Which brands do AI answers recommend?
When buyers ask an AI engine for the best tool, the answer names a few brands and cites a few sites. Every week we ask the questions real buyers ask, and publish who gets named and which sources the answers trust.
Share of AI answers naming each brand, across the published engines. Arrows: change in points vs last week.
What the AI Citation Index measures
When someone asks an AI engine which tool, lender or cruise line to pick, the answer names a handful of brands and links a few sources. The index records which brands get named and which sites get cited, for the same buyer questions every week, so you can see where you stand and what the answers rely on.
- What we measure
- The share of AI answers that name each brand (mention rate, with a 95% range), share of voice, average list position, and which websites the answers cite.
- Which engines
- Gemini, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT, each reported on its own. Every chart says which engines it includes.
- How often
- Every week, about 200 buyer questions per industry, asked in US English. The question set stays fixed for a quarter.
- Which industries
- Help desk software, personal loans, cruise lines and email marketing.
- Who it is for
- Marketing teams that want to know if AI answers recommend them, SEO and GEO agencies that report on it for clients, and analysts who need the raw data.
- What you can do
- Check your brand free, order a $149 brand snapshot, send white-label reports to your clients, or license the raw weekly dataset. How we ask and count: methodology.
Built for the decisions, not the vanity number
Free AI visibility leaderboards rank whole industries once a month. We go narrower and deeper.
Buyer prompts, by sub-category
200 questions worded the way buyers ask, split by use case, team size and price.
"Best help desk for a Shopify store"Which sites AI trusts
Every cited source is counted, so you see which review sites, forums and media drive the answers, and where you are missing.
Variance shown, not hidden
AI answers change between runs. Every number carries its likely range, and paid snapshots ask each prompt 3 times.
Reports, not another dashboard
Written findings and fixes, done for you. Agencies get weekly white-label PDFs with their own logo.
Industries we track
One vertical at a time, done properly. Want a vertical we don't cover? Ask for it. Agencies can get one custom vertical in their plan.
Ticketing help desks and the new AI support agents, asked the way buyers ask.
Open the index Personal loansWeeklyNational lenders and loan marketplaces, by credit score, purpose and speed.
Open the index Cruise linesWeeklyOcean cruise lines, by trip type, budget and who is travelling.
Open the index Email marketingWeeklyNewsletter and automation tools for creators, stores and small teams.
Open the indexGo beyond the public index
The public index shows the top of each category. For your own brand, start free.
$0
10 buyer questions per engine, your brand next to one competitor, emailed to you.
Check your brand$149one-off
An 8-12 page PDF: you vs 5 competitors, 50 prompts asked 3 times, the gaps, the sources and 5 fixes. In 48 hours.
See the snapshot$500-900/ month
Weekly white-label reports for up to 5 client brands, with your logo, plus CSV.
Agency planBuilding a GEO tool or doing research? Get the raw weekly dataset. How we collect and count: methodology.
Learn how AI answers pick brands
Guides from the team that runs the index, written from our own data.
AI visibility questions, answered
Short answers to what marketers and agencies ask us most.
What is AI visibility?
AI visibility is how often AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews name your brand, and link to your site, when people ask them for a recommendation in your category. It is the AI-search version of ranking on page one: if the answer names three competitors and not you, the buyer may never see you.
What is GEO (generative engine optimization), and how is it different from SEO?
GEO, also called AEO (answer engine optimization), is the work of getting your brand named and cited in AI-generated answers. SEO targets a ranked list of links; GEO targets the few brands and sources an answer chooses to mention. The two overlap, because AI answers lean on the pages and review sites that already rank, but GEO is measured differently: by mention rate and citations, not by position.
How do I know if ChatGPT recommends my brand?
Ask it the questions your buyers ask, logged out, several times, and note whether your brand is named and which sites are cited. One answer is not enough, because answers change between runs. Our free check does this for you: 10 buyer questions per engine, your brand next to one competitor, emailed to you.
Which AI engines does the index track?
The index publishes Gemini, Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT. Every chart and table says which engines it includes.
How often is the index updated, and how many questions do you ask?
Once a week. For each industry we ask about 200 buyer questions, written the way people phrase them: recommendations, problems, comparisons and price questions. The question set is frozen for a quarter, so week-to-week changes come from the engines, not from us.
Why do different AI engines recommend different brands?
They search different parts of the web and trust different sources. In our September probe the engines agreed on most of the top brands in every industry we tested, but they cited very different sites: ChatGPT mostly cited the brands' own websites, while Google AI Overviews leaned on YouTube, Reddit and review sites. That is why the index reports each engine separately.
Which industries does the index cover?
Help desk and AI customer service software, personal loans, cruise lines and email marketing software. Agencies on the monthly plan can add one custom industry.
Can I use the data, or get it for my clients?
Yes. The public charts are licensed CC BY 4.0: embed or cite them with a link. For your own brand, start with the free check or a $149 brand snapshot; agencies get weekly white-label reports for client brands; GEO tools and analysts can license the raw weekly dataset.
Is your brand in AI answers?
Free check: we ask the AI engines we track 10 buyer questions about your category and email you how often they name you, next to one competitor.