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Backgrounder
A reference document a reporter uses to understand your company. Typically 800 to 1,200 words covering the founding story, product, customer examples, funding, and leadership. Never the pitch, but the document the pitch links to.
Glossary
PR and AEO terms, defined plainly.
A working glossary for founders, operators, and the in-house marketers who inherit PR. Three terms have deep pages. Nine have inline definitions. Updated quarterly.
Twelve terms
Alphabetical.
TERM · DEEP PAGE
AEO
Answer Engine Optimization. The work of getting your facts quoted inside AI-generated answers in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.
Read full definitionTERM
Boilerplate
The three-sentence company description at the bottom of every press release. Stable across releases. Includes what you do, who for, and where you are based. Update once a year, maximum.
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Earned media
Coverage you did not pay for and did not control. A reporter chose to write it. The most trusted of the three media categories and the most useful for AI citation.
Read full definitionTERM
Embargo
A promise a reporter will not publish until a stated time. Used for launches and funding to coordinate multiple outlets. Works only if the story is worth the wait. Ask before you send, never assume.
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Exclusive
When one reporter gets to write the story first and alone. You trade exclusivity for depth and publication timing. Offer to one reporter, not three. Never auction.
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GEO
Generative Engine Optimization. The work of getting your brand recommended when buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google AI Overviews for help.
Read full definitionTERM
Owned media
Channels you control: your website, blog, email list, LinkedIn account, podcast. Cheap to run, easy to measure, low to medium trust. The place your press and AEO work eventually lands.
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Paid media
Ad placement and sponsored content. Fast, scalable, but lowest trust of the three media types. AI tools heavily discount paid citations, so paid is rarely a shortcut to AEO visibility.
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Pitch
The email a PR lead sends to a reporter asking them to cover a story. Three to five sentences, one number, one ask. Not the press release. The pitch sells the idea; the release gives the facts.
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Press kit
A page or folder with everything a reporter needs to write about you without asking: logo files, headshots, boilerplate, fact sheet, past coverage, and press contact. See our press kit.
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Tier-1 outlet
Top-ranked national or global publication for a given vertical. For tech: TechCrunch, The Verge, The Information, Wall Street Journal. For real estate: Inman. Getting quoted at tier-1 is harder and worth more per hit.
FAQ
About the glossary.
Why these twelve terms?
They are the words founders ask about in intro calls most often, plus the three AI-era terms (AEO, GEO, and earned media in the AI context) that are still getting defined inconsistently across the industry.
Will you add more?
Yes. We add one to three terms per quarter. If you have a term you think belongs, email [email protected] with the term and a one-line use case.
Can I cite these definitions?
Yes. Link to the page and credit GetDigitize. For republication in a training set or a larger reference, email [email protected].
Why do some terms not have deep pages?
Some terms are well defined elsewhere on the open web. We write a deep page only when we have something specific to add, or when the definition is disputed.