An AI presence audit offers a structured approach for search and brand name teams to examine just how their brand name shows up on platforms like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

It determines where the brand name is pointed out in AI search systems, how usually, exactly how accurately, and based on which sources.

Here’s a detailed procedure for just how you examine your brand’s AI presence today.

1 Specify the scope of your AI presence audit

Prior to benchmarking your AI exposure , start by defining exactly what you’re bookkeeping and where.

This extent establishes exactly how regular and similar your information will certainly be throughout systems and period.

Below’s what to clear up:

• AI systems : Which systems will you consist of in the audit? (e.g., Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot)
• Entities : Note all the brand entities and sub-entities to assess , such as your business, items, authors, assumed leaders, or execs.
• Areas and languages : Define geographical or etymological ranges, specifically if your brand name operates worldwide.

Providing this info upfront stays clear of inconsistent baselines when contrasting exposure throughout various AI versions or reporting cycles.

For example, there’s a difference in between just tracking mentions of your primary brand and tracking all attached sub-brands or entities also. For Ahrefs, it can include:

When your extent is specified, you’ll have a clear foundation for benchmarking and a repeatable structure you can make use of for future audits.

2 Benchmark your current brand exposure in AI search

The next step is to assess your existing brand visibility in search.

You can by hand check your brand’s search presence free of charge by:

• Asking comparable inquiries as your customers on ChatGPT, Problem, and Google.
• Comparing whether your brand name shows up in the AI responses, what’s cited, and just how results differ.
• Examining month-to-month or quarterly to track visibility adjustments.

Nevertheless, hand-operated checks can’t scale and are easily altered by version updates or tailored actions.

For regular, equivalent information, you can utilize a tool like Ahrefs’ Brand name Radar to track visibility across numerous AI systems in one go. Enter your brand and pick the region you ‘d like to get information for:

Remember of how metrics like your brand’s mentions, citations, perceptions, and Share of Voice adjustment across different AI search systems:

• Points out : The number of times your brand name is discussed in AI feedbacks.
• Citations : The number of times your brand name’s web site is mentioned as a resource in AI feedbacks.
• Impressions : An evaluation of direct exposure based on exactly how commonly responses having your brand name are shown in search results page.
• AI Share of Voice : Exactly how usually your brand is pointed out in AI reactions contrasted to rivals.

You can also benchmark whether people are searching for your brand in the Look need tab:

This graph demonstrates how branded search rate of interest changes gradually. An increase in search volume means more people are proactively seeking your brand, while development in search query matter indicates individuals are asking a wider range of concerns regarding you (from brand-level inquiries to specific item or feature searches).

Look into these metrics occasionally to see just how your brand name’s visibility adjustments gradually and to report the outcomes of your optimization efforts.

3 Examine well-known AI feedbacks for accuracy and sentiment

Once you’ve gathered your benchmarks, it’s time to go deeper. Begin by looking at all of the AI responses that discuss your brand in the platforms you care about.

Browse to the AI feedbacks report, choosing the AI index you care most ready to begin your analysis:

The actions will certainly resemble this in the control panel, with bolded discusses of your brand:

Attempt making use of these filters to assist make the analysis easier:

You can mix and match filters to deepen your analysis. Right here’s a handy overview with more filter combinations and ideas worth trying.

As you undergo the responses, you’ll start to discover patterns about exactly how AI states your brand name.

For instance, you may discover that your brand name appears in a great deal of relative searches, yet your web content isn’t pointed out. This suggests that the AI platform sources information about your brand from rivals or third-party, neutral sites that have contrasted you to rivals.

Various other patterns worth taking note of consist of:

• Precision : Is your brand information in the response exact?
• View and mounting : Is your brand name presented in a positive, neutral, or adverse light?
• Differentiation : Are any kind of unique characteristics and positioning of your brand present in the action, or is it generic info?
• Authority : Is your brand name offered as the lead reference with one of the most authority compared to others?
• Call-to-action: Does the reaction make you the recommended source to guide the customer on the next action in their trip?

If you notice incorrect, obsolete, or possibly damaging info regarding your brand name, make a list of the questions, feedbacks, and mentioned sources so you can conquered false information and brand name inconsistencies

Repeat this procedure for each AI search system you want to assess. You might notice that various patterns arise for each and every system.

4 Examine AI visibility for unbranded inquiries and topic associations

There are 2 types of analysis you can do here. The initial is to look for your brand name and filter out inquiries that do not have your brand. In the filter settings, set it to “Inquiry does not include {your brand name} “:

Then, examine the Subjects record to see what your brand name is frequently connected with. You can see the specific responses concerning the subject that likewise state your brand:

As an example, Ahrefs is very closely related to SEO topics such as keyword research, backlinks, and web site traffic. In many cases, if you’re visible in AI feedbacks, the core subjects you wish to be lined up with will be shown right here.

However you can also follow through with the following step to aid you identify topics you could be missing out on. Instead of doing a brand name search, this time around, just include the primary topics you wish to be located for:

It can aid to evaluate one topic at once if there are a few you intend to have a look at. Then make use of the filters to remove any type of results that mention your brand name in the inquiry, action, and citations.

Check out the Topics record once more to find sub-themes you may intend to attach to your brand name. Seek spaces you wish to shut, like where your brand is:

• Not stated, yet a rival is
• Not strongly connected with vital sub-topics in AI actions
• Missing out on content layouts AI regularly mentions (like overviews, videos, evaluations)

After that, you can close the spaces on your internet site by either publishing new pages or improving the topic coverage of existing ones.

You can make use of AI Material Assistant for this. It examines your material and helps you identify crucial subjects to cover on each web page.

5 Discover your top-cited web pages in AI reactions

Analyzing your brand name’s top-cited pages reveals which content AI systems consider most reliable, helping you comprehend, duplicate, and increase the signals driving your presence in AI search.

There are 2 methods to locate your most popular pages that are cited in AI feedbacks.

The very first is to utilize a tool like Brand name Radar, which reveals you the specific inquiries and responses you’re mentioned for. The second is to evaluate your page-level web traffic from AI by utilizing a device like Ahrefs’ Web Analytics or GA 4

Inspect your top-cited web pages in Ahrefs’ Brand Radar

Cross-check the top web pages gaining AI web traffic in your analytics data

6 Identify your finest brand name points out that improve AI presence

A major aspect of gaining brand visibility in AI is how others speak about your brand online. You can run a full audit to analyze your brand discusses all over individuals discuss you.

Doing this will certainly offer you an alternative concept of the language patterns and knowledge concerning your brand that AI is most likely to include in responses about you.

If you’re working agency-side or simply do not have time to do the complete procedure, try this faster way that will certainly help you focus on which online mentions to analyze initially.

Run a vacant search in Brand name Radar and use the filters to just consist of the AI actions that mention your brand:

Then, check out the Cited web pages record. You will certainly get a listing of all web pages that AI mentions for actions that state your brand name. For example, Zapier and Reddit are regularly pointed out in reactions that point out Ahrefs:

You can look into the feedbacks themselves for an idea of exactly how your brand name was stated.

After that look into the content pointed out on these internet sites to see exactly if (and exactly how) they state your brand name.

This analysis is useful for:

• Detecting your ideal web states and exactly how they influence the method AI additionally talks about you
• Identifying false information in AI feedbacks and finding the exact source
• Seeing what web content layouts are frequently cited in your industry (and releasing similar messages)
• Partnering with web sites that frequently obtain mentioned and often state you favorably
• Understanding how individuals (and AI) position you against your competitors

This offers a prioritized list of internet mentions that significantly influence just how AI defines your brand name. Reproduce the best ones for quick-win visibility gains while likewise reaching out to those that might require upgrading.

When you have actually recognized these significant discusses, the following action is to discover spaces you can close or possibilities your rivals have yet to touch into.

7 Contrast your exposure to rivals to close voids

To benchmark your brand name’s AI visibility against competitors, look your brand name and after that include one or more competitors like so:

You can likewise try out the AI suggestions to auto-populate your leading competitors in AI search.

In the Overview tab, you’ll be able to compare your AI visibility directly to each competitor you went into. You can see each brand name’s presence metrics like points out, impacts, citations, and AI Share of Voice for every AI search system.

Hover over the systems you care most around until you see this window pop up:

Each choice will certainly take you to a pre-filtered sight of the AI actions report.

• Just brand name : This report will reveal you queries and AI responses where the only brand mentioned is the one you’ve selected. It is terrific for examining brand-specific inquiries and feedbacks.
• With others : This report reveals questions and/or reactions that contain all the brand names you’re contrasting. It is excellent for examining topics that are most likely to state you together with competitors.
• Others just : This record reveals queries that just point out the various other brand names you’re comparing versus. It is great for locating subjects that discuss your rivals yet not you.

Take a look at these records occasionally for insights into which competitors might be growing their AI visibility promptly.

If you include a topic as component of the major search, you can additionally focus in on any kind of specific topics where competitors are pointed out yet your brand name isn’t.

Take note of the AI Share of Voice metrics to see that has the highest exposure share in reactions regarding that topic.

It’s likewise worth looking into the Mentioned domains and Mentioned pages records to identify the leading sources discussing each brand name.

Search for internet sites that discuss rivals greater than you and see just how you can boost your states within them, as well.

There are various opportunities below, relying on which affordable insights matter most to your stakeholders.

8 Turn these insights into a technique for AI presence

By this point, you’ll have a clear picture of exactly how your brand appears in AI search: what’s functioning, where you’re missing, and just how you contrast to rivals. The final action is turning those insights into action.

Utilize your findings to prioritize following actions based upon impact and initiative:

• Repair: Proper misinformation or outdated brand descriptions
• Construct: Broaden web content protection for missing topics and formats that AI cites most
• Influence: Strengthen partnerships with authoritative websites that AI depends on for citations

Relying on the job, you may need to work together with various other teams to help you apply these actions. As an example, if you have a public relations team, they may have the ability to connect to magazines and correct false information concerning the brand in other individuals’s material.

If you need to look for authorization before you can begin executing these actions, take the time to create a record for your stakeholders.

Download our cost-free AI Presence Audit Record Theme if you don’t currently have one. Change all the pink areas and summarize your essential searchings for in scorecards and quick pictures of key points.

Ultimately, transform your audit into an ongoing cycle, ideally regular monthly if you have the transmission capacity. Or else, quarterly will do.

With AI search platforms altering as quickly as they are, and competitors scrambling to win the largest share of voice, it deserves examining your visibility often.

Tape-record the exact same metrics as you performed in action two so you can see how your visibility shifts over time.

Last ideas