How BrandCitation Scores AI Visibility

Every BrandCitation report includes an AI visibility score from 0–100. This post explains how that number is calculated, what each metric means, and how to interpret results.

For the full technical methodology, see /methodology.

The core idea

We send buyer-intent prompts to AI engines (Gemini, Perplexity, OpenAI-powered models) and analyze whether your brand appears in responses. The score aggregates mention rate, citations, competitor presence, and technical readiness.

Prompt design

Prompts are grouped by intent:

• Brand — "What is {brand}?", "Is {brand} legit?"
• Category — "Best {category} in {market}"
• Competitor — "Alternatives to {competitor}"
• Problem/solution — "I need a tool for {job-to-be-done}"
• Local/MENA — Arabic and English regional variations

The free scan runs 3 prompts on Gemini. The paid audit runs 15–50 prompts across all engines.

Mention detection

We detect brand presence via:

1. Exact brand name match in response text
2. Case-insensitive match
3. Domain string match (your website URL in the answer)

A brand mention rate = mentions / total prompt-engine checks.

Citation detection

Citations are counted when:

• Perplexity (or similar) returns your URL as a source
• Response text includes your domain
• A cited page's domain matches yours

Citation rate = citations / total checks. Often lower than mention rate — many AI answers name brands without linking sources.

Share of voice

For each prompt set:

Your mentions / (Your mentions + All competitor mentions)

If you are mentioned 2 times and competitors appear 13 times total, share-of-voice = 13.3%.

Sentiment and position

We classify sentiment as positive, neutral, or negative based on how the AI frames your brand. Position tracks list order when the AI returns ranked recommendations (1st vs. 5th vs. absent).

Technical GEO score (separate)

The GEO checklist scores technical readiness 0–100:

• /llms.txt — 25 points
• AI bots allowed — 15 points
• sitemap, schema, meta, canonical, Open Graph — remaining points

This is reported alongside prompt visibility in full audits.

Score bands

| Score | Label | Meaning | |-------|-------|---------| | 0–25 | Critical | Rarely or never mentioned | | 26–50 | Weak | Occasional mentions, competitors dominate | | 51–75 | Moderate | Present but inconsistent | | 76–100 | Strong | Regular mentions and citations |

See a real example in our sample report.

Limitations

API results may differ from consumer ChatGPT or Perplexity UI. We use APIs for scalable, repeatable trend tracking and state this clearly in every report.

Try it

• Free scan — 3 prompts, snapshot score
• Full audit — complete scoring + 30-day action plan