AI Visibility Metrics & KPIs: What to Track
Understanding AI visibility metrics is essential for measuring and improving your brand's presence in AI search results.
Core AI Visibility Metrics
1. Mention Rate
Definition: Percentage of questions where AI mentions your brand
Formula: (Mentions / Total Questions) × 100
Example: If AI mentions you in 3 out of 15 questions, your mention rate is 20%.
Benchmark:
- 0-10%: Critical — AI doesn't know you
- 10-25%: Weak — Occasional mentions
- 25-50%: Developing — Regular mentions
- 50-75%: Strong — Frequent mentions
- 75-100%: Excellent — Dominant presence
2. Recommendation Rate
Definition: Percentage of questions where AI recommends you as a top choice
Formula: (Recommendations / Total Questions) × 100
Example: If AI recommends you in 2 out of 15 questions, your recommendation rate is 13%.
Benchmark:
- 0-5%: Critical — Never recommended
- 5-15%: Weak — Rarely recommended
- 15-30%: Developing — Sometimes recommended
- 30-50%: Strong — Often recommended
- 50%+: Excellent — Top recommendation
3. Citation Rate
Definition: Percentage of questions where AI cites your website
Formula: (Citations / Total Questions) × 100
Example: If AI cites your site in 1 out of 15 questions, your citation rate is 7%.
Benchmark:
- 0-5%: Critical — Never cited
- 5-15%: Weak — Rarely cited
- 15-30%: Developing — Sometimes cited
- 30-50%: Strong — Often cited
- 50%+: Excellent — Primary source
4. Share of Voice (SOV)
Definition: Your mentions compared to all competitors
Formula: (Your Mentions / Total Category Mentions) × 100
Example: If you have 10 mentions and total category mentions are 100, your SOV is 10%.
Benchmark:
- 0-5%: Small player
- 5-15%: Growing presence
- 15-30%: Significant player
- 30-50%: Market leader
- 50%+: Dominant
Advanced Metrics
5. Top-3 Rate
Definition: How often you appear in AI's top 3 recommendations
6. Owned Citation Rate
Definition: How often AI cites your own website (vs third-party sources)
7. Sentiment Score
Definition: How positively AI describes your brand
8. Position Score
Definition: Where you rank when AI lists multiple recommendations
How to Calculate Your Metrics
Manual Calculation
- List 15 buying questions
- Ask each to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI
- Record mentions, recommendations, citations
- Calculate percentages
Automated Calculation
Use Gerush to automatically:
- Run questions across multiple AI models
- Track all metrics
- Compare to competitors
- Monitor changes over time
Setting KPIs
Short-Term (30 days)
- Increase mention rate by 10+ points
- Get cited in at least 2 new sources
- Create 3 comparison pages
Medium-Term (90 days)
- Reach 40%+ mention rate
- Achieve 20%+ recommendation rate
- Build presence in 5+ citation sources
Long-Term (6 months)
- Reach 60%+ mention rate
- Achieve 30%+ recommendation rate
- Become top-3 recommendation in category
Metrics Dashboard
Track these metrics weekly:
| Metric | Current | Target | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mention Rate | 12% | 40% | ↑ |
| Recommendation Rate | 5% | 20% | → |
| Citation Rate | 3% | 15% | ↑ |
| Share of Voice | 8% | 25% | ↑ |
| Top-3 Rate | 2% | 15% | → |
Common Metric Mistakes
- Only tracking one metric — Use all core metrics together
- Not tracking competitors — Your score is relative
- Infrequent tracking — Check weekly minimum
- Not acting on data — Metrics without action are useless
- Ignoring model differences — Track per-model separately
Start Tracking Today
- Run baseline — Get your current metrics
- Set targets — Define 30/60/90 day goals
- Track weekly — Monitor progress
- Take action — Fix what's not working
What gets measured gets improved.