An information acquisition apparatus configured to receive an elastic wave propagating through a test object to acquire characteristic information about the test object includes a receiver including an element configured to receive the elastic wave and to convert the received elastic wave into an electric signal, a time designation unit configured to designate a time required to acquire the characteristic information about the test object, a control unit configured to acquire area information about an area where the characteristic information about the test object is to be acquired based on the time and configured to cause a presentation unit to present the area information, and a scanning unit configured to cause the receiver to scan the test object based on the area information.