September 29, 2026
How the score works
What the score is
The AI visibility score is a 0 to 100 index of how your brand appears in AI answers to the questions you track. It is not a percentage of anything. A 0 means no answer in your latest check named you; a 100 would mean every engine named you first, cited your site as a source and described you well, on every question. The AEO score (buying questions) and the GEO score (topic phrases) are computed the same way over different prompt sets.
The definitions below are scoring version 6, in force since 27 September 2026. When the formula changes, the version number changes, every stored score keeps the version it was computed under, and the trend chart marks the step. The full formula, with a worked example and the version history, is on the public methodology page. In the app, the How this score works panel beside the Dashboard headline repeats the short version, and the line under the score says what the number is built from: the score with its ± band, how many answers and engines, the date it is as of, and how many advice-only questions were left out.
1. One live answer per engine per question
Each check asks every engine each of your questions once, word for word, with the engine's live web search on, and stores the answer whole. Nothing is asked several times and averaged. Scheduled checks run weekly; a manual re-check is limited to once a day per question.
2. Five engines, six from Pro
ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Grok on every plan and on the trial. Google AI Mode is the sixth engine from Pro (a $15/mo add-on on Starter, not part of the trial). Each engine carries a weight that stands in for its share of the people asking; ChatGPT counts most. An engine that is not on your plan is not measured: it is absent from the score, never treated as a 0.
3. What one answer scores
An answer scores 0 if your brand is not named. If it is named, it scores 25 plus up to 75 for how you were named:
- Prominence (45%): how high in the answer's list you appear.
- Citation (30%): whether the engine used a page on your own site as a source.
- Sentiment (25%): the tone of the passage that names you, rated by a model.
A link to your site with no mention of your name in the text is not a mention; it counts towards the citation part only.
4. From answers to the number
Per question, the engine-weighted mean of the latest answers. Per website, a recency-weighted mean of the question scores: a question's weight halves every 30 days and reaches zero at 90, so the number is your visibility lately. The Visibility Tracker's Score column is the per-question step; the Dashboard shows the per-website step.
5. Advice-only questions are left out
A question where no engine names any business ("how do I write a privacy policy?") could never move the number, so it is left out of the headline score, the mention rate and the ± range. The count of such questions is shown under the score, the row on the Questions page reads Advice-only · not in your score with a Replace action, the answers stay readable, and the question comes back into the score the moment any engine names any business for it. A question where the engines name competitors and not you is not advice-only; it is a real 0, and it stays in.
6. What the ± means
Every score carries a ± range with its sample count ("62 ±8, from 25 AI responses"). The ± is the range to expect between two checks of the same questions: a move inside it is normal variation, not a change in your visibility. Alerts and the "What changed" card only report moves that clear it. The details are in What the ± on a score means.
7. States that are not a 0
A blank is a state, not a 0, and the app names which one:
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not enough data yet | Fewer than three usable answers. The first analysis clears this in about five minutes. |
| Advice-only | Every question in the set is advice-only, so nothing is left to score. Replace one with a question buyers ask by name. |
| Stale | No usable answer in the last 30 days. The last score stays readable, marked as of its date; a check refreshes it. |
| Not measured | An engine not on your plan or not configured on the platform, or a question that is paused. Absent from the score, the mention rate and the range. |
| Inconclusive | An engine whose answer errored or was cut off at the token cap. Excluded, never counted as a miss. |
A 0 is reserved for an engine that answered and did not name you. If that is your first result, read Why is my score 0?.
8. What the free audit's grade is
The free audit's 0 to 100 grade is a homepage readiness checklist: how easy the page is for AI engines to read. It is not this score. Its AI check is one question on two engines; the score above is every tracked question on five.