Short answer: This is a plain-English list of the 35 marketing terms Singapore business owners hear most from agencies, from SEO and GEO to ROAS, CAPI and 小红书 notes. Each one is explained in a sentence or two, with no jargon.
Written October 2026. Where we use a platform's own definition, it's linked in the sources.
Search
What is SEO? Search engine optimisation. Google describes it as "helping search engines understand your content", so your pages show up when people search for what you offer, without paying per click.
What is GEO? Generative engine optimisation. It's the work of getting your business mentioned, correctly, in answers from AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews.
What is AEO? Answer engine optimisation. It's another name for roughly the same idea as GEO: writing and structuring your content so search engines and AI tools can pull out a direct answer.
What is a keyword? The words people type into Google, like "wedding cake Singapore". In SEO you write pages around them. In Google Ads you choose which ones trigger your ads.
What is a SERP? Search engine results page. It's the page you see after searching on Google, with ads, the map, AI Overviews and the regular links.
What is a backlink? A link from another website to yours. Links from real, relevant sites (a news article, an industry association) help search engines see you as trustworthy. Bought or spammy links can hurt you.
What are AI Overviews? The AI-written summaries that appear at the top of some Google searches, with links to sources. Google says there are no extra technical requirements to appear in them beyond being indexed and eligible to show in Search.
What is llms.txt? A proposed file placed at yoursite.com/llms.txt that gives AI tools a short, plain-language summary of your business and links to your key pages. It was proposed in September 2024, and not every AI tool uses it yet.
What is schema? Code added to a page (also called structured data) that labels information like your business name, address, prices or FAQs. Google calls structured data "a standardized format for providing information about a page", and most of it uses the schema.org vocabulary.
What is Google Search Console? A free Google tool that shows which searches bring people to your site, which pages are indexed, and any problems Google finds. Google says it "helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results."
What is GBP? Google Business Profile. It's your free listing on Google Maps and local search, with your address, hours, photos and reviews.
Ads
What is SEM? Search engine marketing. Most people use it to mean paid search ads, mainly Google Ads, though some use it to cover SEO too.
What is PPC? Pay-per-click. It's any ad model where you pay when someone clicks your ad, like Google Search ads.
What is CPC? Cost per click. It's what you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Google describes CPC bidding as paying "for each click on your ads."
What is CPM? Cost per thousand impressions (M is the Roman numeral for 1,000). You pay for every 1,000 times your ad is shown. Common for awareness ads on Meta, YouTube and display.
What is PMax? Performance Max, a Google Ads campaign type. Google says it gives access to "all Google Ads inventory", including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps, from one campaign, using Google's automation to decide where ads show.
What are Shopping ads? Google ads that show a product photo, price and shop name. Google calls them ads featuring "detailed information about specific products that you sell", set up from your product feed in Merchant Center.
What is remarketing? Showing ads to people who already visited your website, app or social page. Google now calls this "your data" segments, used to "re-engage people who have previously interacted with your brand."
Measurement
What is CTR? Clickthrough rate. It's the share of people who saw your ad and clicked it. Google's formula is clicks divided by impressions, so 5 clicks from 100 views is a 5% CTR.
What is CVR? Conversion rate. It's the share of clicks or visits that turn into a lead or sale. Google's example: 50 conversions from 1,000 ad interactions is a 5% conversion rate.
What is CPA? Cost per acquisition (or cost per action). It's what you spend on ads to get one conversion, like a sale or sign-up. Google calculates average CPA as total cost divided by total conversions.
What is CPL? Cost per lead. It's your ad spend divided by the number of leads (enquiries, forms, WhatsApp chats). For service businesses, it's often the number that matters most.
What is ROAS? Return on ad spend. It's the sales value you get back for every dollar spent on ads. Google's example: $5 in sales for every $1 of ad spend is a 500% ROAS (often written as 5x).
What is the Meta Pixel? Meta describes it as "a snippet of JavaScript code that allows you to track visitor activity on your website." It tells Meta when an ad led to a visit, lead or sale.
What is CAPI? The Meta Conversions API. It sends the same kind of events as the Pixel, but from your server, platform or CRM instead of the visitor's browser, and it's meant to work alongside the Pixel, so it can help fill the gaps when the browser side misses events (for example, because of an ad blocker).
What is GA4? Google Analytics 4, Google's free website and app analytics tool. Google says it "collects both website and app data" and uses events rather than sessions. It replaced Universal Analytics, whose standard version stopped processing data on 1 July 2023.
What is a UTM? A tag added to the end of a link (like ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=cny_sale) so Google Analytics can show which campaign sent each visitor.
What is CRO? Conversion rate optimisation. It's improving your website or landing page so more visitors take action, through clearer offers, faster pages, simpler forms and testing changes.
What is a landing page? The page people arrive on after clicking an ad or link. A good one matches the ad, has one clear offer and makes the next step easy.
Social & content
What is a lead magnet? Something useful you give away in exchange for contact details, like a price guide, checklist or free consultation. Get clear consent if you plan to send marketing to those contacts later.
What is an EDM? Electronic direct mail, the term often used in Singapore for marketing emails and newsletters. Under the PDPA, you generally need people's consent before using their email for marketing, and Singapore's Spam Control Act covers unsubscribe requests, so always include an easy unsubscribe link.
What is a KOL? Key opinion leader. It's an influencer or known expert with a large following who promotes your brand, usually paid.
What is a KOC? Key opinion consumer. It's an everyday customer with a smaller following who shares honest experiences of your product. Their posts can feel more relatable than a big KOL's.
What is a 小红书 note? A post on Xiaohongshu (小红书, also called RedNote), a lifestyle app where people share reviews and recommendations with photos or short videos. People use it to search for restaurants, beauty services, shops and travel tips.
Singapore
What is the EDGE grant? Enterprise Singapore's grant that, since 30 September 2026, replaced PSG, EDG and MRA for new applications. Some activities require pre-approved vendors and some don't, so check the latest on Enterprise Singapore's website before you plan around it. (Kopi Pixel is not a pre-approved vendor.)
Sources
- SEO Starter Guide, Google Search Central (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- The /llms.txt file, llmstxt.org (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Introduction to structured data, Google Search Central (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- About Search Console, Search Console Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Cost-per-click (CPC): Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM): Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- About Performance Max campaigns, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Shopping ad: Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- About your data segments, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Clickthrough rate (CTR): Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Conversion rate: Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Average CPA: Definition, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- About Target ROAS bidding, Google Ads Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Meta Pixel, Meta for Developers (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Conversions API, Meta for Developers (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Introducing Google Analytics 4, Google Analytics Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Collect campaign data with custom URLs, Google Analytics Help (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- EDGE grant FAQs, Enterprise Singapore (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Spam Control Act 2007, Singapore Statutes Online (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Advisory Guidelines on the Do Not Call Provisions, PDPC (checked 26 Oct 2026)
- Advisory Guidelines on Requiring Consent for Marketing Purposes, PDPC (checked 26 Oct 2026)