Explore the industry guides and how we investigate visibility gaps.
Write the codebook first
Define a named mention, a source citation, a recommendation, and an accurate description. Decide how you handle aliases, ambiguous names, answers without business lists, and failed requests. Apply the same definitions before and after a change.
For example, count an explicit business name as a mention, but review whether it refers to the right entity. A matching string alone is not sufficient when businesses share names.
Keep comparable samples
Use the same questions, location context, and engine modes when comparing periods. Repeat questions when feasible and retain variability. Keep newly discovered questions in a separate cohort until you establish their baseline.
Avoid combining branded and unbranded observations. Report individual engines as well as any aggregate so a changing sample mix cannot silently drive the headline number.
Explain the arithmetic
Mention rate equals observations containing a valid mention divided by valid observations. Citation rate uses cited source links instead. If multiple competitors appear in one answer, their mention rates can sum to more than 100%. This is not an exclusive share of a fixed pie.
Use percentage points for differences between rates: 15% to 35% is a 20-point increase. Preserve raw counts so a reader can inspect the result.
Annotate, do not over-attribute
Log a service-page edit, a new citation, or a product change next to the time series. These annotations provide context; they are not proof that one event caused the next observation.
Describe the limitations in the report itself. A small hand-selected panel helps understand a business problem but does not represent all customers or all possible answers.
Questions worth asking
Should errors count as non-mentions?
No. Report errors separately; otherwise an outage can look like a visibility decline.
Can rates exceed 100%?
A single business's mention rate cannot. The sum of several businesses' rates can, because an answer may mention multiple businesses.
Sources & scope
Platform documentation below supports the technical context. The suggested workflows and examples are our editorial recommendations, not claims of measured customer results or access to private ranking systems.
Google: AI features and your websiteContinue the investigation
- What Is AI Search Visibility?
- How to Audit Your Law Firm's Visibility Across ChatGPT, Gemini and Google
- How ChatGPT Chooses Which Lawyers to Recommend
Make the method concrete: explore an example visibility report. The tool is a demonstration, not a live audit.