Glossary.
Plain-English definitions for the terms we use across the site and in case studies. If a word here appears in your inbox or in a proposal, this is the meaning.
A
- AEO noun
- Answer Engine Optimization. The practice of structuring a website so that AI agents (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) can retrieve, summarize, and cite its content accurately. Different from SEO in that the goal is being quoted in an answer, not being clicked from a result page.
- Audit engagement
- A short fixed-fee engagement (1–2 weeks, $3k–$10k) that produces a written decision document the buyer can act on, with or without further engagement. Often the right first step for first-time founders or for buyers evaluating fit.
B
- BYO model noun
- Bring-your-own-model. An architectural pattern in AI software where the customer chooses the language model and the inference endpoint, while the application provides only the orchestration layer. Common requirement from regulated buyers.
C
- Citation chain noun
- A retrieved passage with paragraph-level pin cite that supports a claim made by an AI system. The pattern we use in legal-tech AI builds to ensure no answer ships without grounding in the firm's licensed databases.
- CRDT noun
- Conflict-free Replicated Data Type. A data structure that allows multiple writers to make local changes that automatically reconcile when they next meet on the network. The pattern we use for offline-tolerant writes in floor-ops and field-service surfaces.
D
- Decision register noun
- A written log of every meaningful decision made on a project, kept by Oviompt for the buyer. Each entry includes the decision, the rationale, and the alternatives considered. The decision register is the single most-cited artifact our buyers point to after a project closes.
- Discovery call process
- A 30-minute video call after an intent submission. We ask seven qualification questions, share our read in plain language, and commit to a written proposal within five working days. No deck.
E
- E-E-A-T noun
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially for high-stakes topics. Affects search ranking.
F
- Finite-window engagement noun
- A project with a stated start date, end date, and measurable outcome agreed before work begins. The opposite of an open-ended retainer. Every Oviompt engagement is finite.
- First Ship MVP engagement
- Oviompt's smallest finite engagement that produces a shippable product. $12k–$45k, 6–14 weeks. Designed for first-time founders and domain experts who need a working v1.
G
- Grounded generation noun
- An AI generation pattern where the model is constrained to produce only claims supported by retrieved source material. The opposite of free-running generation, which can hallucinate.
H
- Hand-off doc artifact
- A one-page document Oviompt delivers on day one of every engagement: who is on the engagement (roles, not names), what the cadence is, where the artifacts live, when the milestones are, how decisions get logged. Updated weekly.
- Hybrid retrieval noun
- A retrieval pipeline that combines lexical search (BM25) with dense vector similarity, then reranks the merged results. The retrieval pattern we use to maximize recall on a firm's licensed databases.
I
- Intent noun
- The single sentence that describes what a buyer is trying to do. If the answer is more than one sentence, the project is not yet ready for scoping.
- Intent meter interface element
- The thin horizontal rule across the top of the Oviompt site that visually represents the journey from intent to impact. Aesthetic; carries no functional state.
L
- llms.txt file
- A site-root text file that gives AI agents a structured summary of what the site is and where the important pages are. Companion to robots.txt and sitemap.xml. See our llms.txt.
M
- Multi-surface build engagement
- Oviompt's largest engagement tier. $120k–$500k, 14–40 weeks, typically spanning 2–4 surfaces (e.g., web + mobile + cloud + AI). For growth-stage companies and CTO-led buyers.
O
- Observability stack noun
- The set of tools used to instrument, collect, and visualize signals from running software: metrics, logs, traces. Oviompt's default open-source observability stack is Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, and Loki.
- OV-### identifier
- Engagement IDs assigned in order of start date. Used in proposals and the studio's private register. The register is not public.
P
- Proposal artifact
- The written document Oviompt sends within five working days of the discovery call. Always includes scope, out-of-scope, window, price, assumptions, and a single decision the buyer needs to make to accept. Never includes marketing copy.
R
- Retainer noun
- An open-ended monthly engagement. Oviompt does not sell retainers because they misalign incentives. We sell finite engagements with measurable outcomes instead.
S
- Scope noun
- The list of things a project will produce, named explicitly. Oviompt also publishes the out-of-scope list in every proposal so there is no ambiguity at the boundary.
- Service engagement engagement
- A focused engagement on one of the eight service lines (custom development, SEO/AEO, e-commerce, ERP/Dynamics, integrations, workspace, cloud/DevOps, audits). Typically $2k–$80k.
- Spine design system
- Oviompt's internal design system. A small set of CSS custom properties, layout patterns, and typography choices that are reused across every surface the studio ships.
- Surface noun
- One of the six things a software product can be: web, mobile, desktop, cloud, SaaS, or AI. Oviompt ships across all six and treats them as equally first-class.
T
- Telemetry noun
- Numerical evidence that an outcome shifted. Every Oviompt engagement defines a metric in week one and reports against it on the day we hand off. Telemetry, not testimonials.
V
- VAD noun
- Voice Activity Detection. The component of a voice agent that decides when the user has stopped speaking. Custom VAD is one of the levers we use to keep turn latency under 200ms at p50.
W
- WCAG 2.2 AA standard
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.2, AA conformance level. The accessibility standard Oviompt holds across all sites it ships, including this one.
- WIP noun
- Work in progress. In manufacturing, the count of partially-completed units between stations. A floor-ops surface should make WIP visible in seconds, not in a daily reconciliation.