What benchmarks or baselines are useful when evaluating AI search performance?
Scrunch recommends tracking brand presence, citations, referral traffic, AI agent traffic, and share of voice versus competitors as key performance indicators.
More infoHow can I see if my visibility in AI search is improving or declining over time?
Scrunch recommends monitoring AI search trend data like brand mentions and citations consistently over 2-3 week periods to identify real trends versus one-off changes.
More infoHow many prompts should I track for AI search?
Scrunch recommends estimating how many prompts to track for AI search using the following approach: X [# of topic clusters] x Y [12-15 questions related to each topic cluster] = Z [# of AI search prompts to track]. The primary goal is to get a representative sampling of data across all customer journey stages via a mix of branded and non-branded prompts.
More infoHow do I compare AI visibility across different models and platforms?
Scrunch recommends comparing AI visibility across different models and platforms by monitoring the same prompts across multiple AI platforms in aggregate, then filtering by platform to see where performance diverges.
More infoHow should I compare different answer engine optimization (AEO) tools?
Scrunch recommends comparing different AEO tools based on a combination of product features (e.g., model coverage, data filtering, ease of use, etc.) and vendor characteristics (e.g., industry experience, customer reviews, pricing options, etc.).
More infoHow do I identify the types of pages AI is most likely to cite in my category?
Scrunch recommends tracking citation consistency—the percentage of AI responses that have cited a source—to identify the types of pages AI is most likely to cite in a category.
More infoWhat’s the right balance between creating original content vs. earning third-party citations?
Scrunch recommends pursuing both brand citations and placements in cited sources. It’s worth investing in original content when competitors are the cited source, as they likely won’t offer placement opportunities, and when cited sources are substance-light or mismatched to the prompt. Meanwhile, getting mentioned in trusted, frequently-cited sources will improve AI search performance and establish credibility.
More infoHow do teams decide whether to improve an existing page or create a new one to win a citation?
Scrunch recommends generally starting with existing pages because pages that AI platforms already crawl and cite are faster to improve than new ones built from scratch. Create net-new content when no existing page on your site addresses the prompt.
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