation. Pages built with semantic HTML give AI systems a reliable structural map that improves extraction accuracy. A page where all content sits in undifferentiated divs requires significantly more inference to parse correctly.

## Related Terms

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="HTML-first development" href="/ai-search-glossary/html-first-development" />

  <Card title="Content extractability" href="/ai-search-glossary/content-extractability" />

  <Card title="Machine readability" href="/ai-search-glossary/machine-readability" />

  <Card title="Technical SEO" href="/ai-search-glossary/technical-seo" />

  <Card title="AI-first indexing" href="/ai-search-glossary/ai-first-indexing" />
</CardGroup>

## Relevant Plate Lunch Collective Services

[AI SEO](https://www.platelunchcollective.com/services/ai-seo)