Frequently Asked Questions
Compiled from the questions we hear most often. Skip to a category:
- Getting started
- What SimplyRank does
- How AI rankings work
- Pricing and plans
- Billing and refunds
- Agencies and multi-brand
- Data, security, and privacy
- Technical and integrations
Getting started
How do I get started with SimplyRank?
Enter your work email and your website domain at simplyrank.ai. We detect your industry, suggest 10 prompts, and run your first AI visibility scan within minutes. No credit card required for the 7-day trial.
See Starting your trial.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every new account starts with a 7-day free trial. No credit card required.
The trial gives you 10 prompts, 5 brands, one instant scan across ChatGPT and Claude, and access to your dashboard.
See The 7-day trial.
Do I need a credit card to start the trial?
No. The trial requires only your work email and a domain. There's no payment method on file during the trial.
How long does the first scan take?
Usually 2–8 minutes. Depends on the number of prompts and which AI models are included. You'll see results stream in as each model completes.
What do I do in my first week?
Day 1: get a baseline. Day 2: sharpen prompts. Day 3: audit competitors. Day 4: open Gap Analysis. Day 5: read Citations. Day 6: pick one improvement to make. Day 7: pick a plan or step away.
See Your first week.
What SimplyRank does
What is SimplyRank?
SimplyRank tracks how AI models — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini — talk about your brand in their answers. Think of it as rank tracking for AI search instead of Google.
You configure your brand, competitors, and prompts. We scan AI models on a schedule and report visibility, position, sentiment, and the citations driving the answers.
See What is SimplyRank?.
What does SimplyRank measure?
Three core metrics for every brand:
- Visibility — how often AI mentions your brand (% of prompts).
- Position — when mentioned, where you rank (lower is better).
- Sentiment — how positively AI describes you.
Plus citations (which external sources AI references) and gap analysis (where competitors appear and you don't).
Which AI models do you scan?
ChatGPT (GPT-4o), Claude (Sonnet 4), Perplexity (Sonar Pro), and Gemini (2.5 Flash).
Gemini support is rolling out across plans — once live in production, all Starter+ accounts include it automatically.
Why not just ask ChatGPT myself?
Manual checking doesn't scale. Even one afternoon of careful manual checks covers maybe 20 prompts. You'd have to redo it every week to see if anything changed. SimplyRank runs all your prompts on a schedule across all four engines, then turns the results into trends, gaps, and recommendations.
Is SimplyRank just SEO with a different name?
No. SEO tracks Google rankings. AI rankings respond to different signals (citations, content matching, third-party reputation). Many brands rank well on Google and are invisible in AI; many show up in AI without ranking on Google. They're correlated channels, not the same one.
See AI search explained.
Can I segment data by model, region, or audience?
Yes. Filter by AI model (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini), by prompt category (which you define), by date range, and by brand. Region and audience filtering is on the roadmap as part of internationalization work.
What's the difference between brand visibility and source visibility?
- Brand visibility — how often AI mentions your brand.
- Source visibility — which external sources AI cites in its answers.
You want both. Brand visibility tells you whether AI is recommending you; source visibility tells you which third-party signals are doing the work.
How often is the data refreshed?
Depends on your plan: weekly on Starter Lite, daily on Starter, daily/weekly/monthly on Pro and Advanced. You can also trigger manual scans at any time within your plan's query limits.
See Scans.
Should I track AI Overviews?
AI Overviews (Google's AI answer at the top of search results) behaves enough like classic Google SERP that traditional SEO still applies. The chat models (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) behave differently enough that they need separate tracking. We focus on the chat models and treat AI Overviews as research rather than a separately-scanned engine.
How AI rankings work
What is AEO?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization — the practice of getting your brand mentioned in AI answers. If SEO is about Google rankings, AEO is about being recommended by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Also called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). Same idea.
See What is AEO?.
How do AI rankings change over time?
Week to week. None of the AI providers publish algorithm-update calendars the way Google does, but each shifts behavior in observable steps. Weekly cadence catches the changes without burning your team on daily noise.
What moves AI rankings?
The biggest signals we see:
- Fresh citations on third-party platforms (G2, Trustpilot, Reddit, news, niche category leaders).
- Specific, prompt-matched content on your own site.
- Recent third-party mentions (old citations decay).
- Brand presence consistency across the web.
How long until improvements show up?
Realistic timelines: 2–8 weeks for new platform reviews; 4–12 weeks for content placement on a third-party site; 6–16 weeks for new content on your own site (longer for new domains). AEO compounds slowly. Plan in quarters.
What makes a good prompt?
Customer-intent. Specific. Recommendation-style. No brand bias. Realistic length. Examples:
- ✅ "What's the best CRM for a 5-person agency under $50/user?"
- ❌ "CRM software"
See How prompts work.
How many prompts do I need?
| Category breadth | Suggested prompt count |
|---|---|
| Narrow (one product, one geography) | 15–30 |
| Medium (multiple use cases) | 30–80 |
| Broad (multiple regions, audiences) | 80–200 |
| Agency / multi-brand | 25–50 per client |
Too few and the data is noisy; too many and it's hard to act on.
What counts as a query?
One prompt sent to one AI model. If you scan 50 prompts across 3 models, that's 150 queries. Daily for 30 days = 4,500 queries/month, which matches the Starter plan exactly.
Pricing and plans
How much does SimplyRank cost?
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free | — |
| Starter Lite | $25/mo | $20/mo |
| Starter | $75/mo | $60/mo |
| Pro | $175/mo | $140/mo |
| Advanced | $350/mo | $280/mo |
Agency plans range $299–$999/month with per-client overage pricing.
See Plans and pricing.
Which plan should I pick?
| If you... | Pick |
|---|---|
| Are a solo founder doing this myself | Starter Lite |
| Are a small marketing team | Starter |
| Have AI visibility on your KPI list | Pro (most teams) |
| Need API access or Slack alerts | Pro |
| Need white-label or 365-day history | Advanced |
| Manage multiple clients | See Agency plans |
Can I switch plans later?
Anytime. Upgrades take effect immediately and are pro-rated. Downgrades take effect at the end of the current billing period.
See Changing your plan.
What's the difference between Starter and Pro?
Pro adds: Gap Analysis, Citations dashboard, Sentiment dashboard, API access, Slack alerts, monthly scan frequency option, 90-day retention (vs 30), 25 brands (vs 10), 150 prompts (vs 50).
Most teams who treat AI visibility as an active KPI rather than a quarterly check-in pick Pro.
Is there a discount for yearly billing?
Yes — about 20% off when paid yearly. Switch any time from Settings → Billing.
Is there a free tier?
No. The free trial gives you 7 days; after that you pick a paid plan. We removed the indefinite free tier in early 2025 — every paid plan funds the AI API costs of running scans.
Do you offer agency or reseller pricing?
Yes. Agency plans start at $299/month with 5 included clients and per-client overages. White-label reports and unlimited team members included. See Agency plans.
Can I get custom pricing for higher volume?
Yes. For organizations needing custom limits, dedicated infrastructure, or non-standard contracts, email [email protected].
Do you have an API?
Yes — read-only, on Pro and Advanced (and all Agency plans). You can pull scan data into your BI tool. Write access (triggering scans, modifying config via API) is on the roadmap.
See Exports and API.
Billing and refunds
Do you offer refunds?
We have a 7-day satisfaction guarantee on your first paid charge — full refund if requested within 7 days. Annual plans get a pro-rated refund within 30 days minus a 10% admin fee. Billing errors are always refunded.
After those windows, refunds are at our discretion. We try to be fair.
See Refund policy.
How does billing work?
Stripe handles payments. You're charged automatically on each renewal date — monthly or yearly depending on your plan. Cards, SEPA, and (for Advanced/Agency yearly) bank transfer accepted. Invoices auto-generate and email after each payment.
See How billing works.
What happens if my card is declined?
We retry automatically. Your account moves to past_due during retries; service continues normally. After several failures it moves to unpaid and scheduled scans pause. Update your card any time to resume.
Can I pay by bank transfer or PO?
Yearly Advanced and Agency plans can be invoiced for payment by bank transfer with Net 30 terms. Email [email protected] to set up.
Where do I find my invoices?
Settings → Billing → Invoices. Each invoice is a downloadable PDF. You also get them emailed automatically.
Can I add my company VAT number?
Yes — Settings → Billing → Billing details. Once verified, EU/UK VAT reverse-charges to zero on future invoices.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Settings → Billing → Cancel subscription. Service continues to the end of the current billing period; no further charges. Data is preserved 30 days after cancellation.
What if I need a billing error fixed?
Email [email protected]. Billing errors are always corrected and refunded if applicable.
Agencies and multi-brand
Do you have a plan for agencies?
Yes — three Agency plans: Agency Starter ($299/mo, 5 clients), Agency Pro ($599/mo, 15 clients), Agency Advanced ($999/mo, 30 clients). Per-client overages range $29–49/month. White-label reports and unlimited team members on every Agency tier.
See Agency plans.
Can I track multiple brands without an Agency plan?
Yes. Individual plans support multiple brands within one workspace, capped by the brand limit (5 on Starter Lite, 10 on Starter, 25 on Pro, 50 on Advanced). For separate workspaces per brand, separate accounts work — Agency plans are when you cross 5+ truly distinct clients.
Is there a white-label option?
Yes — included on Advanced and all Agency plans. Custom logo, colors, footer text on PDF reports and shared dashboard links. Custom domains and fully white-labeled dashboards are on the roadmap.
See White-label reports.
Can my team members all access the workspace?
Yes. Plan determines seat count: 1 (trial / Lite), 3 (Starter), 10 (Pro), 25 (Advanced), unlimited (Agency plans). Magic-link invitations; no passwords to share.
See Team members and collaboration.
Can I have read-only members?
Not as a permission yet. For stakeholders who only need to view, share PDF reports or read-only dashboard share links instead of using a team-member slot. Role-based access is on the roadmap.
How do "pitch projects" work for agencies?
All Agency plans include unlimited pitch projects — temporary client workspaces you spin up while pitching, scan once, and either convert to a paid client or shelve. Designed so you can include AI visibility in pitches without burning client slots.
Data, security, and privacy
Is my data secure?
We use Supabase (encrypted at rest), HTTPS in transit, row-level security for tenant isolation, magic-link auth (no passwords), and audit-logged production access. We're working toward SOC 2 Type II.
See Data and security.
Do you train AI models on my data?
No. Your prompts, brands, and scan data are never used to train any model — ours, OpenAI's, Anthropic's, Perplexity's, Google's, or anyone else's. The AI providers' APIs we use don't permit retention for training under their terms.
Where is my data stored?
Application data: Supabase (AWS). Billing: Stripe. Hosting: Vercel. Error monitoring: Sentry. Some data may be processed in the US; we use Standard Contractual Clauses for international transfers.
See Privacy and GDPR.
Can I export my data?
Yes — CSV exports on Starter and above; PDF reports on the same plans; full API access on Pro and above. You own your data.
See Exports and API.
Is SimplyRank GDPR-compliant?
Yes. We comply with GDPR for EEA / UK users — including rights to access, rectification, deletion, portability, and objection. Email [email protected] for any data request.
How do I delete my account?
Email [email protected] from your account email. Deletion is processed within 30 days. Some billing records are retained for 7 years per accounting law.
How long do you keep my scan data?
Per your plan: 7 days (Trial), 14 (Starter Lite), 30 (Starter), 90 (Pro), 365 (Advanced), unlimited (Agency Advanced). Older data drops off automatically — export to CSV if you need long-term history.
Technical and integrations
Do you have an API?
Yes, on Pro and above. Read-only access to scan data, brands, prompts, citations, and aggregate metrics. Authenticate with an API key generated in Settings. Full docs at docs.simplyrank.ai/api (link goes live with API access).
Do you have a Slack integration?
Yes, on Pro and above. Push weekly digests and visibility-change alerts to a Slack channel. Set up under Settings → Notifications.
Can I integrate SimplyRank with my BI tools?
Pro+ API access lets you pull scan data into Looker, Tableau, Metabase, or any BI tool that can hit a REST API. PDF and CSV exports are also available on all paid plans.
Do you support SSO?
Not yet. Single sign-on (SAML / OIDC) is on the roadmap for Advanced and Agency plans. Email [email protected] if it's a blocker so we can prioritize.
How do source citations work behind the scenes?
We capture AI model responses and parse out cited sources — URLs, publication names, and review platforms referenced. Some models (Perplexity especially) make citations explicit; others reference sources in prose, which we extract using consistent parsing rules.
What happens to my data if SimplyRank is acquired or closes?
If we're acquired, your data passes to the acquirer under the same terms. If we close, we'd give 90 days' notice and let you export everything. We're a profitable, self-sustaining business with no plans to do either, but it's a fair question to ask of any SaaS.
Still have a question?
Email [email protected]. We answer within one business day, usually same-day. We're a small team — you'll get a real person who knows the product.
For privacy or data requests, email [email protected].
For legal questions, email [email protected].
Still need help? Email us at [email protected]. Or browse all help articles.