Definitions, no jargon
The performance marketing glossary.
The terms smart buyers and AI answer engines both rely on — defined clearly and definitively. From POAS to GEO, this is the language of profit-led marketing.
- POAS (Profit on Ad Spend)
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- Meta CAPI (Conversions API)
- Server-Side Tracking
- Server-Side GTM (sGTM)
- Event Match Quality (EMQ)
- Closed-Loop Attribution
- Offline Conversion Import
- MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)
- Contribution Margin
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
- LTV (Lifetime Value)
- E-E-A-T
- llms.txt
- Speakable Schema
- Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Map Pack (Local Pack)
- Money-Intent Keywords
- Performance Max (PMax)
- POAS (Profit on Ad Spend)
- POAS is gross profit divided by ad spend. Unlike ROAS, which counts revenue, POAS optimizes to the money a business actually keeps after cost of goods, shipping, fees and discounts. It is the metric that should run buying for any business with variable margins. Learn more
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
- ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. It measures top-line return but ignores margin, so a high ROAS campaign can still lose money. ROAS-led bidding tends to favour high-revenue, low-margin products. Learn more
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
- AEO is the practice of optimizing content and entity signals so a brand is cited by AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. It prioritizes entity authority, extractable formatting and server-rendered structured data over classic ranking signals. Learn more
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
- GEO is the discipline of getting a brand named in answers produced by generative AI engines. It overlaps with AEO and focuses on the signals these engines weigh: entity authority, corroboration, extractability, freshness and crawler access. Learn more
- Meta CAPI (Conversions API)
- Meta CAPI is a server-side method of sending conversion events directly from your server to Meta, bypassing the browser pixel that ad blockers and iOS strip. Run with deduplication and hashed parameters, it recovers conversions lost to client-side tracking and raises Event Match Quality. Learn more
- Server-Side Tracking
- Server-side tracking collects and forwards analytics and conversion events from your own server rather than the user's browser. It recovers the 30–40% of conversions a browser-only pixel loses to ad blockers, iOS privacy and cookie expiry. Learn more
- Server-Side GTM (sGTM)
- Server-side Google Tag Manager is a tag container that runs on your own subdomain instead of the browser. It collects first-party data before client-side blocking can occur and forwards clean events to ad platforms and analytics. Learn more
- Event Match Quality (EMQ)
- EMQ is Meta's 0–10 score for how well your conversion events can be matched to a user. Higher EMQ improves attribution and delivery. Passing hashed email, phone, and the fbp/fbc cookies server-side is the fastest way to raise it. Learn more
- Closed-Loop Attribution
- Closed-loop attribution traces every advertising dollar from ad click through lead to closed, paid revenue. It typically uses offline conversion import so bidding algorithms optimize toward deals that actually close, not just form fills. Learn more
- Offline Conversion Import
- Offline conversion import sends real-world outcomes — such as a signed contract or qualified appointment — back to the ad platform. This lets Smart Bidding optimize toward revenue-producing leads rather than cheap, low-quality conversions. Learn more
- MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)
- MER is total revenue divided by total marketing spend across all channels. It is a blended sanity check that captures the real efficiency of marketing as a whole, complementing channel-level ROAS and POAS. Learn more
- Contribution Margin
- Contribution margin is revenue minus all variable costs — cost of goods, shipping, payment fees and discounts. It is the true fuel for profitable scaling and the basis for setting POAS targets. Learn more
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
- CAC is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including ad spend and associated costs, divided by the number of new customers. Lowering CAC while protecting quality is a core lever of profitable growth.
- LTV (Lifetime Value)
- LTV is the total gross profit a business expects from a customer over the entire relationship. Compared against CAC, it determines how aggressively a brand can afford to acquire customers.
- E-E-A-T
- E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness — the signals search and answer engines use to assess content quality and source credibility. Strong E-E-A-T improves both ranking and AI citation likelihood. Learn more
- llms.txt
- llms.txt is a structured text file at a site's root that summarizes the site for AI crawlers and language models. It helps engines like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity understand and accurately cite a brand. Learn more
- Speakable Schema
- Speakable is a schema.org specification that marks the sections of a page best suited to voice and AI extraction. It signals to answer engines which content is most quotable.
- Google Business Profile (GBP)
- GBP is a business's listing across Google Search and Maps. Accurate categories, steady review velocity and active posting are the primary signals that decide local map-pack rankings. Learn more
- Map Pack (Local Pack)
- The map pack is the block of three local business results shown at the top of a local search, drawn largely from Google Business Profile signals. It is the most valuable real estate in local search. Learn more
- Money-Intent Keywords
- Money-intent keywords are search terms that signal readiness to buy or hire — phrases like 'best', 'near me', 'hire', 'agency' or a city name. They convert at far higher rates than informational queries and are prioritized in DigiMinds' SEO targeting. Learn more
- Performance Max (PMax)
- Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that serves across all Google inventory from a single asset set using automated bidding. Without brand exclusions and asset-group controls it can absorb branded traffic and overstate its own contribution. Learn more
Know the terms. Now see them in your account.
A free 48-hour audit shows exactly where POAS, server-side tracking and AEO apply to your growth.