--- title: "Marketing Glossary for Local Businesses | Kihan Marketing" description: "Twenty marketing terms local businesses meet when they buy SEO, AI search, ads or a website, each defined in plain English with an example from a real niche." url: https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/ published: 2026-10-16 updated: 2026-10-16 author: "Kiran Dasgupta" --- # Marketing Glossary Twenty terms local businesses meet when they buy marketing This marketing glossary defines 20 terms that roofers, med spas, property managers and other local businesses meet when they buy SEO, AI search, ads or a website. Each entry gives a short definition first, then why the term matters in a real business, with an example, and the terms that go with it. By [Kiran Dasgupta](https://kihanmarketing.com/kiran/), Founder and Lead Strategist ## What do the AI search terms mean? AI assistants and Google's AI answers now name businesses and cite pages directly. These are the words for that work. - **Answer engine optimization (AEO).** Making pages AI assistants can find, trust and quote. [Read the AEO definition](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/answer-engine-optimization/). - **Generative engine optimization (GEO).** The research name for nearly the same work, from a 2023 paper. [Read the GEO definition](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/generative-engine-optimization/). - **AI Overviews.** Google's AI-written summaries at the top of some results. [What AI Overviews are](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/ai-overviews/). - **llms.txt.** A proposed file that points AI tools at a site's best pages. [What llms.txt does](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/llms-txt/). ## What do the local search terms mean? For a business that serves its own area, the map and the listings behind it often matter as much as the website. - **Local pack (map pack).** The map and short list of businesses Google shows for local searches. [How the local pack works](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/local-pack/). - **Google Business Profile.** The free listing behind the map results. [What a Business Profile includes](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/google-business-profile/). - **NAP consistency.** The same name, address and phone number everywhere. [How to check NAP consistency](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/nap-consistency/). - **Local citations.** Mentions of the business on directories and other sites. [What counts as a citation](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/local-citations/). ## What do the search basics mean? The terms that decide whether a page can rank, and how fast it can move. - **Search intent.** What a person wants when they search. [The four types of intent](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/search-intent/). - **Striking distance keywords.** Searches a page almost ranks for, on page two. [How to find them](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/striking-distance-keywords/). - **Schema markup.** Code that describes a page's facts to search engines. [How schema markup works](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/schema-markup/). - **Core Web Vitals.** Google's measures of loading, responsiveness and stability. [The three thresholds](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/core-web-vitals/). ## What do the ads and leads terms mean? The numbers and channels that decide what a lead costs and what it is worth. - **Cost per lead (CPL).** Spend divided by leads for one channel and period. [How to calculate CPL](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/cost-per-lead/). - **Conversion rate.** The share of visitors who call, book or send a form. [How to measure it](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/conversion-rate/). - **Landing page.** A page built for one offer and one action. [What makes a good one](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/landing-page/). - **Retargeting.** Ads shown to people who already visited your site. [How retargeting works](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/retargeting/). - **Local Services Ads.** Google's pay-per-lead ads for service businesses. [How Local Services Ads work](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/local-services-ads/). - **Exclusive vs shared leads.** Leads that come to you alone, against leads sold to several. [The difference for roofers](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/exclusive-leads/). ## What do the property management terms mean? Two terms that shape how management companies and apartment communities market themselves. - **Owner leads.** Inquiries from owners looking for a manager, not renters looking for a home. [Read the owner leads definition](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/owner-leads/). - **Lease-up.** The period a new community leases its units for the first time. [What lease-up involves](https://kihanmarketing.com/glossary/lease-up/). ## Where do the comparisons fit? Several terms come up most when a business is choosing between two options. These pages set them side by side, with a verdict first: - [AEO vs SEO](https://kihanmarketing.com/aeo-vs-seo/), for any local business deciding where AI search fits. - [Google Ads vs Meta Ads for med spas](https://kihanmarketing.com/med-spa-marketing/google-ads-vs-meta-ads/). - [Local Services Ads vs Google Ads](https://kihanmarketing.com/local-service-ads-vs-google-ads/), for roofers and other trades. - [SEO vs Google Ads for apartment communities](https://kihanmarketing.com/multifamily-marketing/seo-vs-google-ads/). - [Marketing agency vs in-house for property managers](https://kihanmarketing.com/property-management-marketing/agency-vs-in-house-marketing/). For data rather than definitions, see the [apartment website search benchmark](https://kihanmarketing.com/multifamily-marketing/multifamily-search-benchmark/). To have any of this looked at on your own site, ask for a [free marketing audit](https://kihanmarketing.com/marketing-audit/). ## Keep reading - [AEO vs SEO](https://kihanmarketing.com/aeo-vs-seo/): What SEO and AEO each do, side by side, and which a local business needs first. - [Apartment Search Benchmark](https://kihanmarketing.com/multifamily-marketing/multifamily-search-benchmark/): Search Console data from four apartment websites: where the clicks come from, and how to read your own. - [Free Marketing Audit](https://kihanmarketing.com/marketing-audit/): We read your Search Console and show which positions are close enough to move.