AI platforms like ChatGPT are changing how people find information online. Instead of traditional search engines, many are turning to AI for answers. This shift means we need new ways to measure how our brands show up in these AI-driven results. Without tracking this, we’re flying blind when it comes to marketing.
This is a big deal because digital marketing thrives on feedback. We try something, see if it works, and then do more of what’s successful. But with AI search, it’s been a black box – until now. We need to understand how visible our brand is and if the AI is saying good things about us.
Key Takeaways
- Visibility and Sentiment are Key: Track how often your brand appears (visibility) and whether it’s mentioned positively (sentiment).
- Manual Tracking is Tough: Doing this by hand for every AI platform and every possible question is time-consuming and impractical.
- AI Search Tools Help: Tools like Peec AI automate this process, gathering data on your brand and competitors.
- Choose Your Prompts Wisely: Focus on questions your target audience asks, features you want to highlight, and problems you solve.
- Understand AI’s Sources: See where AI gets its information to figure out how to get your brand mentioned or your content cited.
- SEO Still Matters: Content needs to rank in traditional search to be found and used by AI models.
- User-Generated Content is Important: Platforms like YouTube, Reddit, and LinkedIn can be sources for AI answers.
Understanding AI Search Metrics
Broadly, metrics in AI search fall into two main buckets: visibility and sentiment.
- Visibility: This is about how often your brand or business shows up in AI search results, whether it’s in ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, or other platforms.
- Sentiment: This measures whether the AI’s mentions of your brand are positive, neutral, or negative.
The "Crazy" Way vs. The Smart Way
Trying to track this manually involves going to each AI platform, typing in prompts, and recording the results in a spreadsheet. You’d have to do this repeatedly for multiple platforms and track your competitors too. It’s a recipe for obsession and leaves no time for anything else!
The more effective approach is using specialized AI search visibility tools. These tools run the searches for you, collect data on visibility and sentiment for both your brand and your competitors.
How AI Search Tools Work
Tools like Peec AI start with the prompts you choose – essentially, the search terms you want to track. You need to pick prompts that are meaningful to your brand. Good categories include:
- Audience-Based Prompts: Questions your target audience would ask (e.g., "best CRM for a marketing agency").
- Feature-Focused Prompts: Questions highlighting key features of your product (e.g., "best CRM with built-in AI capabilities").
- Problem-Solving Prompts: Questions related to problems your product or service solves (e.g., "how to automate sales prospecting").
While people often use longer, more conversational queries with AI, these focused prompts are a good starting point for tracking. Tools can also suggest related prompts to expand your tracking.
Once set up, these tools query various AI platforms (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews) and record data on your brand’s mentions, their position in the results, and the sentiment. They do this for your competitors too, allowing you to see how you stack up.
Measuring Visibility and Position
AI search tools provide a visibility score (percentage of times you show up) and an average position (where you typically appear in the results). For example, a 90% visibility score means your brand appeared in 90% of the AI responses for the tracked prompts.
An average position of 1.7 means, on average, your brand was the second recommendation. These scores can vary significantly between different AI models.
It’s important to remember that AI results can be volatile. An AI might give a different answer each time it’s prompted. So, don’t panic if your visibility score fluctuates wildly day-to-day. Look for long-term trends instead.
Content as a Source
Beyond just being mentioned, your content can also be cited as a source by AI. This is valuable because:
- It can drive traffic if users click the link to learn more.
- It can influence the AI’s answer, potentially leading to more favorable mentions of your brand.
Tracking which of your content URLs are cited most often helps you understand what’s working and what AI models are referencing.
Gauging Sentiment
Sentiment analysis tells you if the AI is speaking positively or negatively about your brand. A high sentiment score (e.g., around 85%) is generally positive, while lower scores (around 65%) are more neutral, and scores below that can indicate negative or critical mentions.
For instance, a CRM might get positive sentiment for terms related to marketing agencies but less positive sentiment for queries about affordability if it’s expensive.
Some AI models might be more critical than others. You can often click through to see the specific AI responses and how sentiment scores were assigned.
Improving Your AI Search Performance
If your visibility or sentiment scores aren’t where you want them, here’s how to improve:
- Identify Top Sources: See which websites and URLs AI models are frequently citing for your target prompts. Tools can show you this data.
- Get Your Brand Mentioned: Aim to get your brand mentioned on those frequently cited sites. This might involve partnerships or guest content.
- Get Your Content Cited: Produce content similar to what AI models are already referencing. If AI often cites "best CRM" articles, create your own high-quality articles on that topic.
- Optimize Your Content: Ensure your content is well-written, formatted in a way AI can easily understand, and optimized for traditional search engines (SEO).
- Build Links and Rank: Get your content ranking in regular search results. AI models often use search engine results to find information.
- Influence Sentiment: Ensure that when your brand is mentioned, it’s in a positive light. This might involve PR efforts or collaborating with publications.
- Leverage User-Generated Content: Participate in conversations on platforms like Reddit and YouTube. If your brand is mentioned positively in user-generated content that AI models scrape, it can boost your visibility and sentiment.
Winning in AI search requires a strategic approach that goes beyond traditional SEO. By tracking visibility and sentiment, understanding AI sources, and creating relevant, optimized content, you can ensure your brand stands out in this evolving digital landscape.
Rodney Laws is an ecommerce expert with over a decade of experience helping entrepreneurs build and grow online businesses. He specializes in reviewing ecommerce platforms, optimizing user experience, and guiding brands toward higher conversions. His insights have been published on leading industry sites including UsabilityGeek, G2, Spendesk, and PPC Hero.
As the editor at EcommercePlatforms.io, Rodney combines hands-on knowledge with clear, actionable advice to help business owners choose the right tools and strategies. When he’s not testing the latest software or analyzing trends, he’s sharing practical tips that make complex ecommerce decisions simple.
