Glossary
AI and search glossary for business owners
The words that come up when you talk about AI agents, AI search, and the systems behind them, explained in plain sentences.
Plain words first
What these words mean for your business
This glossary explains the AI and search words business owners hear most, each in two or three plain sentences, with a link to where Optimus Business Solutions does that work. Optimus is a web design and custom AI agents company in Salem, New Hampshire, and these are the words that come up on almost every first call.
The terms
AI agents, AI search, and running the business
AI agents
- AI agent
- An AI agent is software that uses artificial intelligence to carry out a task, not just answer a question. It reads what comes in, decides the next step within limits someone set, and uses connected tools to act on it.
- Where we do this: Custom AI agents
- Custom AI agent
- A custom AI agent is an AI agent built around one job in a specific business, using that business's own services, hours, and rules. It works the job on its own and hands anything outside its rules to a person.
- Where we do this: Custom AI agents
- AI receptionist
- An AI receptionist is a custom AI agent that answers a business's phone. It picks up on the first ring, day or night, takes the caller's details, and passes the job to the owner as a text or a booking.
- Where we do this: AI receptionist
- Human approval
- Human approval means a person signs off before an AI agent takes certain actions, such as sending a quote or changing a booking. The owner decides which steps the agent handles alone and which wait for a yes.
- Where we do this: Custom AI agents
- Pilot to production
- Pilot to production is the step from testing an AI system on a small, watched slice of real work to running it as part of the business every day. The pilot proves the job is done right; production is when the business relies on it.
- Where we do this: AI consulting
AI search
- AI Overview
- An AI Overview is the AI-written summary Google shows at the top of some search results. It answers the question in a few sentences and links to the pages it drew from, so being one of those sources is the new first place to be.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
- AI Mode
- AI Mode is Google's conversational search, where a person asks a full question, gets an AI-written answer with links, and asks follow-up questions. Businesses show up in it when their website and listings state clear, consistent facts.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
- AI search optimization
- AI search optimization is the work of getting a business found and recommended on Google, on maps, and in AI answers such as ChatGPT and Google AI Mode. It covers the website, the business listings, the reviews, and the structured facts AI reads.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
- Entity
- An entity is one clearly identified thing that search engines and AI keep facts about, such as a business, a person, or a place. When every page and profile describes a business the same way, they are read as one entity and stop being confused with others that share its name.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
- Schema markup
- Schema markup is structured data added to a web page's code that states facts in a form machines read directly: the business name, location, hours, services, and reviews. It helps Google and AI assistants understand a page without guessing.
- Where we do this: Custom-coded websites
- sameAs
- sameAs is a schema markup property that lists a business's official profiles elsewhere on the web, such as its Google Business Profile, Facebook Page, and LinkedIn Page. It tells search engines that all of those profiles belong to the same entity.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
- Business Profile
- A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows a business on Google Search and Google Maps, with its hours, phone number, reviews, and photos. It is often the first thing a customer sees, and it feeds what AI answers say about the business.
- Where we do this: AI search optimization
Running the business
- Workflow automation
- Workflow automation is software that carries out the routine steps of a process on its own, such as texting back a missed call, sending a booking reminder, or asking for a review. Each step runs when something triggers it, without anyone pressing a button.
- Where we do this: Workflow automation
- CRM
- A CRM, short for customer relationship management, is the system that keeps every customer and lead in one place, with their calls, messages, jobs, and follow-ups. It is how a business remembers who to call back, and when.
- Where we do this: CRM setup
Compare your options
Side-by-side comparisons, in plain words
Each one ends with which choice fits which kind of business.
Ask us what any of this means for your business
Salem, New Hampshire based, in person across southern NH and remote worldwide. Our specialty is the trades, and we help any small business. Give us 15 minutes and we will show you exactly what we would build for your business. You own everything we build.