How to Actually Track If AI Is Recommending Your Brand

A practical guide to monitoring what ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude say about you.

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Hey! So I've had three clients this week ask me the same question: "How do I know if AI is recommending us?"

It's a great question. And honestly, until recently, the answer was pretty unsatisfying—you'd have to manually query ChatGPT over and over and hope you caught something useful.

But the tooling has gotten way better. So I wanted to share what's actually working for tracking AI visibility in 2026.

Let's get into it.

Why This Matters (Quick Context)

Before the how, the why: Gartner estimates that ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews represent 85%+ of current AI search volume. That's where your buyers are increasingly doing their research.

And the kicker? When AI recommends you, it's like a trusted advisor endorsing your brand to millions of people simultaneously. When it doesn't mention you—or worse, mentions your competitors—you're invisible at the exact moment of purchase intent.

So yeah, this matters. A lot.

The Manual Check (Start Here)

Before you buy any tools, do this exercise. It takes 15 minutes and gives you an immediate baseline.

Step 1: Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini (yes, all four—they each have different source preferences)

Step 2: Ask buying-intent questions in your category. Things like:

• "What are the best [your category] for [your target customer]?"
• "How do I choose a [your product type]?"
• "[Competitor name] vs alternatives"
• "What should I look for in a [your solution type]?"

Step 3: Document everything:

• Are you mentioned? Where in the response?
• Are competitors mentioned? Which ones?
• Is the description of your brand accurate?
• What sources are being cited?

This manual audit will tell you more about your AI visibility in 15 minutes than most analytics dashboards will tell you in a month.

I do this with clients before any engagement. It's often... humbling.

The Tools That Actually Work

Okay, so manual checks are great for baselines, but you need ongoing monitoring. Here's what's working right now:

1. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit

Best for: Teams already using Semrush for SEO

Semrush extended their platform to include AI search tracking. You can see:

• Brand mentions across AI platforms
• Citation sources and trends
• Competitive positioning in AI responses

If you're already paying for Semrush, this is the obvious first choice. The data integrates nicely with your existing SEO metrics.

2. Rank Prompt

Best for: Dedicated AI visibility monitoring

Rank Prompt is purpose-built for this. Key features:

• Tracks mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini
• Optimization recommendations for improving citations
• Multilingual support (great if you're targeting global markets)

I've been impressed with their alert system—you get notified when your brand appears (or disappears) from key queries.

3. Wellows

Best for: Perplexity-focused tracking

If Perplexity is a major channel for your buyers (it is for B2B research), Wellows has deep integration there. They track:

• Citation frequency
• Query coverage
• Referral traffic from Perplexity

Their blog content on Perplexity optimization is also excellent—worth reading even if you don't use the tool.

4. Ahrefs Brand Radar

Best for: Backlink-focused teams

Ahrefs now includes AI search visibility, tracking across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, and Gemini. If you're already deep in the Ahrefs ecosystem, this keeps everything in one place.

The DIY Dashboard (Budget-Friendly)

Don't have budget for dedicated tools? Here's a scrappy approach that works:

Create a weekly monitoring routine:

1. Set up Google Alerts for your brand name and key competitors
2. Schedule weekly AI audits (same questions, same platforms, document results)
3. Track in a simple spreadsheet:

- Date

- Platform (ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude/Gemini)

- Query asked

- Was your brand mentioned? (Y/N)

- Position in response (1st, 2nd, 3rd, not mentioned)

- Competitors mentioned

- Sources cited

Over a few months, you'll see patterns emerge. Are you gaining visibility? Losing it? Are certain queries better than others?

It's not as sophisticated as paid tools, but it's infinitely better than flying blind.

What Actually Drives AI Mentions

Okay, so you're tracking. But how do you actually improve your numbers?

Based on MuckRack's research, here's what moves the needle:

1. Earned Media (95% of citations are non-paid)

This is the biggest one. AI systems heavily weight third-party validation. When TechCrunch or Forbes or industry publications write about you, that signals to AI that you're credible.

One client went from zero AI mentions to appearing in 60% of category queries after a sustained 3-month PR push. Earned media compounds.

2. Recency (Citations favor fresh content)

More than half of AI citations come from content published in the last 12 months. The highest citation rates are within 7 days of publication.

This means you can't rely on that big feature from 2024. You need consistent, ongoing coverage.

3. Clear Differentiation

Corporate Ink found that when positioning isn't distinct, AI either describes brands generically or leaves them out entirely.

What makes you different? AI needs something to latch onto. If you sound like everyone else, you're invisible.

4. Source Authority

Not all coverage is equal. AI systems weight authoritative publications more heavily. A mention in the Wall Street Journal carries more weight than a mention in a random blog.

The Questions Your Tool Should Answer

Whatever approach you take, make sure you can answer these questions:

• Coverage: Are we being mentioned in AI responses for our target queries?
• Accuracy: Is the AI description of our brand correct?
• Position: Where do we appear relative to competitors?
• Sources: What content is being cited when we're mentioned?
• Trends: Are we gaining or losing visibility over time?
• Gaps: Which queries should we appear for but don't?

If your monitoring approach can't answer these, it's not complete.

A Practical Starting Point

Here's what I'd recommend if you're just getting started:

Week 1: Do the manual audit (15 min across all four major AI platforms)

Week 2: Set up a simple tracking spreadsheet, commit to weekly monitoring

Week 3-4: Trial one of the paid tools (most have free trials)

Month 2+: Correlate AI visibility with your earned media efforts. What coverage drives citations?

The brands winning at AI visibility aren't doing anything magical. They're just measuring what others aren't—and optimizing accordingly.

The Uncomfortable Part

I'll be honest: when most companies do their first AI audit, they don't like what they find.

Either they're not mentioned at all, or competitors are dominating, or the AI description is wrong or outdated.

That's actually good news. It means there's a clear problem to solve. And unlike traditional SEO where you're competing with millions of pages, AI visibility is still early enough that focused effort makes a real difference.

The companies that ignore this will wonder in two years why their pipeline dried up. The companies that measure and optimize will capture disproportionate market share.

Pretty clear which side you want to be on.

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Want help figuring out your AI visibility situation? We've been geeking out on this stuff for months. Book a visibility audit and we'll show you exactly where you stand—and what to do about it.