Measured, not mystical
How we measure AI visibility and AI opportunity
We want to win trust by being explicit about what is measured, what is inferred, and what cannot be promised. This page explains the AI Visibility Readiness Score, the Observed AI Recommendation Sample, the AI Opportunity Calculator, and the official platform guidance we rely on.
AI Visibility Readiness Score
The readiness score evaluates website, local, entity, content and evidence signals under five categories, each worth 20 points of a 100-point total. Every check resolves to one of three states, and every check is explained in the report.
Pass
We verified the signal is present. The check earns its points.
Gap
We verified the signal is missing or weak. The check earns nothing.
Not verified
We could not read enough to judge it. The check earns nothing either.
That third state matters more than it sounds. A signal we could not verify never earns credit, because a score that quietly rewards the things we could not check is a score that flatters you. It is measured separately instead, as Assessment Coverage.
01
Technical Discoverability
20 points
- HTTPS available
- Homepage is publicly fetchable
- Core page is not accidentally noindexed
- Robots directives allow core search access
- Canonical URL present and plausible
- Page title and description are present
- Sitemap is discoverable
- Important content is available as text
- Mobile viewport configured
02
Entity + Local Clarity
20 points
- Business name is clear
- Primary city/service area is visible
- Contact information is available
- About/company page exists
- Organization/local business structured data is present when appropriate
- Relevant external profiles are linked
- Real people/team information is available when relevant
- Google Business Profile/local profile can be associated where applicable
03
Service + Location Relevance
20 points
- Primary service is clearly explained
- Dedicated service content exists
- Location/service-area relevance is explained naturally
- Titles/headings accurately describe service
- Buyer questions are answered
- Relevant internal links connect supporting pages
- No obvious city/keyword stuffing pattern
04
Evidence + Authority Readiness
20 points
- Real proof elements are present
- Case studies/examples are available when appropriate
- Original resources/research/insight exist
- Authorship/expertise is transparent
- Important informational claims use appropriate sources
- External business/profile links are visible
- Real reviews/testimonials are represented accurately
- Time-sensitive content shows maintenance/freshness where relevant
05
Answer-Ready Content
20 points
- Key services/concepts are defined directly
- Process/how-it-works is clear
- Who, where, what and why are clear
- Important buyer questions are addressed
- Differentiation is concrete
- Examples/use cases are included
- Content includes non-commodity insight
- Content is scannable and logically structured
Score bands
| Range | Band |
|---|---|
| 85–100 | Strong foundation |
| 70–84 | Competitive foundation |
| 50–69 | Developing |
| 0–49 | Significant gaps |
Assessment Coverage
Assessment Coverage is how much of the check we could verify from your public website. Signals we could not verify earn no credit toward the readiness score, so an unreadable site never scores better than a verified one. It is reported alongside the score, never folded into it, so you can always see how much of the assessment actually stands behind the number.
When coverage falls below 80%, we do not publish an overall score at all. The report switches to a partial assessment and says so plainly. You still receive your verified strengths, your verified gaps, the full list of what we could not verify and the recommended next actions. What you do not receive is a confident-looking number built on evidence we never saw. Sites behind aggressive bot protection, sites that render entirely in the browser, and sites that were slow or unreachable during the scan are the usual reasons coverage lands low.
What the score means
- how ready your own site and profiles are to be found, understood and verified by search and AI systems
- which of the five categories is strongest and which has the biggest gap
- a prioritized list of actions you control
- a baseline you can re-run to see whether changes moved the signals
What the score does not mean
- it is not a ranking-factor score from Google, OpenAI, Gemini, Perplexity or any other platform
- it does not prove your brand is, or is not, recommended in any AI engine for any prompt
- a higher score does not guarantee inclusion, ranking or recommendation
- it only inspects public business information; nothing behind a login is reviewed
Observed AI Recommendation Sample
The readiness score and the observed sample are deliberately separate. The score looks at signals on your own site. The observed sample, when a sampling provider is enabled, records what AI-assisted platforms actually said in response to a fixed set of commercial queries.
What is recorded
- fixed commercial queries, with the exact text saved
- provider/platform and model where known
- timestamp of the query
- whether your brand was mentioned
- competitors mentioned
- sources and citations where available
How to read it
It is a sample, not a universal rank. An API query does not exactly reproduce what every consumer sees in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google AI Mode, because answers are dynamic and personalized. For clients we keep a fixed benchmark prompt set, repeat it on a schedule, record the platform and model, compare trends and keep exploratory prompts separate.
AI Opportunity Calculator
Inputs are your own operating data plus clearly labelled default assumptions you can change. Outputs are time potentially released, capacity value, and potential revenue opportunity where the inputs logically support one, each presented as conditional sensitivity scenarios that state what would have to be true for the figure beside them. No scenario is presented as the expected outcome, and capacity value and revenue opportunity are never added together.
Capacity value is not cash savings. Capacity value is hours released multiplied by a loaded hourly cost. It becomes a cash saving only when there is a real cash-cost mechanism, overtime avoided, a contractor not hired, a role not backfilled, and the model does not call it “savings” otherwise. Revenue opportunity is computed only from inputs and assumptions you can see and edit; it is not a forecast.
Low scenario
Conservative automation and recovery rates. Use this for planning.
Base scenario
The default assumptions, shown on every result and editable.
High scenario
What a well-adopted system could reach. Not a target and not a promise.
Model notes (version 1.0)
- Capacity value is not automatically cash savings.
- Revenue opportunity is not a forecast or guarantee.
- Use user-supplied operating inputs wherever possible.
- Do not infer lost revenue solely from response time.
Official sources we rely on
We distinguish official platform guidance from our own methodology. Nothing here implies that an optimization tactic is officially endorsed unless the source says so, and we do not claim access to any proprietary ranking system.
OpenAI, Publishers and Developers FAQ
- public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search
- do not block OAI-SearchBot if you want discoverability/surfacing
- GPTBot is a separate control related to potential training
- ChatGPT search referrals can carry utm_source=chatgpt.com
- accessibility/ARIA helps agent interpretation
Google Search Central, AI Features and Your Website
- SEO fundamentals remain relevant
- no extra special requirements for AI Overviews/AI Mode
- AI features may use query fan-out
- page needs normal Search eligibility
- important content should be crawlable/textual
- structured data should match visible content
- keep Business Profile accurate
Google Search Central, Optimizing for Generative AI Features
- useful, unique, non-commodity content
- crawlability
- good page experience
- avoid duplicate content
- semantic/readable site structure
- SEO remains foundational
Google Search Central, Search Generative AI Performance Reports
- dedicated reporting for generative AI visibility in Search Console rolled out worldwide by August 31, 2026
Google Business Profile, Local Ranking
- relevance
- distance
- prominence
- accurate/complete information
- reviews and links can contribute to prominence
Google Search Central, LocalBusiness Structured Data
- use structured data to provide factual business details
- validate it
- match real business information
Bing, IndexNow
- notify participating search engines of added/updated/deleted URLs
- not a guarantee of indexing
See the methodology in action.
Run the free check on your own website. Every score comes with its checks, its band and its limits.