What is AI visibility?

How is AI visibility measured?

With a MentionChecker check: enter your website, pick the AI engines and a country, and read the report. Your first check is free. MentionChecker is a pay-as-you-go AI visibility checker. It asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot the questions people ask about what you do, and tells you whether your brand is mentioned in the answers.

1. Enter your website. The check reads it and proposes about a dozen questions people ask about what you do, so a puzzle game gets the questions players ask and a payroll service the questions an employer asks.
2. Pick the AI engines and the country the questions are asked from. A check asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity by default.
3. Read the report. How often the answers mentioned you, every answer word for word with your name marked, who was mentioned instead and how they rank, and the websites the answers cited.

The headline is the mention rate, 45% of 51 answers on the report above, 14 questions on four AI engines with five that came back with no answer, and the three numbers under it are the AI visibility score: Mentioned, share of voice at 16% and 3rd of 10 names the answers gave, and average rank at 2.5 over 10 listings, each counted from answers you can open on the same report. Share of voice and average rank are read from the standings under them, every name the answers mentioned ranked by how many answers mentioned each, which the AI rank tracker page covers.

What is the difference between AI visibility and SEO?

SEO is measured in rankings and clicks on a page of results, and AI visibility is measured in answers: each answer either mentions your brand or does not, and when it gives a list, your brand is in it at some place or not in it at all.

Every answer on a report lists the pages it was built from, and the sources list ranks those websites across the whole check, so a page of yours that ranks in search is either on that list or not. The AI citation checker page covers that list and its URLs view.

What is generative engine optimization?

Generative engine optimization, GEO for short, is the work of getting your brand into the answers the AI engines generate, the way search engine optimization is the work of getting your pages into search results. It starts from a measurement, and a check is that measurement: which questions already mention you, which do not, and which websites the answers were built from. A GEO audit is the report read before any of the work starts, and the list of the best GEO tools scores the tools that measure it.

The work is on pages. ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI engine: you type a question and it answers in text. OpenAI's help page says an answer that used web search may include citations, that a website must let its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, in to be eligible for ChatGPT's search results, and that placement is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). So generative engine optimization means getting onto the pages the answers cite, the ones your report lists as citations ranked by how many answers cited each, and making your own website say plainly what you do, where, and for whom.

What is answer engine optimization?

Answer engine optimization, AEO, is the same work named for where the result shows: an answer engine is an AI engine that answers a question in text, with no page of links, and the optimization is getting your brand into that text. The measure is whether it is there, question by question.

On a report the Every question panel is that measure: each question the check asked, which AI engines answered it, and how many of those answers mentioned you. A question at 0 of 4 is where the answer engine optimization work is, and the answers under it say who was mentioned instead.

What is AI search optimization?

AI search optimization is the same work named for the channel: AI search is putting the question you would have typed into a search box to an AI engine, and the optimization is getting your brand mentioned in what it answers. AI search visibility is the measure of it, and it is counted one AI engine at a time, because the AI engines do not give the same list. On 18 September 2026 we asked six AI engines for cosy puzzle games with no ads from the United States: ChatGPT listed eight games, and not one of them was on any of the other five AI engines' lists.

So a check asks every AI engine you pick the same questions, and the report counts the answers together and shows them apart, and History shows one line per AI engine as well as the total. The AI visibility tracking page takes the six AI engines one by one.

Are GEO, AEO and LLM SEO the same work?

Yes. LLM SEO is the same work as generative engine optimization and answer engine optimization: getting your brand into the answers the AI engines give, measured by whether it is there.

For ChatGPT SEO, the guide to checking your ChatGPT visibility covers a first check on that one AI engine, and the guides to checking your Gemini visibility, checking your Perplexity visibility, checking your Google AI Overviews visibility, checking your Google AI Mode visibility and checking your Copilot visibility cover the same check with Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode or Copilot selected.

How do you know if AI visibility improved?

By running the same check again and reading History: which answers now mention you, which no longer do, and who moved. History compares the latest check with the one before it on the answers both checks cover. Mentioned, share of voice and average rank each carry their movement against the check before, and What changed lists every answer that flipped, with its AI engine and its question.

A repeat runs the same check daily, weekly or monthly from your balance, and each report reads against the one before: that is AI visibility tracking.

How do you improve AI visibility?

Start from the report: the questions whose count reads zero, the websites the answers were built from, and the names mentioned instead of you. A question at 0 of 4 is a topic the AI engines do not connect you with, and each of its answers is on the report word for word, with the names it mentioned instead and the pages it cited.

Then read the sources list, which ranks every website the answers cited across the whole check, the most cited first, with your own site marked when it is one of them, and it is the list of pages to be on. OpenAI's help page says a website must let OAI-SearchBot crawl it to be eligible for ChatGPT's search results and that placement is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026), so the work is on your own site and on the pages the answers already cite, and the same check run again shows what moved.

What does an AI visibility check cost?

One question on one AI engine, asked once, is one credit: 25 questions on the four AI engines a check asks by default is 100 credits, and the smallest pack is 50 credits for $9. Credits last 12 months and there is no subscription, the way a pay as you go AI visibility tracker is paid. Every pack is listed on the pricing page.

Prices as of 20 September 2026, read from mentionchecker.com/pricing.

Why measure AI visibility before the work and after it?

Because the check after the work only means something against a check before it.

If you are not going to do any of the work, one check still tells you where you stand today. Every line on the right is one report, from $9 on the pricing page, read on 20 September 2026, and your first check is free.

What do people ask about AI visibility?

Why does AI visibility matter?

Because the answer is what the person who asked reads, and it mentions a few names or none. A MentionChecker check tells you whether yours is among them on the questions people ask about what you do, who is mentioned instead, and which websites the answers were built from. A question at 0 of 4 on the report is one where someone else is mentioned on every AI engine asked, and that is where the work starts.

What is ChatGPT SEO?

ChatGPT SEO is the work of getting your brand into ChatGPT's answers, generative engine optimization for one AI engine, and your ChatGPT visibility is the measure of it. OpenAI's help page says placement in ChatGPT's search results is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). There is a guide to checking your ChatGPT visibility, and a MentionChecker check with ChatGPT selected, run before the work and again after it, shows whether it moved anything.

What is LLM SEO?

LLM SEO is search engine optimization for large language models, the kind of model an AI engine answers with: the work of getting your brand into what ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Perplexity answer. It is generative engine optimization under another name, and LLM visibility is what it raises. A MentionChecker check measures it one AI engine at a time, so the report says which of the AI engines it asked mention you and which do not, before the work and again after it.

What is LLM visibility?

LLM visibility is AI visibility under another name: whether the AI engines mention your brand when people ask about what you do. The two names are used for one measure: ask the questions people ask, and count the answers that mention you. A MentionChecker report gives that as Mentioned, share of voice and average rank, each counted from answers you can open on the same report, and the AI visibility score page defines each number as the report counts it.

What is AI search visibility?

AI search visibility is AI visibility named for the channel: how often the AI engines mention your brand when people put the question to them. It is counted one AI engine at a time. On 18 September 2026 ChatGPT listed eight cosy puzzle games with no ads for one question from the United States, and not one of them was on any of the other five AI engines' lists. A MentionChecker report counts the answers together and shows them by AI engine as well.

What is a GEO audit?

A GEO audit is one check read as a report: where a brand stands in the AI engines' answers before any work starts, how often it is mentioned, who is mentioned instead, and which websites the answers cited. A MentionChecker check is that audit, with every answer kept word for word, and the same check run again after the work shows what it changed. The AI citation checker page shows the sources list the audit starts from.

What is an answer engine?

An answer engine is an AI engine that answers a question in text: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot are the six a MentionChecker check can ask. The answer mentions a few names or none, and ChatGPT's may include citations when it searched the web (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). A check keeps every answer with its citations, word for word, on your report.

How do AI engines decide which brands to mention?

AI engines mention the brands on the pages they read. OpenAI's help page says an answer that used web search may include citations, and that placement in ChatGPT's search results is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). A MentionChecker report lists the pages each answer was built from under it and ranks every website cited across the whole check, the most cited first, with your own site marked.

Should I allow AI crawlers on my website?

Yes, if you want to be in ChatGPT's search results: OpenAI's help page says a website must let its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, in to be eligible, and that placement is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). A MentionChecker report shows the result: the sources list ranks every website the answers cited, with your own site marked when it is one of them, and the same check run again after the change shows whether any answer started citing you.

Does SEO still matter for AI visibility?

Yes, because the work is on pages: OpenAI's help page says a website must let OAI-SearchBot crawl it to be eligible for ChatGPT's search results (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). The sources list on a MentionChecker report ranks every website the answers cited and says whether a page of yours is on it. SEO is measured in rankings and clicks, AI visibility in whether your brand is in the answer, so a page can rank well and be cited by no answer.

How long does it take to improve AI visibility?

There is no fixed time, and OpenAI's help page says placement in ChatGPT's search results is not guaranteed (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). The way to know is the same check again: a MentionChecker repeat runs it daily, weekly or monthly from your balance, and History compares every report with the one before on the answers both checks cover, so the first answer that starts mentioning you is one line under What changed, with its AI engine and its question.

Which AI engines count for AI visibility?

The six a MentionChecker check can ask: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot. A check asks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity by default, and the report counts the answers together and by AI engine. On 18 September 2026 not one of the eight cosy puzzle games ChatGPT listed for one question from the United States was on any other AI engine's list, so an AI engine left out of the check is an answer you do not see.

Does AI visibility differ by country?

Yes. On 18 September 2026 ChatGPT listed eight cosy puzzle games from the United States and nine from the United Kingdom, and not one name was in both. A MentionChecker check asks from the country the people you serve are in, preselected from your web address, and a brand checked from two countries gets one report and one History series per country, so every movement is read against the check before it in the same country.

Does AI visibility differ by industry?

The questions differ by industry: a puzzle game is checked on the questions players ask and a payroll service on the questions an employer asks, and each is measured against the names the answers gave for those questions. A MentionChecker check reads your website and proposes about a dozen of those questions, so the report counts your share of the answers to the questions your own people ask.

How often should I check AI visibility?

Run one check, then the same check after the work, and decide from what moved. Answers change between checks: one speaker brand's History runs 15 of 51 on 29 July, 19 of 51 on 19 August and 23 of 51 on 9 September 2026, so checks weeks apart read as a trend on History, and a brand doing the work reads it weekly. A MentionChecker repeat runs the same check daily, weekly or monthly from your balance, with no subscription, and each report is read against the one before.

Can I check my AI visibility for free?

Yes. Your first MentionChecker check is free and needs no card: 10 credits, which is 5 questions on ChatGPT and Gemini, asked once. After that one question on one AI engine is one credit: a check of 25 questions on the four AI engines a check asks by default is 100 credits, and the smallest pack is 50 credits for $9 on the pricing page, read on 20 September 2026. Credits last 12 months and nothing renews.

What is the difference between a mention and a citation?

A mention is an answer with your brand in it. A citation is a page listed under an answer as one the AI engine read (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026). A MentionChecker report counts mentions into Mentioned and share of voice, keeps every citation under the answer it came with, and ranks the websites cited across the whole check on the sources list, with your own site marked. The AI citation checker page shows both views of that list.

What is the difference between AI visibility and brand monitoring?

Brand monitoring watches for your name wherever it is written. AI visibility is whether your name is in the answer to a question that does not contain it: someone asks for a payroll service for a startup, and the answer mentions you or does not. A MentionChecker check asks the AI engines the questions people ask about what you do, and the report counts the answers that mention you, who was mentioned instead, and which websites the answers cited.

Does AI visibility include sentiment?

No. AI visibility counts whether your brand is in the answer, not how the answer speaks of it. What each AI engine said about you is on a MentionChecker report word for word, under the question it answered and with the pages it cited beneath it, so how ChatGPT or Gemini describes what you do is read there, one answer at a time, and no score is put on it. The same check run again shows whether the wording changed.

Does AI visibility bring traffic?

Not on its own. An answer is read in the chat, and a mention in it is not a visit, so AI visibility is the step before traffic: whether the person who asked was shown your brand at all. A ChatGPT answer that used web search may include citations (Searching the web with ChatGPT, read on 19 September 2026), and the sources list's URLs view on a MentionChecker report shows which of your pages the answers linked to, where a visit from an AI engine would start.

What does an AI visibility checker do?

An AI visibility checker measures: it asks the AI engines the questions people ask about what you do and counts the answers that mention you. MentionChecker does not change what the AI engines say and does not write anything for you: the report says whether you are mentioned, who is mentioned instead, and which websites the answers cited, and the same check run again shows what moved. An AI visibility agency doing the work can hold one brand per client and share every AI visibility report by link.