How SOV Tracker measures AI visibility
Every scan is a dated sample of real returned answers, not a permanent ranking. This page documents the signals we calculate, the evidence we can observe, and the limits we refuse to hide.
Revision 2026-09-11
What one scan measures
These are observable fields produced from the answer returned during the scan. They should not be expanded into stronger claims.
Brand mention
Whether the target brand appears in the returned answer after the product's canonical mention checks.
Mention count
The number of valid occurrences detected for the target brand and tracked competitors.
Mention prominence
The answer decile (1β10) containing the first valid brand mention. Deciles 1β3 mean the first 30% of the returned answer; this is not a ranking position.
Sentiment
A bounded classification of the analyzed response as positive, neutral, or negative.
Citations
Source URLs observed in provider-structured citation fields when available, merged with URL extraction from the returned answer.
AI Share of Voice
The target brand's valid mention count divided by total valid mentions for the target brand plus the configured competitor set. This is a pure competitor-relative percentage with no prominence bonus.
AI Visibility Score
A separate 0β100 score derived from measured SOV plus a 15-point prominence contribution when the first valid brand mention appears in answer deciles 1β3, capped at 100.
AI Share of Voice calculation
For the configured target brand and competitor set, SOV Tracker counts valid occurrences in the returned answer. Raw SOV is the target brand's valid mention count divided by total valid mentions across that comparison set, rounded to a percentage. No position or prominence bonus is part of Share of Voice. Raw SOV is not weighted by engine market share, prompt popularity, or prompt volume.
If no competitor comparison universe is configured, SOV is unmeasured (null), not 0% or 100%. Brand visibility can still be reported independently.
AI Visibility Score
Visibility Score is separate from raw SOV. When SOV is measurable and the first valid brand mention appears in answer deciles 1β3 β the first 30% of the returned answer β 15 points are added, capped at 100.
This prominence signal describes where the first mention appears inside one returned answer. It is not a market rank, recommendation rank, or provider-wide ranking.
Citation evidence
Some providers expose structured citation or grounding fields; when they do, those URLs are used as first-class evidence. The analyzer also extracts URLs visible in the returned answer and merges them with structured citations.
A citation means a URL was observed in the evidence available to the scan. It does not automatically mean the brand was recommended, and it does not expose every page the provider may have retrieved internally.
What we do not claim to measure
Original research rule
SOV Tracker will not publish benchmark findings until the underlying dataset has a declared prompt set, engine list, geography/locale, date range, sampling rule, failure handling, metric definitions and a reproducible artifact. A study design is not a result.
When a benchmark is released, this page is the measurement contract it must link back to; study-specific deviations must be disclosed beside the result.
See what AI answers say about your brand today
Run a dated scan, then interpret it with the limits above.