How to Choose the Best AI Visibility Tool

If you’ve ever tried to determine how your brand appears on AI platforms like ChatGPT or Gemini, you’re likely seeking effective ways to manage and monitor your brand’s representation in AI-driven search results.

The increasing number of AI visibility tools can be overwhelming, making it crucial to choose the best fit. Many promise to simplify the tracking process, but their methods vary widely. Selecting the right tool requires understanding each platform’s nuances to make a well-informed decision.

Vetting AI Visibility Platforms: Trial, Error, and Endless Demos

As AI search grows, brands face the new task of managing their presence in AI answer engines. Unfortunately, many tools claiming to help are new and lack robust data. This makes comparisons hard and the tools’ reliability questionable. Choosing the right AI visibility tool can be overwhelming whether you’re a business owner or working for a marketing agency. Many platforms lack free trials and push for long-term contracts. According to Cassandra Gucwa, selecting the right tool requires continuous evaluation due to the proliferation of new options.

Manual Checks Won’t Cut It

A common approach involves manually checking search results by typing AI prompts into ChatGPT and other platforms. While seemingly straightforward, this doesn’t accurately reflect average user interactions with AI tools. Large language models are probabilistic, with outputs varying based on prompt phrasing and user behavior. A brand’s appearance in one prompt doesn’t guarantee consistent visibility. Manual checks cannot replicate the necessary volume or variation for accurate visibility insights. A proper AI visibility tool uses scaled prompting to generate reliable insights.

Comparing Tools

The market for AI visibility tools is crowded and changes rapidly. Choosing the right tool requires careful consideration of several key factors. It’s important to evaluate platforms based on their core functionalities and how well they align with your specific needs. Some tools excel in specific areas, while others offer a more comprehensive suite of features. To effectively compare AI visibility tools, you will want to look at the various metrics they offer. Look at how they track and present data. It can give you a better understanding of the platforms and whether you’d want to utilize them or not.

Built for AI, or Adapted for Revenue?

A key factor when selecting a tool is whether it was built for AI search or adapted from traditional SEO tools. Platforms designed for AI search from the outset often provide unique advantages. Some tools have added AI features to stay relevant. While these tools can offer insights, they might not fully address visibility, sentiment, and AI search opportunities. Choosing a platform purpose-built for AI search ensures a more comprehensive and effective understanding of your brand’s performance. It is important to understand the difference as it will allow for the best AI visibility tool possible.

What to Look for When Selecting a Vendor

Scaled Prompting

A good platform should consistently run thousands of prompts per brand over time. This ensures data isn’t skewed by anomalies or personalization. Scaled prompting provides a more accurate picture of how your brand appears across different queries and user contexts. Daniel Drabo highlights the importance of using statistically significant datasets for reliable visibility insights, emphasizing the need to scrape from the actual UI rather than relying solely on APIs.

Robust Reporting and Insights

For the best return, look for a platform that provides competitive insights and reporting breakdowns by AI model, topic, sentiment, and visibility over time. These insights can help identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve AI visibility. Platforms like Profound and Scrunch offer deeper insights and recommendations. Michael King highlights the importance of strong reporting at the enterprise level, emphasizing additional features that help understand ongoing dynamics and trends in AI search.

Answer Engine Coverage

Not all tools cover all answer engines, which can impact the comprehensiveness of your visibility insights. The majority of LLM traffic may come from ChatGPT; volume and insights vary by industry. You need to be sure that what you are getting from the platform that you have chosen is worth the cost of what you are paying, and if it really is the best AI visibility tool for you. Investing in a platform that garners insights across multiple engines is generally recommended to gain a holistic view.

Product Roadmap

AI search is evolving rapidly, so it’s essential to inquire about upcoming features during demos. Check their blog for new feature announcements. Is the team planning to add new LLMs and platforms? Are they working on deeper analytics, UI improvements, or email alerts? A stagnant product roadmap is a major red flag in this dynamic space. Crystal Carter emphasizes the importance of working with builders who are constantly improving their tech stack and iterating based on customer feedback.

International Capabilities

If your brand operates in multiple regions or languages, ensure the tool supports multi-language prompts and can localize data insights by market. This is critical for maintaining consistent brand visibility and tailoring content to different audiences. You want to make sure that the best AI visibility tool provides support across all languages and regions. James Cadwallader notes that multi-region prompting and language support are extremely important for agencies and global brands. Global brands will want to be sure to consider tools and platforms like this.

Competitor Tracking and Identification

The ability to monitor your brand, competitors, and adjacent players is crucial for strategic decision-making. This provides a benchmark for understanding your performance and identifying which brands LLMs favor in your category. These tools should allow you to find out what your competitors are doing, so that you can improve your own strategies and goals. Identifying and tracking adjacent players can also reveal new optimization strategies and opportunities to expand your reach.

Customer Service

In a category as new as AI visibility, responsive and knowledgeable customer service is essential. Will someone respond if you have an urgent question or bug? Is there onboarding support to help you get started? Does the vendor offer live chat and dedicated account management for ongoing support? Effective customer service can significantly enhance your experience and ensure you maximize the value of the tool. Make sure this is a consideration for what best AI visibility tool to choose.

Thought Leadership

Consider whether the company publishes articles, research, and insights about AI search. Do they have case studies demonstrating the effectiveness of their tool? Are they actively educating the market about the latest trends and best practices? Platforms that shape the conversation and provide valuable educational resources are more likely to offer long-term value beyond just data access. They are also more likely to be on the right track for providing the best AI visibility tool. These will benefit your marketing agency.

Security and Terms of Service

Review each vendor’s data handling practices. Ensure they meet SSO and SOC2 compliance to protect sensitive information. Understand what happens to the data they collect, and verify that you retain full ownership and control. Confirm that they adhere to your company’s security requirements and enterprise standards. Prioritizing security and transparency ensures that your data is handled responsibly and that your company’s policies are followed. The best AI visibility tool will have high level security in place.

Planning for the Future

For brands and agencies taking AI search seriously, selecting an AI visibility tool should be about finding a partner. Search, as we know it, has changed. While a tool provides data, a partner can help you navigate the complexities of the evolving landscape and implement effective optimization strategies. As Chris Andrew explains, all search is becoming AI search, so brands must adapt. Brands and agencies that are proactive with onboarding the right tools today will lead in this new era of search.

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