The 47 AI Visibility Signals.
The exact signals answer engines use to decide who to cite and who to recommend. Every audit we run scores all 47. Every fix we recommend traces back to one of these.
47
signals audited
4
AI answer engines
7
signal categories
100
point visibility score
Seven categories. Forty-seven signals.
Each category represents a distinct layer of AI visibility. A weakness in any one layer drags down your overall score. A strength in all seven is what makes AI engines recommend you.
AI Answer Engine Presence
8 signals · #1–8
Structured Data & Technical
8 signals · #9–16
Content Engine
7 signals · #17–23
Reviews & Reputation
7 signals · #24–30
Citations & Entity
8 signals · #31–38
Social & Brand Signals
5 signals · #39–43
Competitive Position
4 signals · #44–47
YOUR SCORE
How do you stack up?
Get all 47 scored across 4 engines.
AI Answer Engine Presence
Whether your business appears when a customer asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Claude who to hire. This is the bottom line — every other signal feeds into it.
ChatGPT mention count
How often ChatGPT names your business in local service queries.
Why it matters: ChatGPT has 400M+ weekly active users. If it doesn't name you, you don't exist to them.
Perplexity mention count
How often Perplexity cites your business in its sourced answers.
Why it matters: Perplexity is the fastest-growing answer engine and shows its sources — a citation here is visible proof.
Google AI Overviews / Gemini mention count
Whether you appear in Google's AI-generated answer summaries.
Why it matters: AI Overviews now appear in 13–48% of Google searches. Page 1 ranking no longer guarantees inclusion.
Claude mention count
How often Claude names your business in local recommendations.
Why it matters: Claude is increasingly used for research and comparison. A fourth engine widens your visibility surface.
Mention position
When you are mentioned, are you first, top 3, or buried?
Why it matters: AI answers privilege the first 1–3 names. Position 4+ gets a fraction of the trust.
Mention sentiment
Is the mention positive, neutral, or negative?
Why it matters: A negative mention can be worse than no mention. AI synthesizes sentiment from reviews and content tone.
Competitor mention gap
The delta between your mention count and the market leader's.
Why it matters: If a competitor has 9 mentions and you have 0, that's 9 lost customer touchpoints per query cycle.
Cross-engine visibility score
Your aggregate score across all four engines (0–100).
Why it matters: A single engine isn't enough. Customers switch between engines. You need presence everywhere they ask.
Structured Data & Technical
The machine-readable layer. Without schema markup and proper technical structure, AI engines cannot understand your services, hours, or service area. This is the #1 technical blocker for AI citations.
Schema markup detected
Structured data (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ, Review) in your site's HTML.
Why it matters: Without schema, AI engines cannot understand your service structure, hours, or service area. This is the #1 technical blocker.
llms.txt file present
A structured file at your domain root that gives LLM crawlers guidance about your business.
Why it matters: Its absence means AI engines guess at your identity. llms.txt gives them structured guidance so they cite you correctly.
AI-readable content
Semantic HTML, proper heading hierarchy, clean text extraction.
Why it matters: If your content is buried in JavaScript or images, AI crawlers can't read it. They skip you and cite a competitor whose content is parseable.
Pages indexed
How many of your pages search engines and AI crawlers have discovered.
Why it matters: Few indexed pages means a small surface area for AI engines to discover and cite your services. Competitors with 20–60+ pages win.
Mobile page speed
How fast your site loads on a mobile device (best practice: under 2.5 seconds).
Why it matters: Slow mobile speed reduces crawl frequency and signals poor site quality to AI engines. Every second over 2.5s costs you.
Domain age
How many years your domain has been active.
Why it matters: Older domains carry authority signals. A 12–20 year domain is a trust signal AI engines weigh, though fresh content can offset new domains.
HTTPS / SSL
Whether your site is served over a secure connection.
Why it matters: Non-HTTPS sites are flagged as insecure by browsers and deprioritized by AI crawlers. This is table stakes.
Robots.txt + crawlability
Whether your robots.txt allows AI crawlers (GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended).
Why it matters: Blocking AI crawlers in robots.txt makes you invisible to them. Many sites accidentally block the very engines they want to appear in.
Content Engine
AI engines cite content. No blog, no service pages, no FAQ = nothing to cite. Every competitor with measurable AI mentions has an active content engine. This is where citations are born.
Blog / content engine active
A regularly updated blog or resource section on your site.
Why it matters: No blog means zero organic content for AI engines to cite. Every competitor with measurable mentions has an active blog.
Service pages
Dedicated pages for each service you offer (e.g. /ac-repair, /furnace-installation).
Why it matters: AI engines look for service-specific pages to cite. A single 'Services' page is too generic. Dedicated pages signal depth.
FAQ schema / Q&A content
Question-and-answer content structured with FAQ schema markup.
Why it matters: AI answers are built from Q&A content. FAQ schema directly feeds the format AI engines prefer to cite.
Location / landing pages
Geo-specific pages for each city or area you serve.
Why it matters: Local AI queries include location. A page like 'AC repair Mesa' gives AI a specific, citable result for 'best AC repair in Mesa.'
Content recency
How recently your content was published or updated.
Why it matters: AI engines weight freshness. A blog last updated 2 years ago signals a dormant business. Recent content signals active authority.
Content depth
Whether your pages are comprehensive (1000+ words, multiple sections) or thin.
Why it matters: Thin pages get skipped. AI engines cite comprehensive, well-structured content that fully answers a question.
Before/after galleries & visual proof
Visual evidence of your work — project galleries, case studies, photos.
Why it matters: AI synthesizes visual proof for trust. Before/after galleries are especially powerful for trades, dental, and med spa verticals.
Reviews & Reputation
AI engines use review count as a trust and relevance signal. 34 reviews after 14 years signals a dormant business. Review velocity and cross-platform presence are what AI models actually weigh.
Google review count
The total number of Google reviews your business has.
Why it matters: AI engines use review count as a trust and relevance signal. Low count after years in business signals dormancy.
Google rating
Your average star rating on Google (1.0–5.0).
Why it matters: Below 4.0 and AI engines may deprioritize you. Above 4.5 signals consistent quality. The threshold matters.
Yelp review count + rating
Your presence and score on Yelp.
Why it matters: Yelp is a primary citation source for AI engines. A weak or absent Yelp profile means AI has less to reference.
Review velocity
How recently your last review was posted and your monthly review rate.
Why it matters: A burst of reviews 3 years ago then nothing signals you were good once. Steady velocity signals an active, trusted business.
Review response rate
What percentage of reviews the owner has responded to.
Why it matters: Owner responses signal active management. AI engines and consumers both interpret high response rates as a sign of an engaged, reliable business.
Cross-platform review presence
Reviews on vertical-specific directories (Healthgrades, AVVO, DealerRater, Angi, etc.).
Why it matters: Industry-specific directories are strong AI citation sources. Their absence means AI has fewer trust signals to synthesize.
Review sentiment distribution
The ratio of positive to neutral to negative reviews.
Why it matters: AI synthesizes sentiment. A 4.5 rating with mostly lukewarm reviews reads differently than 4.5 with enthusiastic ones.
Citations & Entity
AI engines synthesize reputation from third-party mentions. Only 68% of business contact info on ChatGPT matches Google Business Profiles. Citation consistency and entity presence are what make AI trust you enough to cite.
Google Business Profile completeness
Whether your GBP is fully filled out — services, hours, photos, description, posts.
Why it matters: GBP is the primary local business data source AI engines reference. An incomplete profile means AI has gaps to fill — or skips you.
NAP consistency
Name, Address, Phone consistency across the web (directories, your site, GBP).
Why it matters: 62% of consumers avoid businesses with incorrect info. AI engines detect NAP inconsistency and deprioritize inconsistent businesses.
Third-party directory citations
Your presence on Yelp, TripAdvisor, Angi, HomeAdvisor, BBB, and industry directories.
Why it matters: Directories are among the most-cited sources in AI answers. Their absence means AI has fewer authoritative references for you.
Wikipedia / Wikidata entity
Whether your business has a structured entity in Wikidata or Wikipedia.
Why it matters: AI engines use Wikidata as a canonical entity source. Having an entity means AI can disambiguate you from similarly-named businesses.
Reddit / Quora mentions
Whether real users mention your business on Reddit, Quora, or forum communities.
Why it matters: Reddit and Quora appear in 5–10% of AI citations. Organic community mentions are a strong trust signal AI weighs heavily.
'Best of' listicle presence
Whether your business appears in 'best [service] in [city]' listicles and roundup articles.
Why it matters: Listicles account for 25%+ of AI citations. Being in a 'best HVAC in Mesa' listicle directly feeds AI recommendations.
News / PR mentions
Whether local or industry news outlets have mentioned your business.
Why it matters: News mentions are high-authority citation sources. A single local news feature can boost AI visibility significantly.
Industry-specific directory presence
Presence on vertical directories (ADA for dentists, Martindale for lawyers, ASE for auto, etc.).
Why it matters: Vertical directories are niche authority signals. AI engines weigh them heavily for industry-specific queries.
Competitive Position
Your signals don't exist in a vacuum. AI engines compare you to competitors. If every competitor has schema and you don't, you're the weakest signal in the set — and AI skips you.
Market average AI mentions vs yours
How your total AI mentions compare to the average in your market.
Why it matters: If the market average is 5 mentions and you have 0, you're below the floor. AI won't recommend the invisible option.
Top performer gap
The delta between your visibility and the top performer in your market.
Why it matters: The top performer sets the bar. Closing this gap is the difference between being mentioned and being the recommendation.
Review volume vs market average
How your review count compares to the competitive set.
Why it matters: 34 reviews vs a market average of 120 means AI sees you as less established. Closing this gap is a quick win.
Visibility grade relative to competition
Your letter grade (A–F) based on aggregate signal strength vs competitors.
Why it matters: If every competitor is grade D and you're grade F, you're the only business AI won't recommend. Grade parity is the minimum threshold.
Now see how you score on all 47.
The $97 AI Visibility Snapshot checks all 47 signals across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude — in 24 hours. If you're already the answer, we refund it.
One email. One PDF. One follow-up. Then we stop unless you reply.
Social & Brand Signals
Minimal social activity signals to AI engines that the business is dormant or low-authority. Social presence feeds AI's assessment of how active and trusted your brand is.
Facebook page + activity
An active Facebook business page with recent posts.
Why it matters: Facebook is still a primary business discovery channel. Zero posts in 90 days signals dormancy to AI engines.
Instagram presence + engagement
An Instagram account with followers, recent posts, and engagement.
Why it matters: Instagram is a visual discovery signal, especially for trades, beauty, food, and wellness verticals. AI cross-references it.
LinkedIn company page
A LinkedIn company page with employee connections and updates.
Why it matters: LinkedIn signals professional legitimacy. B2B and service businesses benefit from an active company presence.
Social momentum score
An aggregate measure of your posting frequency and engagement across platforms.
Why it matters: A low momentum score (under 4/10) signals to AI that the business is inactive. High momentum correlates with AI citations.
Brand mention volume
How many times your business name appears across the web (news, blogs, forums, social).
Why it matters: AI engines count brand mentions as a relevance signal. Zero mentions means AI has no external corroboration of your existence.