AI Marketing Glossary 2026: 75+ Terms Every Marketer Needs
Confused by AEO, GEO, RAG, and LLMO? Complete glossary of 75+ AI marketing and automation terms with clear definitions.
Key Takeaways
This glossary covers the essential AI marketing vocabulary organized into four categories: AI Search Terms (AEO, GEO, LLMO), AI Automation Terms (RAG, chatbots, lead scoring), General AI Marketing Terms (LLMs, prompts, embeddings), and Technical Terms for deeper understanding.
AI Search Terms
Terms related to optimizing content for AI-powered search engines and answer systems.
AEO(Answer Engine Optimization)
Optimizing content to appear in AI-generated answer boxes, featured snippets, and direct answers.
GEO(Generative Engine Optimization)
Optimizing content to be cited and recommended by generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
LLMO(Large Language Model Optimization)
Creating content that LLMs can accurately understand, trust, and cite in their responses.
AISO(AI Search Optimization)
Umbrella term for optimizing across all AI-powered search and discovery systems.
AIO(Artificial Intelligence Optimization)
General term for making content AI-friendly across various platforms and use cases.
AI Overviews(Google AI Overviews)
AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google search results for certain queries.
SGE(Search Generative Experience)
Google's original name for AI Overviews during the testing phase (2023-2024).
Zero-Click Search
Searches where users get answers directly from search results without clicking through to websites.
Featured Snippet
Highlighted answer box at the top of search results, pulled from a single source.
PAA(People Also Ask)
Expandable question boxes in search results showing related queries and answers.
Knowledge Panel
Information box appearing on the right side of Google search results for entities.
Share of Voice(SOV)
Percentage of total market visibility your brand captures relative to competitors.
Share of Model(SoM)
How often your brand appears in AI-generated responses compared to competitors.
Citation
When an AI system references or attributes information to a specific source.
E-E-A-T(Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust)
Google's quality signals for evaluating content, increasingly relevant for AI citations.
Topical Authority
Being recognized as an authoritative source on a specific topic area.
Semantic Depth
How thoroughly content covers a topic's concepts, relationships, and implications.
Hub-and-Spoke
Content architecture with a central pillar page linking to related subtopic pages.
AI Automation Terms
Terms related to AI-powered marketing automation, chatbots, and lead management.
RAG(Retrieval Augmented Generation)
AI technique that retrieves relevant content from a knowledge base before generating responses.
Chatbot
Conversational AI interface that interacts with users through text or voice.
Callbot
AI system that handles phone conversations, often for customer service or booking.
Voicebot
Voice-activated AI assistant (like Alexa or Google Assistant) or phone-based AI.
Lead Scoring
Assigning numerical values to leads based on their likelihood to convert.
Lead Qualification
Process of determining if a lead meets criteria for sales follow-up.
Nurture Sequence
Series of automated communications designed to guide leads toward conversion.
Drip Campaign
Scheduled sequence of emails sent automatically based on time intervals.
No-Show Rate
Percentage of booked appointments where the customer doesn't attend.
Show Rate
Percentage of booked appointments where the customer attends.
Conversion Rate
Percentage of users who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, booking).
Knowledge Base
Repository of information that AI systems can reference for accurate responses.
Guardrails
Rules constraining AI behavior to stay on-topic, accurate, and brand-safe.
Escalation
Handoff from AI to human agent when conversation exceeds AI capabilities.
Intent Detection
AI determining what a user wants to accomplish from their message.
Sentiment Analysis
AI detecting emotional tone (positive, negative, neutral) in text.
CRM Integration
Connecting AI tools with Customer Relationship Management systems.
General AI Marketing Terms
Foundational AI concepts every marketer should understand.
LLM(Large Language Model)
AI models trained on vast text data that can understand and generate human language.
Foundation Model
Large pre-trained AI models that serve as the base for various applications.
Fine-Tuning
Training a pre-trained model on specific data to specialize its capabilities.
Prompt Engineering
Crafting inputs to AI systems to get desired outputs.
Context Window
Maximum amount of text an AI model can process in a single interaction.
Token
Unit of text processed by LLMs - roughly 3/4 of a word in English.
Embedding
Numerical representation of text that captures semantic meaning.
Vector Database
Database optimized for storing and searching embeddings.
Hallucination
When AI generates plausible-sounding but incorrect information.
Temperature
Parameter controlling AI response randomness - lower is more deterministic.
API(Application Programming Interface)
Interface allowing software systems to communicate and share data.
Webhook
Automated message sent between applications when specific events occur.
Automation
Using technology to perform tasks without manual intervention.
Workflow
Sequence of automated steps that accomplish a business process.
Integration
Connecting different software systems to work together.
Multimodal AI
AI that can process multiple types of input (text, images, audio).
Agentic AI
AI systems that can autonomously perform multi-step tasks.
AI Agent
AI system that can perceive, decide, and act to achieve goals.
Technical AI Terms
Deeper technical concepts for those implementing AI systems.
Inference
Process of generating AI outputs from inputs using a trained model.
Latency
Time delay between sending a request and receiving a response.
Throughput
Amount of data or requests processed in a given time period.
Model Serving
Infrastructure for hosting and running AI models in production.
Semantic Search
Search based on meaning rather than exact keyword matching.
Chunking
Splitting content into smaller pieces for AI processing and retrieval.
Retrieval
Finding relevant information from a knowledge base or database.
Generation
AI creating new text based on input and retrieved context.
Grounding
Anchoring AI responses in factual, retrieved information.
Training Data
Data used to teach AI models patterns and knowledge.
Bias
Systematic errors in AI outputs due to training data or design.
Evaluation
Testing AI system performance against benchmarks or human judgment.
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