Glossary.
The key terms from SEO, AI visibility, online marketing and customer service. Briefly explained.
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization: measures that help a website rank high on Google and other search engines for relevant searches, such as tech, content, internal linking and backlinks.
- Local SEO
- Search engine optimisation for searches with a location like “lawyer Berlin”. What matters: the Google Business Profile, reviews and identical name, address and phone details everywhere.
- GEO
- Generative Engine Optimization: optimising so that AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity know a business, describe it correctly and recommend it.
- AEO
- Answer Engine Optimization: preparing content so search engines and AI systems show it directly as an answer, for example in featured snippets or Google AI Overviews.
- LLMO
- Large Language Model Optimization: another term for optimising visibility in large language models, largely the same as GEO.
- AI visibility
- How often and how accurately a business is named in the answers of AI assistants. It rests on findable, unambiguous and quotable information online.
- llms.txt
- A file in the root of a website that explains to AI systems, in plain form, who a business is, what it offers and how to reach it.
- Structured data
- Machine-readable information in a page's code (Schema.org) that tells search engines what a page shows, such as a business, services or FAQs.
- Performance marketing
- Online advertising optimised for measurable results such as calls, enquiries or purchases, for example via Google Ads, Meta Ads or TikTok Ads.
- Retargeting
- Ads for people who already visited a website, to remind them of an offer and bring them back.
- Conversion
- A desired action on a website, such as an enquiry, call, booking or purchase.
- Core Web Vitals
- Google's metrics for a page's loading (LCP), responsiveness (INP) and layout stability (CLS). They factor into rankings.
- Inbound
- Incoming contacts: calls, emails, chats and messages that customers send to a business.
- Outbound
- Outgoing contacts: calls or messages a business actively sends to customers or prospects, for example for appointment setting.
- FTE
- Full-time equivalent: one full-time position. In a call centre, billing a dedicated team instead of per minute.
- SLA
- Service level agreement: agreed service quality, such as availability, response times or handling time.
- DPA (AVV)
- Data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR. Required when a provider processes personal data on someone's behalf, such as a call centre.
- CRM
- Customer relationship management: a system where a business manages contacts, enquiries, quotes and tasks in one place.