Glossary

Digital marketing terms, in plain English.

Clear definitions of the SEO, GEO, advertising, web and AI terms you'll meet when growing a business online, each linked to where we cover it in more depth.

Ads management fee: An ads management fee is what you pay an agency or freelancer to run your Google Ads or Meta Ads, separate from the ad spend that goes to the platform. It's charged as a flat monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend or a mix of the two. DLR Media charges a flat £600, £1,000 or £1,800 a month + VAT per channel, with ad spend paid directly to Google or Meta.; All prices
AI adoption: AI adoption is the process of bringing AI tools into everyday work so they are used well and safely, not just licensed. It covers choosing the right tools, setting clear usage guidelines and training staff, with people checking outputs and staying accountable for decisions. DLR Media has signed up to the Responsible AI Use Campaign's 10 principles.; AI adoption consultancy
AI citation: An AI citation is a link or footnote an AI tool shows to a source behind its answer. Perplexity says each answer includes numbered footnotes linking to the original sources, and Google's AI Overviews show supporting links to pages. Being cited puts a link to your site in the answer and shows the answer drew on you.; GEO for Perplexity
AI crawler: An AI crawler is a bot an AI company uses to read web pages, whether to show sites in search answers, gather training content or fetch a page a user has asked about. OpenAI, for example, says OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT's search features, GPTBot crawls content that may be used to train its models and ChatGPT-User may visit a page when a user asks ChatGPT a question. Your robots.txt file controls crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot, though OpenAI says its rules may not apply to ChatGPT-User, because a user starts those visits.; GEO for ChatGPT
AI Mode: AI Mode is Google's AI-powered search experience. Google says it is particularly helpful for queries where further exploration, reasoning or complex comparisons are needed, and that it gives a comprehensive AI-powered response with links to supporting websites. AI Mode and AI Overviews can use different models, so the links each one shows can differ.; Get into Google AI Overviews
AI Overviews: AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that Google shows at the top of some search results, with links to the web pages behind the answer. Google shows them when its systems judge that a generative summary is helpful, such as questions that draw on several sources. Being cited in an AI Overview is one of the main goals of GEO.; Get found in AI search
AI search visibility audit: An AI search visibility audit is a one-off check of how AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews present your business, with recommendations on what to fix. DLR Media scopes and prices each audit before it starts, with no ongoing contract, and most single-area audits are completed within two to three weeks of receiving access.; GEO audits
AI share of voice: AI share of voice is the share of AI answers to a set of buyer questions in which your business is named, compared with your competitors. If you're named in 3 of 30 tracked questions and a rival in 12, your share is 10% and theirs is 40%. It's measured with prompt tracking and shows whether GEO work is moving you onto the shortlist.; Check if AI recommends you
Answer engine: An answer engine is a search tool that replies with a written answer instead of a list of links, such as ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Google's AI Mode. It draws on several sources, writes one response and links to some of the pages behind it. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) is another name for much of the work in GEO.; GEO services
ChatGPT: ChatGPT is an AI assistant made by OpenAI that answers questions, drafts and edits text, analyses information and searches the web. Businesses use it for writing, summarising, research and planning. It is also a growing source of supplier recommendations, which is why GEO matters.; AI training for teams
ChatGPT-User: ChatGPT-User is the agent OpenAI uses for certain actions a person starts in ChatGPT or a Custom GPT, such as opening a page they've asked about. OpenAI says it does not crawl the web automatically, that robots.txt rules may not apply because a user starts these visits, and that it is not used to decide whether content may appear in ChatGPT search. That choice sits with OAI-SearchBot.; Get recommended by ChatGPT
Claude: Claude is an AI assistant made by Anthropic. It is used for writing, analysing documents, research and coding. DLR Programmes covers Claude in its AI training alongside ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.; AI training for teams
Claude-SearchBot: Claude-SearchBot is the Anthropic crawler that navigates the web to improve search result quality for Claude users. Anthropic says blocking it prevents your content from being indexed for search optimisation, which may reduce your site's visibility and accuracy in user search results. Claude-User is the separate agent Claude uses to access a page when someone asks it a question.; Get recommended by Claude
ClaudeBot: ClaudeBot is the crawler Anthropic uses to collect web content that could contribute to training its generative AI models. Anthropic says blocking it in robots.txt signals that a site's future materials should be excluded from its training datasets. It is separate from Claude-User, which retrieves pages when a person asks Claude a question, and Claude-SearchBot, which indexes content to improve Claude's search results.; Get recommended by Claude
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO): CRO is the work of increasing the share of website visitors who take an action, such as enquiring, booking or buying. It uses analytics, user experience reviews and A/B tests to find and fix what stops people converting. Better conversion means more leads or sales from the same traffic and ad spend.; CRO in the Growth Engine
Conversion tracking: Conversion tracking records what people do after they click your ad, such as ringing you, sending a form or buying. Google describes it as "a free tool in your account that can help measure how clicks on your ads and free product listings lead to meaningful actions such as sales or leads". Without it you can see clicks, but not which ads bring in customers.; Google Ads management
Cost per click (CPC): Cost per click is the amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad. On Google Ads it is set by the ad auction, so it changes with the keyword, location and level of competition. An emergency boiler repair click and a servicing click in the same town cost different amounts.; How much Google Ads costs
Cost per lead (CPL): Cost per lead is your total ad spend divided by the number of enquiries it produced, such as calls, form fills or bookings. It is a more useful measure than cost per click because it shows what each real opportunity costs. Accurate conversion tracking is needed to measure it.; Lead generation with the Growth Engine
Entity: In search, an entity is a distinct real-world thing, such as a person, place or organisation, that a search engine can identify and hold facts about. Google says its Knowledge Graph has millions of entries describing real-world entities like people, places and things, and its Search API labels them with standard schema.org types such as Organization. A business that states its name, services and contact details the same way everywhere is easier to recognise as one entity.; Schema and llms.txt
GEO (generative engine optimisation): GEO is the work of getting your business found, quoted and recommended when people ask AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews who to use. It overlaps with SEO: clear content, structured data and trusted mentions help both. DLR Media runs GEO alongside SEO every week in the Growth Engine.; GEO services
Google Ads: Google Ads is Google's advertising platform, which places your ads in Google Search results and across Google's partner sites. You choose the searches you want to appear for, set a budget and pay Google directly for clicks. DLR Media builds, manages and optimises Google Ads campaigns from £600 a month + VAT.; Google Ads management
Google Business Profile: Google Business Profile is the free business listing that appears in Google Search and Google Maps, showing your address or service area, opening hours, photos and reviews. A complete, active profile is central to local SEO. It decides how you appear when people search for a business near them.; Local SEO and GEO
Google-Extended: Google-Extended is a robots.txt token, not a separate crawler, that lets a site control whether content Google crawls is used to train future Gemini models and for grounding answers in Gemini Apps and the Vertex AI API for Gemini. Google says it does not affect a site's inclusion in Google Search and is not a ranking signal. Blocking it has no effect on your Google rankings, so treat it as a decision about Gemini, not about Search.; Get recommended by Gemini
GPTBot: GPTBot is the crawler OpenAI uses to collect content that may be used to train its generative AI foundation models. OpenAI says disallowing GPTBot in robots.txt indicates a site's content should not be used for that training. It is a separate setting from OAI-SearchBot, the crawler OpenAI uses to surface websites in ChatGPT search.; Get recommended by ChatGPT
Grounding: Grounding is connecting an AI model's answer to data that can be checked, such as live Google Search results or Google Maps data. Google Cloud describes it as connecting model output to verifiable data sources to reduce hallucinations. When an AI assistant grounds an answer in a web search, the pages it finds are the ones it can name and cite, which is where GEO does its work.; GEO services
Growth Engine: The DLR Growth Engine is DLR Media's fully managed lead generation service for service businesses. It includes a free custom website worth £4,500 plus Google Ads, Meta Ads and weekly SEO and GEO, run by a dedicated team. It costs £1,499 a month + VAT on a 12-month term, with ad spend billed separately.; The Growth Engine
Knowledge panel: A knowledge panel is the information box Google shows when you search for an entity such as a business, person or place. Google says knowledge panels are generated automatically from information across the web and update as that information changes, and the business or its official representative can claim the panel and suggest changes. Consistent facts about your business across your website, listings and profiles give Google one clear picture to show.; Schema and llms.txt
Landing page: A landing page is the page a visitor arrives on after clicking an ad, email or search result, built around one offer and one action. A focused landing page that matches the ad converts more visitors and improves landing page experience in Google Ads. DLR Media's Scale ads plans include dedicated landing page builds.; Google Ads plans
Lead generation website: A lead generation website is built to turn visitors into enquiries rather than just describe a business. It uses features such as lead forms, booking calendars, quote calculators, AI chat and automatic follow-up. DLR Media's Lead Generation Website has up to 20 pages and costs £4,500 + VAT or £499 a month + VAT.; Web design
llms.txt: llms.txt is a plain Markdown file placed at the root of a website, such as dlrmedia.co.uk/llms.txt, that gives AI tools a short, structured summary of the site and links to its most important pages. It was proposed as an open standard in 2024 and is not a requirement of Google or any AI provider. DLR Media publishes llms.txt and a fuller llms-full.txt for its own site.; GEO services
Local SEO: Local SEO is SEO aimed at searches with a place in them, such as "joiner Dundee" or "plumber near me". It combines a well-kept Google Business Profile, reviews and pages for each town or area you cover. It decides whether you appear in the map results and local listings that win the call.; Local SEO and GEO
Meta Ads: Meta Ads are paid adverts on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger, bought through Meta's advertising platform. Instead of targeting searches, they reach people by location, interests and behaviour, and by retargeting people who have already visited your website. DLR Media is a Meta Business Partner and manages Meta Ads from £600 a month + VAT.; Meta Ads management
Microsoft Copilot: Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant. Microsoft 365 Copilot works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, helping staff draft documents, summarise email threads, analyse spreadsheets and build presentations. Organisations get value from it when staff are trained to prompt well and check outputs.; Microsoft Copilot for Business training
OAI-SearchBot: OAI-SearchBot is the crawler OpenAI uses to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features. OpenAI says sites that opt out of it in robots.txt will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, and that a robots.txt change can take about 24 hours to take effect in search results. It is a separate setting from GPTBot, which collects content that may be used to train OpenAI's models.; Get recommended by ChatGPT
Performance Max: Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that runs your ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one campaign, working towards a goal you set, such as leads or sales. Google describes it as "a goal-based campaign type that allows you to access all Google Ads inventory". DLR Programmes offers a standalone Google Shopping and Performance Max audit.; Specialist audits
PerplexityBot: PerplexityBot is the crawler Perplexity uses to surface and link websites in its search results, and Perplexity says it is not used to collect content for training AI models. Perplexity recommends allowing it in robots.txt. Its separate Perplexity-User agent fetches a page when someone asks Perplexity a question, and Perplexity says that fetcher generally ignores robots.txt because a person requested it.; Get recommended by Perplexity
PPC (pay-per-click): PPC is an advertising model in which you pay each time someone clicks your ad rather than each time it is shown. Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising are the best-known PPC platforms, and the term is used as shorthand for paid search. Because you only pay for clicks, tracking which clicks become enquiries is what makes PPC profitable.; Google Ads management
Prompt tracking: Prompt tracking is running the same set of questions through AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google on a schedule and recording which businesses are named, how they're described and which sources are cited. AI answers change over time, so tracking shows a trend that a single check can't. DLR Media's monthly GEO reports show whether you're named, how you're described and who appears instead.; GEO services
Quality Score: Quality Score is a 1 to 10 rating Google Ads gives each keyword to show how your ad quality compares with other advertisers. It is based on three parts: expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google describes it as a diagnostic tool rather than an input in the ad auction, so it points you to what to fix.; Google Ads management
Query fan-out: Query fan-out is a technique Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode may use: issuing multiple related searches across subtopics and data sources to build one response. A single question can pull in pages that answer its sub-questions, so clear pages on each specific service and question give Google more ways to link to you.; Google AI Overviews
Replatforming: Replatforming is moving an online store from one ecommerce platform to another, such as from Magento or WooCommerce to Shopify. It involves migrating products, customers and orders, and setting up URL redirects so search rankings carry across. Careful planning protects SEO and sales during the switch.; Moving from Magento to Shopify
Responsive website: A responsive website changes its layout to fit the screen it's viewed on, so it works on a phone, tablet or desktop without zooming or sideways scrolling. Every DLR Media website is mobile-optimised from launch, from £1,500 + VAT.; Web design
Retargeting: Retargeting, also called remarketing, shows ads to people who have already visited your website or engaged with your business but did not enquire or buy. It works through tracking tools such as the Meta Pixel and Google tags. It wins back warm prospects at a lower cost than reaching new people.; Meta Ads management
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG): RAG is a method in which an AI system first retrieves relevant documents and then writes its answer from them, instead of relying only on what the model learned in training. Google Cloud lists RAG as one of the ways to ground a model's output. For a business, it means the pages an AI tool retrieves at the moment someone asks decide what it can say about you.; How AI assistants choose businesses
ROAS (return on ad spend): ROAS is the revenue earned from advertising divided by the amount spent on it. A store that makes £4 in sales for every £1 of ad spend has a ROAS of 4, written as 4:1 or 400%. It is the core measure for ecommerce advertising.; Why Meta ads stop working
Schema markup (structured data): Structured data is a standardised format for describing a page's content to search engines, such as your business details, services, prices or FAQs. Most structured data uses the schema.org vocabulary, and Google recommends adding it in JSON-LD format. It helps Google and AI tools understand your pages correctly, which supports both SEO and GEO.; GEO services
SEO (search engine optimisation): SEO is the work of improving your website so it ranks higher in Google's organic, unpaid search results. It covers technical fixes, useful content and links from other trusted websites. Rankings build over months as your content and authority grow.; SEO services
Shopify Plus: Shopify Plus is Shopify's enterprise plan for high-volume and complex online stores. It adds features such as checkout customisation, B2B and wholesale selling, multiple storefronts for international markets and Shopify Flow automation. The Shopify Plus subscription is paid to Shopify, separately from any agency build.; When to upgrade to Shopify Plus
Snippet controls (nosnippet): Snippet controls are the settings that limit what Google shows from your pages: nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex. Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to appear as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, so a control set by mistake can keep a page out of AI answers. Check them on every page you want quoted.; Get into Google AI Overviews
Website hosting: Website hosting is the service that stores your website's files and serves them to visitors, so the site stays online and loads quickly. DLR Media hosts the websites it builds for £19.99 a month for a brochure site and £49.99 a month for a lead generation site, with SSL included.; Website prices

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