October 21, 2026

A question that doesn't fit, and replacing it

A question has to be able to name you

AEOTrack measures whether AI names you when a buyer asks who to choose. A question can do that only when its answers name businesses of your kind. Three kinds of question cannot:

Its answers name no business at all. The engines answer, and nobody is named.
It asks how to do something, or for information. "How to store coffee beans" or "what is a light roast" is answered with steps or an explanation, not with businesses to choose from. An answer may mention a business along the way, but not as a choice.
Its answers list software, and you sell a service. An accounting firm asked "best accounting software for small businesses" is compared with software vendors it does not compete with. Asked "best accountants for small businesses", the engines name firms like it.

"This question doesn't fit"

AEOTrack reads each question's last checks, up to four. When a question has been checked at least twice, has not named you in those checks, and is one of the three kinds above, AEOTrack says why under the label This question doesn't fit: in the Check your setup section on the Dashboard, and in Check these questions at the top of the Questions page. For example:

"How to store coffee beans" asks how to do something, so AI answers with steps and advice rather than a list of businesses to choose from. You were not named in its last 4 checks. Replace it with a question a buyer asks when choosing?

A how-to question is flagged only while fewer than a quarter of its answers list businesses to choose from: if its answers regularly list businesses like yours, it fits, whatever its wording. Software answers are judged by what the lists contain, not by the question's words, and the card needs AEOTrack to know that you sell a service (Confirm your business). A retry of an engine that was busy is part of the same check, not a second one.

The card offers:

Replace with "best coffee subscription for home brewing" (the wording varies): when AEOTrack already has a buyer-style version of the question, one click replaces it.
Suggest buyer questions: AEOTrack writes buyer questions for your business and shows them. Pick one to take this question's place. Nothing changes until you pick.
Stop tracking this question deletes the question and its stored answers. AEOTrack asks you first; replacing it is usually better.
Keep this question hides the card until the answers change, for example when a question that named nobody starts listing software vendors.

What replacing does

A replaced question is retired with its history kept, and the new question is tracked in its place, so your question count stays the same. The new question is checked on the next check (on the trial, daily while you use AEOTrack); use Check now on it to see its answers sooner. The first check of a new question is free.

Replacing one question touches only that question. To replace every question AEOTrack suggested at once, after you change your brand names or confirm a different business, see Confirm your business.

"Advice-only" and "doesn't fit"

A row on the Questions page that reads Advice-only · not in your score is a question no engine answered with any business in its latest check. It is left out of the score, and Replace on the row swaps it. This question doesn't fit reads several checks and catches more: how-to questions whose answers mention a business now and then, and software questions for a service business, which count in the score as a 0. Both ask the same thing: swap the question for one a buyer asks when choosing.

Writing a question that fits

Ask the way a buyer chooses: "best coffee subscription for home brewing", "where to buy freshly roasted beans online".
For a service, ask for providers ("best bookkeeping firms for restaurants"), not tools.
Leave your own name out: a question with your name in it is scored apart from the headline (Branded and near-brand questions).