AI Ranking
Ten years ago, "where does Google rank me?" was the question. Today, "does ChatGPT recommend me?" is the question. AI Ranking tracks the new one.
Why this matters
A growing share of "best [thing] near me" intent now flows through AI search engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude. When someone asks "best donut shop in Toronto," they get a curated answer back. Whether your business is in that answer is the new #1 ranking question.
AI Ranking is the page that answers it.
The reality of the bar. Industry research from 2026 (SOCi Local Visibility Index, 350,000 locations analyzed) found that ChatGPT names just 1.2% of local businesses in its recommendations, and most AI engines rarely surface businesses with fewer than ~150 reviews. The goal of AI Ranking isn't to guarantee you'll be #1 in ChatGPT — it's to make sure you're in the small pool of businesses that even can be recommended, and then to push you up within that pool.
Where to find it
Open Visibility → AI Ranking.
What you'll see
For each prompt you've set up (e.g. "best donut shop in Toronto"), the page tracks:
- Which AI engines mention you — checked weekly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini.
- Position in the answer — first business mentioned, second, etc. (AI answers are short, so positions 1–3 are the only ones that matter.)
- What context the engine pulled — the snippet of your business that the AI is using. Often a line from a review, a GBP description, or your reply text.
- Trend over time — are you climbing into the answer, dropping out, or stable?
How to move the needle
AI search engines pull from a handful of sources to compose their answers about local businesses: Google Business Profile content, public reviews, your replies to those reviews, your website, and third-party directories (Bing Places, Yelp, TripAdvisor, industry sites). No single signal gets you ranked — it's the combination. Of the controllable ones, review replies are the most under-used; most businesses have either no replies at all or generic "Thanks!" replies, which give AI engines nothing to quote.
This is why the AI Agent (SEO Agent) exists. Every time it posts a reply, it weaves in the keywords and context that AI engines look for. Combined with steady review volume growth and an accurate, complete GBP, you climb into the pool of businesses that AI engines confidently recommend.
The compound effect. Reply content is one of several signals — not a magic switch. But it's the signal most owners ignore, and it's the one that compounds fastest because every new review becomes a new piece of indexable content. The SEO Agent's job is to never miss one.
Setting up prompts to track
From the AI Ranking page, add the prompts your potential customers would actually type into ChatGPT:
- "Best [your category] in [your city]"
- "[Category] near [neighborhood]"
- "Where to get [specific thing] in [city]"
- "Top-rated [category] in [city] for [use case]" (e.g. "for kids," "for date night")
Most owners set 3–5 prompts. More than that and you're tracking noise.
How it differs from Maps Ranking
Maps Ranking asks "where do I appear when someone Googles me from this location?". AI Ranking asks "do AI engines mention me when someone asks them?". Both matter; the controllable signals for both overlap heavily — review volume, recency, reply activity, and a complete GBP — but they're surfaced and weighted differently. AI engines lean more on public review content and third-party signals (Bing Places, Yelp, industry directories); Google's local algorithm leans more on its own GBP signals and proximity.
Common questions
How often do you check?
Each tracked prompt is checked against each AI engine weekly. Larger plans can request daily checks.
Why isn't my business showing up in any AI engine yet?
Common reasons, roughly in order: (1) your review count is below the threshold AI engines tend to treat as "established" — industry estimates put this around 150+ reviews, (2) your reply rate is low or replies are generic, (3) your GBP profile or website is missing the keywords AI engines look for in matching queries, (4) your category is saturated with much larger competitors. The honest expectation: turn on the SEO Agent, grow review volume steadily, and re-check AI Ranking over the next 8–12 weeks. AI search visibility is a long game — there's no shortcut and no tool that can guarantee placement.
What if an AI engine surfaces wrong information about me?
Reply to your reviews with the correct information clearly stated, and update your Google Business Profile. AI engines re-crawl their sources continuously; corrections propagate over a few weeks.
Can I track competitors?
You can see who else gets mentioned in your tracked prompts — directly from the prompt detail view. Useful for understanding who's winning in AI search in your category and roughly why.