How to Audit Your Brand in AI Engines

As generative AI becomes the default interface for information, your brand’s discoverability depends less on Google rankings and more on how you appear in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and especially Perplexity. These tools don't just pull up links—they generate answers. The question is: are you part of the answer?

This guide will help you audit your brand's presence in AI-driven engines, focusing on actionable methods, clear benchmarks, and insights from the latest industry data.

Why Auditing Your AI Visibility Matters

A recent report from TollBit revealed that AI bots now account for over 49% of all crawler activity on some publisher sites (Q1 2025) [1]. At the same time, zero-click search behavior on Google has risen to 58.5%, meaning users increasingly consume information without visiting websites [2].

In this environment, Perplexity and other AI engines are quickly becoming the first (and sometimes only) source of information. If you're not visible there, you're not discoverable.

Step-by-Step: How to Audit Your Brand in Perplexity

1. Search Conversational Queries About Your Brand or Category

Go to perplexity.ai and enter prompts such as:

• “Best [category] platforms in 2025”
• “Alternatives to [competitor]”
• “What is [your brand] known for?”

Document whether your brand is:

• Mentioned in the main answer
• Cited in the sources
• Excluded altogether

Tip: Use Perplexity’s Pro mode for more detailed source breakdowns and follow-up prompts.

2. Evaluate the Accuracy and Tone of Mentions

Look not only at if your brand appears, but how. Are you:

• Described factually?
• Associated with the right use cases?
• Compared fairly to competitors?

If not, the content available about you online may be:

• Outdated
• Incomplete
• Structurally unclear to AI

3. Analyze What Sources Perplexity Pulls From

Perplexity cites sources directly, unlike many LLMs. Make note of the domains it uses:

• Are you being referenced from your own website?
• From media coverage?
• From aggregators or outdated directories?

To increase your visibility, prioritize content on:

• High-authority domains
• Pages with structured Q&A or fact-based writing
• Recently updated content (Perplexity weights freshness)

4. Benchmark Competitor Visibility

Search the same prompts with your competitors’ names. Track:

• How often they’re cited
• What type of content Perplexity references
• Which domains are lifting their visibility

Example Spreadsheet:

5. Check for Brand Misrepresentation or Misinformation

Use factual prompts to spot inaccuracies:

• “Who founded [Brand]?”
• “What does [Brand] offer?”
• “Is [Brand] open-source?”

If answers are wrong or missing, the AI may be drawing from outdated press or unstructured information.

What to Do With This Audit

Once you know how you appear in Perplexity and similar AI engines:

• Identify key pages to update or restructure
• Fill content gaps with Q&A, comparison pages, and data-backed blogs
• Create a plan to monitor AI engine visibility monthly
• Work with platforms (like x) to push structured, real-time data to the AI web

The New Playbook: Visibility Through Verifiability

To appear in Perplexity, your content must be:

• Fact-rich and clearly structured
• Published on credible domains
• Regularly updated
• Formatted for LLM comprehension (headings, FAQs, semantic cues)

Google shows what it can crawl. Perplexity shows what it can understand.

In 2025 and beyond, understanding how your brand is interpreted by AI agents is not a luxury. It’s a necessity.

References

1. TollBit: The Rise of AI Crawlers – Q1 2025 Report
2. Search Engine Land: Zero-click searches rise, organic clicks dip: Report

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