How to measure AI search visibility.

Report two rates for each platform and mode. Mention rate is completed answer captures naming the brand divided by completed captures. Source-citation rate is source-bearing captures linking to the agreed owned domain divided by captures with source lists available for inspection. Show numerator and denominator for both, plus failed and source-unavailable captures separately. A brand name is not a source citation.

Not cleanly in V1. Some tools have APIs, but subscription surfaces are often better captured manually and checked by a human. Google AI Overview capture can need paid SERP data, so TomHow labels the limitation instead of inventing certainty.

Start with 20 to 30 prompts, 3 competitors, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, basic search data, and a technical AEO check.

Yes, when it describes completed observations over a defined panel. For example, zero owned-domain citations in 20 source-bearing answers is 0/20 for that panel. Twenty failed requests is unavailable evidence. Neither result alone identifies the repair; inspect access, relevance and cited sources before acting.

A single score hides the useful detail. You need the prompts, platforms, sources, competitors, and limitations before deciding what to fix.

If buyers now ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, or Google before they shortlist you, the report has to show more than rankings. It has to show where the brand appears, where competitors are cited, which URLs support the answer, and what gets fixed next.

A visibility report is only useful once the prompt set, platform checks, competitor list, technical findings, and evidence rules are fixed. The GBP 2,250 paid audit builds that baseline first. See the paid audit.

1. Prompt set. Agree the buyer questions, problem questions, reporting questions, and competitor questions worth tracking.

2. Evidence capture. Check the selected prompts across AI systems and record brand mentions, citations, competitors, source URLs, and limits.

3. Diagnosis. Check access, page relevance, public facts and cited sources independently. Keep confirmed defects separate from possible explanations of missing citations.

4. Action plan. Turn the evidence into the first work list: pages to fix, pages to publish, schema to add, and prompts to rerun.

An AI search visibility report shows how a brand appears across AI answers and search surfaces. It should include prompts, platforms, cited brands, cited URLs where exposed, competitor mentions, search data, limitations, and next actions.

An AI citation tracking report is the prompt-level evidence table inside the wider visibility report. It records whether AI systems mention or cite your brand, your competitors, or another source instead.

Yes. TomHow publishes a fabricated sample monthly report so buyers can inspect the structure. It uses Acme Industries sample data only and contains no real client data.

Monthly is usually enough for leadership reporting. Weekly prompt checks can feed the monthly report if the prompt set is stable.

Screenshots can support the report, but they should not be the report. The source table is more important because it records prompt, date, platform, mode, and citation result.

A ranked action list. The point is to decide what to publish, fix, rewrite, promote, or rerun next.

No. A credible report shows evidence, limits, gaps, and the work most likely to improve citation eligibility. Guaranteed AI citations would be fake certainty.

AI search visibility is measured by prompt-level evidence, not by a vague score. The clean version records what buyers ask, which tools answer, which brands are cited, which brands are absent, and what cannot be measured yet.

The safe measurement stance is simple: record the platform, prompt, mode, date, source, and limitation before making a visibility claim. Missing citations count as evidence when the prompt is commercially relevant.

Primary references

These are platform requirements, not measured TomHow results. Google eligibility does not guarantee inclusion. OpenAI documents search access separately from training access. Check the current guidance before changing crawler controls or buying an optimisation claim.

• Google AI features: eligibility, access and measurement Normal SEO, indexed pages and snippet eligibility; no special AI schema is required.
• Google generative AI optimisation guidance Useful original content and the limits of AI-specific files and formatting.
• OpenAI crawler roles and controls Search, training and user-request access have distinct roles.

Prompt set

The prompt set should reflect how a real buyer researches the category: shortlist prompts, comparison prompts, audit prompts, reporting prompts, and problem prompts.

• Buyer shortlist prompts
• Competitor comparison prompts
• Audit and reporting prompts
• Problem and fix prompts
• Industry-specific prompts

Platform split

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews do not expose the same answer formats, sources, or reporting data. Preserve the split instead of blending everything into one score.

• ChatGPT capture with mode and citations recorded
• Claude capture with answer mode and source availability recorded
• Gemini browser or subscription capture kept separate
• Perplexity capture with answer links and source pages recorded
• Google AI Overview availability logged separately

Citation scoring

Record brand mentions and owned-domain source links separately. A competitor source link shows that source appeared in the observed answer; it does not prove a lost sale or replacement. A completed source-bearing answer without the agreed domain records absence for that capture. Failed and source-unavailable captures remain unavailable.

• Brand mentioned
• Brand cited with URL
• Competitor mentioned
• Competitor cited with URL
• No brand cited

Source types

Classify the exposed source URLs as research, comparisons, service pages, community discussion, profiles or documentation. Open the URL and check what it supports. Source patterns suggest what to investigate; they do not establish that copying a source type will earn inclusion.

• Agency service pages
• Tool comparison pages
• Research and benchmark pages
• Community discussions
• Technical docs and policies

Corroboration check

A weak brand footprint can have a decent website and still be absent from AI answers. Measurement should check whether the same entity is repeated on the site, in trusted profiles, and in independent sources.

• Owned evidence: audit page, resource pages, proof notes, report examples, schema, and llms.txt
• Third-party evidence: profiles, directories, reviews, partner mentions, expert posts, and public references
• Description consistency: same service label, same audience, same offer, same founder or company identity
• Source eligibility: pages are crawlable, indexable, text-readable, and internally linked
• Movement proof: rerun the same prompts after evidence ships before claiming progress

Google AI Overviews

Google documents AI feature traffic in Search Console and its current generative guidance describes additional eligibility and performance reporting. Check what the actual property and supported API expose. Aggregate search performance is distinct from a preserved prompt-by-prompt answer and source table; an unavailable report is not a measured zero.

• Search Console is useful but limited
• AI Overview answer text needs separate capture
• Citation lists need manual checks or a SERP provider
• Platform gaps should be logged
• Traffic and citation evidence should not be mixed

Technical access

Check crawl access, indexation, snippet controls and whether the main answer is readable text. Google requires an indexed page eligible for a search snippet to show it as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Other providers have their own retrieval controls. A technical pass establishes a checked condition, not selection or citation.

• Robots and CDN rules checked
• Important content available as text
• Schema matches visible copy
• PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User policy reviewed where relevant
• llms.txt treated as a map, not a ranking lever

Trend rules

AI answers vary. A clean measurement system uses a stable prompt set, records capture conditions, and avoids claiming progress from one lucky answer.

• Same prompt set rerun
• Same country and mode noted
• Small samples marked as directional
• Prompt changes logged
• Monthly narrative tied to shipped work

Citation tracking

An AI citation tracking report records the prompt, platform, answer state, cited brand, cited URL where exposed, competitor, source type, and next move. That source row is what keeps the report honest.

• Evidence id and capture date
• Exact prompt text and prompt cluster
• Platform, mode, and country when known
• Brand present, brand absent, competitor present, or no useful citation
• Support check and data quality note

Sections

A useful report states where the brand was absent, which sources appeared and what independently checked defects need attention. Absence alone does not identify a cause. Label possible explanations as hypotheses, give each action an owner and preserve enough detail to repeat the check. Keep the executive summary short and the appendix inspectable.

• Executive summary
• Visibility snapshot
• AI citation tracking index
• Competitor citation comparison
• Technical AEO, content, and authority roadmap

Corroboration

If competitors keep appearing, the report should not stop at naming them. It should explain what public evidence they have that the audited brand lacks, then split the fix between owned pages and third-party corroboration.

• On-site evidence: service pages, audit method, report examples, schema, FAQs, and internal links
• Third-party evidence: profiles, listings, reviews, partner mentions, guest posts, directory entries, and founder content
• Consistency check: same name, offer, audience, and category wording across each source
• Source gap: which outside pages AI systems already cite or repeat
• Rerun rule: no movement claim until the same prompt set is checked again

If this page describes the problem you have, the next useful step is a dated audit with prompts, competitors, technical checks, and a signed action plan.

• Paid audit
• AI search services
• GEO services
• AEO services
• Sample report
• Recovery plan
• Resource library
• Tools
• Local SEO for service businesses
• Website audit scope
• AI citation tracking service
• Start the audit