AI Visibility, From Scratch
A complete beginner's guide to understanding AI search, why your brand needs to be visible in it, and exactly what to do first. No jargon, no technical background required.
- 1Step 1: The Shift
Search Has Changed. Here's What That Means.
Five years ago, if someone searched for "best CRM software" they'd see 10 blue links and scroll until they found a trusted review. Today, AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini generate a direct answer: "The top CRM for small teams is Salesforce, followed by HubSpot..."
Your brand either gets named in that answer, or it doesn't exist to that user.
Traditional SearchReturns a list of links ranked by relevance. User clicks through to find their answer.
1. competitor-review-site.com2. yourcompetitor.com3. anotherbrand.comAI SearchGenerates one confident answer that names specific brands. No scrolling required.
"For small teams, HubSpot offers the best free tier, while Salesforce scales better as you grow..."The key insightBrand visibility is now determined by AI models, not just Google's ranking algorithm. You need a different strategy for each. - 2Step 2: Why It Matters
Why Your Brand Needs to Be Visible in AI Answers
AI search isn't a niche trend: more and more people now research buying decisions this way. Here's what that shift means for your brand.
Risingshare of B2B research now happening through AI engines
Pre-soldAI-referred visitors often arrive already recommended
0second page: AI gives one answer, no page 2
The Risk of WaitingEvery month you delay, competitors are being trained into AI models' preferred answers. AI has a preference for brands it has already seen frequently, and the window to build early advantage is closing. - 3Step 3: The Vocabulary
Key Terms You Need to Know
The field has a lot of acronyms. Here are the six you'll encounter most, explained without the jargon. Each links to a full definition in our Glossary.
GEOGenerative Engine OptimizationOptimizing your content so AI generators include and cite your brand in their answers.
AEOAnswer Engine OptimizationMaking your content the best answer to questions users ask AI search engines.
CitationSource reference in an AI answerWhen an AI engine links to your page as the source for a claim in its answer.
Visibility ScoreComposite brand presence metricA single number (0–100) representing how often and prominently your brand appears in AI answers.
HallucinationAI-generated false informationWhen an AI makes up facts about your brand that aren't true. This is a real risk you need to monitor.
LLMLarge Language ModelThe AI technology powering ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity that generates text answers.
- 4Step 4: How LLM Metrix Helps
Your Dashboard, Explained Simply
LLM Metrix tracks your brand's presence across all major AI engines in one place. Here's what each section does. Click any to see the full feature page.
Visibility Score
A single 0–100 number showing how present your brand is across AI engines. Think of it like domain authority, but for AI search.
Citation Intelligence
Shows which sources AI engines cite when they mention your brand, down to the exact page for engines that return links (Perplexity always; others when grounding is on), so you know what content is working.
Competitor Benchmarking
Side-by-side comparison of your AI visibility vs. competitors. See exactly where you're winning and where you're losing.
GEO Recommendations
AI-generated action items: specific changes to make to your content, structured data, and site to improve your score.
- 5Step 5: Take Action
Your First 5 Steps
You now understand the landscape. Here are five concrete actions to take this week, ordered by impact.
- 1
Run your free visibility scan
See how your brand currently appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude in minutes.
- 2
Identify your gap vs. competitors
Check how often your closest competitor gets mentioned when AI engines answer relevant questions.
- 3
Grade your top landing page
Run your homepage through the AEO Content Grader to find out how AI-readable your content is.
- 4
Generate your llms.txt file
Create a machine-readable guide to your brand that AI crawlers can understand and use as context.
- 5
Turn on your alerts
In Settings → Notifications, choose which findings reach you: score moves, competitor surges, new citations, inaccurate claims. They are derived from each completed scan, so they arrive on your refresh cadence: daily on paid plans, weekly on free, plus any scan you run yourself.
Ready to see your score?
Run your first AI visibility scan in under 2 minutes. No credit card required.