How We Measure
The report metrics behind AI visibility
TrackAIMentions measures whether AI recommends your brand in organic buyer questions, how selected competitors compare, and which prompt-level gaps explain the result.
Core report metrics
These are the concepts that appear in free checks, paid Snapshot reports, and follow-up refreshes.
Organic visibility
The number of organic buyer questions where the target brand appears. Organic questions describe a need or category without naming the target brand.
If a Snapshot has 11 organic questions and the brand appears in 3, organic visibility is 3/11.
Listed first
The number of organic answers where the target brand is the first recommended brand or product when answer order can be evaluated.
A brand can be mentioned in 11/11 but listed first in only 4/11 if competitors are usually recommended ahead of it.
Selected alternative exposure
How often confirmed competitors appear and get listed first in the same organic prompt set.
If a competitor is listed first in a use-case prompt, the report can turn that prompt into a specific action.
Other names mentioned
Additional brands, products, models, or sources that appeared in the AI answers but were not part of the confirmed competitor set.
A skincare report might show CeraVe or EltaMD; an EV report might show Tesla Model Y or Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Citation context
Source evidence attached to the answer when the answer source exposes citations. Citation availability differs by answer source.
Perplexity often exposes citations. ChatGPT-style answers may have fewer or no citations depending on the answer mode.
Scoring rules
The scoring rules are designed to prevent branded prompts from making a brand look more visible than it is in organic AI discovery.
- The target brand must not be injected into organic prompts or the organic system prompt.
- The main score counts organic buyer questions only.
- Branded and comparison prompts are used for diagnosis, not for inflating the main score.
- Reports use selected competitors for the main leaderboard and keep unconfirmed names in a separate section.
- Recommendations should cite observed prompts, competitors, answer sources, or source gaps when possible.
FAQ
Is organic visibility the same as AI Share of Voice?
Not exactly. Organic visibility is the report score based on buyer questions that do not name the target brand. AI Share of Voice is a broader industry phrase that can include several visibility calculations, so TrackAIMentions uses the more specific organic visibility label in reports.
Why does the report separate selected competitors from other names?
Selected competitors are the alternatives the user asked to compare against. Other names are additional entities the AI mentioned, which are useful context but should not rewrite the main comparison without user confirmation.
Can the same report be re-run?
Yes. A refresh can repeat the same scope after content, review, PR, or positioning work changes. Results may vary because AI answers and retrieval behavior change over time.