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Measurement · Fractional CMO

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Definition

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring a new customer — calculated by dividing total sales and marketing spend by the number of new customers acquired in a given period. It is a primary efficiency metric for marketing investment. AI search visibility can contribute to CAC reduction by generating discovery that does not require per-click spend, though the scale and directness of this impact varies by industry and brand maturity. A brand consistently cited in AI responses to queries in its target market acquires customers through AI-assisted discovery without paying per click or per impression. Fractional CMOs helping clients build the business case for AI SEO investment often frame it as a CAC reduction strategy — AI search presence, once built, generates ongoing discovery at zero marginal cost per citation.

Brand citation rate

Prompt visibility

Conversion funnel

Marketing infrastructure

Return on investment

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