AI answer optimization · yourbrand.example
Your customers are asking AI.
Are you in the answer?
People now ask ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overview things like “best field service scheduling software for mid-sized teams” or “most reliable field service scheduling software”. The AI answers by naming specific companies. If it doesn’t name you, you’re invisible — and that’s where discovery is heading.
- ChatGPT
- Google AI Overview
- Google AI Mode
- Gemini
- Perplexity
Two of the five were measured for this deck — Google AI Overview and ChatGPT. Slide 4 reports both by name. The other three are shown as engines buyers use, not as engines this deck covers.
Where you stand · non-brand
On the questions that win new customers, AI cites you 6.9% of the time.
Non-brand questions — the ones a first-time customer actually asks — are how you get discovered. With your own brand searches stripped out, this is your real performance across AI answers.
- 6.9%Citation shareYou · ranked #1 of 6
- 11.4%Goal
- 99prompts tracked
You lead the category and still capture under 7% of AI answers. The space is wide open, and whoever builds first owns it.
99 prompts · 2 engines · 12 runs each · 1–14 Sep 2026. Each share is how often the domain appeared across those runs.
Your own name · branded
When AI answers questions about you, is it quoting you — or someone else?
Branded questions should be the easy win. But even on your own name, AI doesn’t always pull from your pages — and where it cites external sources, what they say matters more than any score.
Own-domain coverage
70%answers sourced from you
External sentiment
- 9 positive
- 14 neutral
- 3 negative
26 external sources cited across the branded set
Branded prompts — how often you’re the source
None are near 100%. On the gap, AI reaches for third-party pages — for a trust-led brand, a review site answering “is it reliable?” instead of you is the real risk to watch. Three of the 26 external sources it currently reaches for are negative.
Across engines · non-brand
Google’s AI Overview is where you’re weakest.
Your citation share isn’t even across engines. The lowest one carries a Floor — and lifting the floor is usually the highest-leverage move, because that’s where the most answers get handed to someone else.
Google AI Overview
Floor23 cited · pool of 342
ChatGPT
7.2%16 cited · pool of 222
Both engines sit in the weak tier. That’s 500+ answer slots per cycle currently going to competitors — most of them winnable with the right pages.
These two are the only engines measured. Google AI Mode, Gemini and Perplexity appear on the cover as engines buyers use; no figure anywhere in this deck describes them.
The opportunity
From 6.9% to 11.4% — here’s what it takes.
Three levers · 62 actions → +117 citations
Create
+7938 new posts on gap topics you don’t cover yet.
Outreach
+3824 third-party pages that cite rivals, not you.
Optimize
Phase 2Unlocks once pages are live and have something to tune.
Lever 1 · create
29 topics where competitors show up and you don’t.
+79 citations available · publish-ready in ~20 minutes each
| Topic | Cluster | Intent | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| How Field Service Scheduling Works: Setup, Rollout and Payback | Scheduling | Informational | +11 citations |
| What Is Dispatch Automation? How It Works and How to Start | Dispatch | Informational | +7 citations |
| Scheduling Software or Spreadsheets? Choosing the Right Setup | Scheduling +2 topics | Informational | +5 citations |
| Per-Technician Pricing Explained, with a Cost Calculator | Pricing | Informational | +4 citations |
+25 more topics tracked and prioritized by citation impact.
Lever 2 · outreach
24 pages cite your competitors — but not you.
+38 citations available · each comes with contacts and a ready-to-send email
| Page | Topic | Type | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| comparehq.example | Comparison page | cites rivals, not you | +7 citations |
| reviewboard.example | Yourbrand | reputation | +3 citations |
| fieldopsdaily.example | Dispatch | tools & guides | +3 citations |
| tradepress.example | Service contracts | editorial | +3 citations |
+20 more pages already ranking in AI answers, each with a request-to-be-added path.
Lever 3 · optimize
11 pages already rank — AI just isn’t pulling the answer out of them.
+16 citations available across 33 hours · phase 2, once the new pages are live
| Page | What stops it being extracted | Effort | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| /pricing | The answer sits below a comparison table, so the extractable text is the table. | 3 h | +4 citations |
| /integrations | No direct answer to “does it integrate with…” — only a logo grid. | 2 h | +3 citations |
| /features/offline-mode | The definition is split across three sections, none of them self-contained. | 4 h | +3 citations |
| /industries/hvac | The numbers that answer the question are only in an image. | 5 h | +2 citations |
The remaining 7 pages sit at higher effort and lower impact: +4 citations across 19 hours, worth doing after the four above.
Additional to the 62 actions and +117 citations on slide 5, which count the create and outreach levers only. This lever needs the new pages live before there is anything to tune, which is why the plan puts it in week 4.
The plan · 30 days
Your first 30 days to 11.4%.
Baseline 14 Sep 2026 → target 14 Oct. Content first, outreach second, optimization last.
Publish “How Field Service Scheduling Works” — your single biggest win at +11 citations.
+11Whoever moves first owns the category in AI answers.
Hours and an owner per line — 64 across the four — held back pending review.
The next step
Own the answer before
your competitors do.
The gap is measured and the plan is ready. Your first piece can be live within a week — and the first mover sets the ceiling everyone else has to chase.
Book your AEO strategy session
AI Answer Optimization partner
- Website
- [youragency.example]
- [[email protected]]
- Phone
- [+__ (___) ___ __ __]
- Location
- [City, Country]