Glossary · digitecultra

AEO

Answer Engine Optimisation

The practice of structuring content so it can be cited and quoted by AI search interfaces — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews — in addition to traditional search rankings.

AOV

Average Order Value

The mean amount spent per transaction. A key e-commerce metric: increasing AOV is often more profitable than increasing conversion rate.

Attribution

The process of assigning credit for a conversion to one or more marketing touchpoints. Different attribution models (last-click, first-touch, linear, data-driven) produce very different views of channel performance.

CAC

Customer Acquisition Cost

The total marketing and sales spend required to acquire one paying customer. Compared to LTV to assess unit economics.

CAPI

Conversions API

Server-side conversion tracking sent directly from your server to ad platforms (e.g. Meta CAPI), bypassing browser-based tracking limitations. Essential post-iOS-14.5.

CPM

Cost Per Mille

The cost per 1,000 ad impressions. The most fundamental media cost metric — how expensive is it to put your ad in front of people on this platform.

CRO

Conversion Rate Optimisation

The discipline of improving the percentage of site visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, lead, signup). Usually involves systematic testing of layout, copy, and flow.

CTR

Click-Through Rate

Percentage of people who see an ad and click it. Strong signal of creative performance and audience-message fit.

GA4

Google Analytics 4

Google's current analytics platform, replacing Universal Analytics. Event-based model designed for cross-platform measurement and privacy-aware tracking.

Hallucination

When an AI model confidently generates information that is plausible-sounding but factually incorrect. A major reliability concern for production AI deployments, mitigated through grounding, retrieval, and evaluation.

Incrementality

The actual additional revenue generated by a marketing channel that would not have occurred without it. Distinct from attributed revenue. Measured via geo holdouts or randomised tests.

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

A specific, measurable metric tied to a business objective. The best KPIs are leading indicators (predict the future) rather than lagging (describe the past).

Lighthouse

Google's open-source tool that scores web pages on performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices. A 95+ score is a reasonable production target.

LTV

Lifetime Value

Total revenue (or profit) expected from a customer over the duration of the relationship. Should always exceed CAC by a healthy multiple (typically 3x+).

PMax

Performance Max

Google Ads' automated campaign type that uses AI to bid and place ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. Powerful for e-commerce when fed clean signals.

Programmatic

Automated buying of digital ad inventory through real-time auctions. Most paid social and display advertising today is programmatic.

Retargeting

Showing ads to users who have already interacted with your brand (visited the site, added to cart, etc.). Typically the highest-ROAS segment of paid media.

ROAS

Return On Ad Spend

Revenue generated per dollar/dirham spent on advertising. Useful for relative comparison but should be paired with profit-based metrics (ROMI, contribution margin).

Schema markup

Structured data in JSON-LD format embedded in web pages, helping search engines understand and display content (e.g. rich snippets, knowledge panels, FAQ accordions in results).

UTM

Urchin Tracking Module

URL parameters (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, utm_term) used to track the source of clicks landing on a site. The foundation of attribution.