Reference Guide

AI, SEO & Software Glossary

Plain-English definitions of AI, SEO, AEO, GEO, software development, and digital marketing terms. A reference for founders, marketers, and business owners who want to cut through the jargon.

AI & Machine Learning

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Software systems that perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as understanding language, recognising images, or making decisions. AI is not one technology but a category covering many approaches including machine learning, deep learning, and rule-based systems.
Machine Learning (ML)
A subset of AI where systems learn from data to improve performance without being explicitly programmed for each task. A spam filter that learns from examples is machine learning. A system following a fixed ruleset is not.
Large Language Model (LLM)
An AI model trained on large amounts of text data to generate, summarise, translate, and converse in human language. Examples include GPT-4 (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and Gemini (Google). LLMs power tools like ChatGPT and AI search engines.
Generative AI
AI that produces new content: text, images, code, audio, or video. Distinct from AI that only classifies or predicts. ChatGPT, Midjourney, and GitHub Copilot are all generative AI tools.
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
A technique where an AI model retrieves relevant information from a document database before generating a response. This allows the AI to answer questions about your specific business data, product documentation, or internal knowledge base without training a new model.
AI Agent
An AI system that can take actions, not just answer questions. An AI agent might browse the web, call an API, send an email, or update a database as part of completing a task. Multi-agent systems involve multiple AI agents working together.
Prompt Engineering
The practice of writing effective inputs (prompts) to get useful outputs from AI models. A well-structured prompt with context, constraints, and examples produces significantly better results than a vague question.
Fine-Tuning
The process of further training a pre-trained AI model on a specific dataset to improve its performance on a particular task or domain. Fine-tuning a customer support model on your past conversations makes it more accurate for your specific products.
Vector Database
A database that stores data as numerical vectors, enabling semantic search: finding content by meaning rather than exact keyword match. Used in RAG systems to retrieve relevant documents based on the meaning of a query.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI techniques for understanding and generating human language. NLP powers chatbots, sentiment analysis, translation, and content classification. Most modern NLP is now built on LLMs.
Computer Vision
AI that interprets visual information from images or video. Applications include facial recognition, object detection, medical imaging analysis, quality control in manufacturing, and autonomous vehicles.

SEO, AEO & GEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
The practice of improving a website's visibility in traditional search engine results (Google, Bing) through technical optimisation, content quality, and backlinks. SEO targets the blue links users click on after performing a search.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
Optimising content to be directly cited or quoted by AI-powered search tools that return answers rather than lists of links. Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search all function as answer engines. AEO requires direct answers, clear structure, FAQ sections, and schema markup.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Optimising content to appear in AI-generated responses from large language models including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. GEO requires topical authority, credible sourcing, allowing AI crawlers in robots.txt, and creating structured files like llms.txt that help AI models understand your site.
Google AI Overviews
AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google search results for many queries, synthesising answers from multiple web sources. Appearing in AI Overviews requires ranking in the top results AND having content structured for direct extraction.
Schema Markup
Structured data added to web pages (typically as JSON-LD) that helps search engines and AI systems understand page content. Schema types include Organization, FAQPage, Article, BreadcrumbList, Service, and LocalBusiness. Schema markup improves how pages appear in search results and how AI models interpret them.
Core Web Vitals
Google's set of performance metrics that measure real-world user experience: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint, how fast the main content loads), INP (Interaction to Next Paint, how responsive the page is), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift, how stable the layout is). All three are ranking signals.
E-E-A-T
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) topics. High E-E-A-T content includes author credentials, factual sourcing, and consistent publication history.
Canonical Tag
An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a page is the primary one, preventing duplicate content penalties. If your content appears at multiple URLs, a canonical tag points to the definitive version.
Hreflang
An HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and region a page is intended for, allowing them to serve the correct version to users in different countries. Example: hreflang='en-US' for English-speaking US visitors.
llms.txt
A new standard file (llmstxt.org) placed at the root of a website that provides AI language models with structured information about the site, its services, and key content. Similar to robots.txt for traditional crawlers, but designed for AI model comprehension.
Topical Authority
A site's demonstrated depth of coverage on a subject area. A site with 30 well-written articles on email marketing has more topical authority than one with 1 article. Both Google and AI models use topical authority to decide which sources to trust and cite.
Backlink
A link from another website pointing to yours. Backlinks from relevant, authoritative domains are one of the strongest traditional SEO signals. Quality matters more than quantity: one link from a respected industry publication is worth more than 100 links from low-quality directories.

Software Development

Custom Software Development
Building software designed specifically for one organisation's needs rather than using off-the-shelf products. Custom software fits your exact workflows, integrates with your existing systems, and gives you full ownership of the codebase.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
The smallest version of a product that delivers core value to users and allows you to test your assumptions. An MVP is not a low-quality product; it is a focused one. It lets you learn from real users before investing in the full vision.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A defined way for two software systems to communicate. When your website sends a payment to Stripe, it calls Stripe's API. APIs allow different applications to share data and functionality without sharing their underlying code.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
Software delivered over the internet on a subscription basis rather than installed locally. Users access SaaS products through a browser. Examples include Salesforce, Slack, and Google Workspace. Building a SaaS product means creating and hosting the software and managing it for all your customers.
Agile Development
A software development methodology that works in short cycles (sprints, typically 1–2 weeks), delivering working software frequently and adapting to feedback. Agile contrasts with Waterfall, which defines all requirements upfront and delivers at the end.
DevOps
A set of practices combining software development and IT operations to shorten development cycles and deliver updates more frequently. DevOps includes CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, infrastructure as code, and continuous monitoring.
Cloud Infrastructure
Computing resources (servers, storage, networking, databases) delivered over the internet from providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Cloud infrastructure is scalable, pay-as-you-go, and eliminates the need to own physical servers.
Microservices
An architecture where an application is built as a set of small, independent services, each responsible for a specific function. Microservices can be developed, deployed, and scaled independently, improving flexibility for large systems.
Tech Stack
The set of technologies used to build a software product. A typical web app tech stack might include React (frontend), Node.js (backend), PostgreSQL (database), and AWS (hosting). The right tech stack depends on your product type, scale, and team skills.
UI/UX Design
UI (User Interface) design covers the visual elements users see and interact with. UX (User Experience) design covers the overall experience: how easy it is to complete tasks, how intuitive the flow is, and how users feel. Strong UX reduces churn and support volume.

Digital Marketing

Google Ads (PPC)
Paid advertising on Google's search results and partner networks. Advertisers bid on keywords and pay per click (Pay Per Click, PPC). Google Ads can drive immediate traffic to high-intent users searching for your product or service.
Meta Ads
Paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram, managed through Meta's Ads Manager. Meta Ads use interest, demographic, and behavioural targeting. Particularly effective for e-commerce, lead generation, and brand awareness campaigns with visual creative.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
The amount paid each time a user clicks an ad. CPC varies significantly by industry, keyword competition, and platform. In B2B SaaS, Google Ads CPCs commonly range from $5–$50 per click. In e-commerce, $0.50–$2 is typical.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
Revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. A ROAS of 4 means you made $4 for every $1 spent. ROAS is the primary efficiency metric for direct-response ad campaigns.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, form submission, sign-up). A landing page with 1,000 visits and 30 sign-ups has a 3% conversion rate. Average e-commerce conversion rates are 1–3%; B2B lead gen pages typically convert at 2–5%.
Local SEO
Optimising a business's online presence to appear in searches for local services. Local SEO includes Google Business Profile optimisation, local citations, review acquisition, and location-specific content. Critical for service businesses with a geographic target area.
Content Marketing
Creating and distributing valuable content (articles, videos, guides, case studies) to attract and retain an audience, rather than interrupting them with ads. Content marketing builds long-term organic traffic and trust.
Email Marketing
Direct communication with customers and prospects via email. Email marketing includes newsletters, promotional campaigns, and automated behaviour-triggered flows (welcome sequences, cart abandonment, post-purchase). Email consistently delivers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
The practice of improving the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on a website. CRO involves A/B testing, heatmap analysis, user research, and iterative design improvements to the landing page, forms, and checkout flow.
Marketing Automation
Using software to automate repetitive marketing tasks: sending emails based on behaviour, scoring leads, routing enquiries, posting social content, and nurturing prospects through a funnel. Tools include HubSpot, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, and n8n.

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