Think of Visibility as your “AI shelf space.” If buyers ask an AI for recommendations and you’re not mentioned, you’re not in the aisle.
What this metric answers
Use Visibility to answer:- Do we appear in high-intent AI answers?
- Which prompt topics do we win (see) vs lose (don’t show up)?
- Are competitors consistently mentioned instead of us?
- Did content, PR, or a product launch change our presence over time?
How Visibility is calculated
At a basic level:
Where:
- Mentions = number of AI responses where your brand appears
- TotalChats = total AI responses collected for your tracked prompts during the selected timeframe
Visibility is calculated over your selected time range (e.g., last 7 days). Changing the range changes the denominator—so compare apples to apples.
What counts as a “mention”?
Pierview counts a mention when:- Your brand name appears in the answer text (including accepted variants)
- The mention is about your brand (not a different company with a similar name)
- Your brand only appears in a cited URL, but not in the answer text (that’s Source Visibility, not Brand Visibility)
- Your brand appears as part of a generic word (common with ambiguous brand names)
Edge cases and examples
- Ambiguous names: If your brand name is a common word, add variants (domain, product name).
- List answers: If the AI returns a list of tools and includes you once, that counts as a mention.
- Repeated mentions: Multiple mentions in the same answer still count as one “mentioned in this chat.”
How to interpret Visibility
Here’s a practical rubric (adjust expectations by category maturity):- 0–5%: You’re mostly invisible → biggest upside.
- 5–20%: You show up sometimes → not yet a default pick.
- 20–40%: You’re competitive → consistently in the conversation.
- 40%+: You’re a category staple → maintain and protect.
If Visibility is high but conversions aren’t improving, check Sentiment and Position/Average Ranking. Being mentioned isn’t the same as being recommended.
Why Visibility matters
Visibility is a leading indicator for:- Brand discovery: AI is now a discovery channel, not just a chat tool.
- Competitive share: If you’re not mentioned, someone else is.
- Market positioning: Visibility tends to correlate with category authority and content presence.
What drives Visibility (the levers)
The biggest contributors:- Prompt fit: Are you tracking prompts where you should show up?
- Source presence: Are you included on the websites AI uses to answer?
- Content coverage: Do you have pages that directly address the prompt intent?
- Authority signals: Do credible third parties mention you (directories, reviews, editorial)?
How to improve Visibility (actionable checklist)
Fast wins (today)
- Add comparison prompts (“X vs Y”) to force competitive context.
- Add brand variants and your domain to avoid missed mentions.
- Identify the top 5 prompts with the lowest visibility and rewrite them to be more specific.
Compounding wins (this month)
- Create “AI-citeable” content formats:
- Best X pages with clear criteria
- Alternatives pages
- Comparisons (X vs Y)
- FAQs that answer common prompt phrasing
- Target source gaps:
- Get listed where competitors are listed (directories)
- Pitch editorial sources that dominate your category
- Participate in communities that models rely on (UGC)
Troubleshooting: when Visibility looks wrong
Visibility is 0%
- Prompts might be too broad
- Brand variants missing
- Your category keywords may not match prompt intent
- Try adding 5 more high-intent prompts and rerun
We’re cited but not mentioned
- Your content is being used as a source
- But your brand is not “named” in the response
- Fix by adding clearer brand attribution on-page (about section, product naming, consistent mentions)