GEO only works when it is measured properly, and measurement has always been at the core of what we do. For over fifteen years we have built the analytics, attribution and reporting frameworks that connect search activity to commercial outcomes, and we now apply that same discipline to AI search. The metrics are new, but the principle is not: define a clear baseline, track it consistently, and tie every change back to results.
AI search tracking is still an emerging field, much of it manual, and that is exactly where rigour pays off. We are tool-agnostic, building the right stack around your needs rather than selling you a platform, and we focus relentlessly on the metrics that matter: how often you are cited, how you compare to competitors, and whether AI visibility is converting. The result is a clear, repeatable picture of your position in AI search and proof of the value it delivers.
Request an AI Visibility AuditWe build the measurement framework that shows where your brand appears in AI search, how it compares to competitors, and what that visibility is worth commercially. It's the measurement layer of the tactical deployment within our wider GEO agency strategy, working alongside technical GEO, content optimisation and digital PR to prove and grow your visibility across AI search.
Before optimising anything, you need a baseline. We define the set of prompts you want to be associated with, measure how often you appear across them, and express that as a share of voice you can track over time and against competitors. This turns a vague sense of "are we showing up in AI" into a concrete benchmark, so every later change can be measured against a clear starting point.
Share of voice is only reliable if it is measured consistently, so we run systematic prompt tests across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews. For each priority prompt we log the appearance type (cited, mentioned or absent), the competitors named alongside you, the descriptor the engine uses for your brand, and the change since the last test, with screenshots as evidence. Repeated monthly, this becomes a dependable read on whether your visibility is improving.
AI engines reference brands in two ways, and both matter. A citation links to your page, more common in Perplexity and Copilot, and can drive measurable traffic. A mention names your brand without a link, common in ChatGPT, and shapes perception even when no click is recorded. We track both, along with the sentiment and context around them, because mentions often evolve into citations as engines reinforce your authority, making them an early indicator of progress.
Most analytics setups misclassify AI traffic as direct, so it goes uncounted. We configure GA4 to recognise AI referrers such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot as a distinct channel, then handle the harder reality that a significant share of AI traffic arrives with its referrer stripped, particularly from mobile apps. Using landing-page pattern analysis as a backstop, we surface the AI-driven sessions that would otherwise hide inside direct traffic.
A large share of AI citations comes from community platforms such as Reddit, YouTube, Quora and LinkedIn, where AI finds authentic, experience-led discussion. AI discovery leaves fingerprints in Search Console. We monitor for growth in long, conversational queries, an indicator of AI-assisted discovery, and for uplift in branded search, which often reflects the two-step pattern where someone learns about you through an AI answer then searches your name to verify. These signals help confirm AI influence even where direct referral data is thin.
Visibility is relative: what matters is how often you are cited compared to the brands competing for the same answers. We track which competitors appear alongside or instead of you across your priority prompts, where their coverage is stronger, and how your share of voice shifts against theirs over time. This turns measurement into direction, showing exactly where the opportunity to displace a competitor sits.
Traffic and mentions matter far more when tied to outcomes. We segment key events such as enquiries, quote requests and sales by AI referral source, and compare AI conversion rates against organic, so the commercial value of AI visibility is clear. Connecting citations to pipeline is the most persuasive evidence there is, and it is what moves GEO from an experiment to a funded channel in stakeholders' eyes.
All of this only creates value if it is legible to the people who make decisions. We build a single, consistent reporting view that brings visibility, share of voice, referral traffic and conversions together, translate the technical detail into clear commercial outcomes, and review it on a monthly cycle. Crucially, the reporting feeds back into your technical, on-site and off-site GEO work, showing which activity actually moved the needle.
We run your category’s real prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to show exactly where you’re cited, where competitors appear without you, and your Share of Citation baseline. Book an AI footprint audit to get your prioritised plan.
Book an AI footprint auditBuyers were researching providers through AI tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity and Six Degrees wasn't being recommended.
Our three-pillar GEO strategy fixed that, earning the #1 AI Overview citation for "penetration testing services" and lifting AI Share of Voice from 0% to 20% for core security products in seven days.
The result: +200% penetration testing conversions and +500% across managed security services.
Read our GEO case study
Traditional SEO reporting measures rankings, impressions and clicks. AI search tracking measures something rankings cannot capture: whether your brand is cited or mentioned inside AI-generated answers, how it is described, and how that compares to competitors. It blends new metrics such as citation rate and share of voice with familiar ones like referral traffic and conversions. The data is also harder to collect, often requiring manual prompt testing alongside analytics, because AI platforms do not yet offer the equivalent of Search Console.
Yes, though the discipline is still maturing and partly manual. The most reliable method is structured prompt testing: running your priority questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews on a regular cycle and logging whether you are cited, mentioned or absent, who appears alongside you, and how that changes over time. Combined with referral and conversion data from your analytics, this gives a dependable picture of your AI visibility and its trend, even before platform-native reporting catches up.
Because GA4 does not recognise most AI platforms as referral sources by default, so it files those visits under direct. On top of that, a large share of AI traffic arrives with its referrer stripped, especially from within mobile apps, so even careful setups miss some of it. We fix the classification by building a dedicated AI channel grouping, and we use landing-page pattern analysis to surface the sessions that still hide inside direct, so AI traffic is measured rather than lost.
UPDATE: Recently Google has released a reporting dimension into GA4 "AI Assistants" which aims to classify this traffic pattern on all known AI platforms from Direct and Referral (not including AI Overviews).
The core metric is citation frequency: how often you are cited across your priority prompts. Around it sit mention rate (appearances without a link), share of voice against competitors, AI referral traffic, and, most importantly, conversions from that traffic. Visibility on its own is not the goal. The metrics that persuade stakeholders are the ones that connect AI presence to leads and revenue, which is why we build measurement from citation all the way through to commercial outcome.
Yes. AI engines read text and understand contextual topical maps, so a mention of your brand in a trusted publication or discussion helps them recognise you as an entity and associate you with a topic, even without a hyperlink. An unlinked mention in a high-authority source can be more valuable for AI visibility than a link from a low-quality one. We still work to convert valuable unlinked mentions into linked, credited references where we can.
We baseline your Share of Citation across a defined set of category prompts, then track it monthly alongside brand mentions, sentiment and AI-referral traffic. We tie each piece of coverage to the citation movement that follows it, so you can see exactly which activity is driving visibility in AI answers.
Because measurement and reporting have been central to our work for over fifteen years, and we have applied that rigour to AI search. We are tool-agnostic, so we build the right tracking stack around your goals rather than pushing a single platform, and we focus on the metrics that prove value rather than vanity numbers. We establish your baseline, track it consistently across every major AI engine, and tie it back to conversions, so you always know where you stand and what it is worth.
If you have further questions about our geo services, or how content optimisation services through geo campaigns can benefit your website, get in touch with our team using the form.
