What Metrics Matter Most for AI Visibility?

If SEO taught us anything, it's that the wrong metric, tracked religiously, will sink a strategy. AI visibility is a new discipline, but the same trap applies. This guide is the metric stack we recommend: formulas, benchmarks, and reporting templates.

The 9 metrics that actually matter

• AI Visibility Score: composite 0-100 across the providers included in the measurement.
• Prompt coverage: # of tracked prompts you appear in.
• Mention frequency: % of prompts mentioning you.
• Recommendation rate: % of prompts where AI suggests you.
• Share of voice: your mentions ÷ all category mentions.
• Sentiment: -1 to +1 averaged per prompt set.
• Citation frequency: # of times your URLs are cited.
• Local visibility: visibility on city + service prompts.
• Competitor delta: your share minus top competitor's.

Formulas

• Mention frequency = (prompts mentioning you ÷ total tracked prompts) × 100
• Recommendation rate = (prompts where AI suggests you ÷ commercial-intent prompts) × 100
• Share of voice = your mentions ÷ (your mentions + all competitor mentions)
• Recometric Score™ = weighted blend of the above, normalized 0-100

The KPI dashboard

One executive number, three operating numbers, three diagnostic numbers.

• Executive: Recometric Score™.
• Operating: Mention frequency, Recommendation rate, Sentiment.
• Diagnostic: Citation frequency, Local visibility, Competitor delta.

Benchmarks (for local SMBs)

Executive reporting template

1. One headline number: Recometric Score™ this week vs last.
2. Two wins: prompts gained, sentiment improved.
3. Two risks: prompts lost, sentiment dropped.
4. Top 3 actions for next week.

Five lines. That's the report executives actually read.

Common mistakes

• Reporting raw mention counts without normalizing by prompt count.
• Treating sentiment in isolation: it only matters next to recommendation share.
• Ignoring competitor delta: visibility is relative.
• Not segmenting by engine: your ChatGPT score and Gemini score will differ.

How metrics tie to revenue

• +10% recommendation rate → measurable lift in inbound calls within 30 days.
• +0.2 sentiment → higher conversion on cited recommendations.
• +15% local visibility → direct increase in directions and bookings.

Recometric calculates mention, rank and sentiment across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. Paid scans use three personalized prompts for 12 live checks; the free scan uses one prompt for four checks and returns a letter grade.