What SimplyRank measures
Every scan in SimplyRank produces three primary metrics for every brand you track. Those three metrics — plus citations and gap analysis — are the entire data model.
If you understand these, you understand SimplyRank.
1. Visibility score
Definition: the percentage of prompts where your brand was mentioned in the AI's response.
Range: 0–100%.
Example: you have 50 prompts and your brand was mentioned in the response for 36 of them. Your visibility score is 72%.
How to read it:
| Visibility | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0–20% | AI rarely mentions you. Big opportunity. Likely root cause: weak third-party signals or content gaps. |
| 20–50% | Inconsistent — AI mentions you in some prompts, misses you in others. Look at gap analysis. |
| 50–80% | Strong. AI knows you, mentions you in most relevant prompts. |
| 80–100% | Dominant. You're the default answer in your category. |
What changes it:
- New citations on third-party sites (G2, Trustpilot, news, Reddit).
- Content on your own domain matching customer-intent prompts.
- Competitor moves (if a competitor publishes more, they may push you down).
2. Position
Definition: when your brand is mentioned, where in the AI's list does it appear? Lower is better — position 1 means listed first.
Range: 1.0 (always first) to higher numbers. Null if you're never mentioned.
Example: in 36 mentions, you appeared first 12 times, second 18 times, and third 6 times. Your average position is 1.83.
How to read it:
| Position | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1.0–1.5 | You're the top-of-mind brand. AI usually leads with you. |
| 1.5–2.5 | Strong second-tier — usually mentioned, often near the front. |
| 2.5–4.0 | Acknowledged but not leading. Visible to users who read the full answer. |
| Past the 2.5–4.0 band | Mentioned but easily missed. AI users often only act on the first 2–3 brands listed. |
What changes it:
- The strength of your citations vs. competitors.
- How directly your content answers the prompt.
- Recency of third-party mentions (older citations decay).
3. Sentiment
Definition: how positively the AI describes your brand in its response. Classified as positive, neutral, or negative for each scan result, then aggregated as percentages.
Example: of your 36 mentions, 24 were positive, 9 were neutral, 3 were negative. Sentiment breakdown: 67% positive, 25% neutral, 8% negative.
How to read it:
| Sentiment | What it means |
|---|---|
| 70–100% positive | AI is recommending you well. Tone of mentions is favourable. |
| 50–70% positive | Acceptable, but worth working out what's holding the rest back. |
| 0–50% positive | Investigate. Open the negative mentions and find the source. |
Two shapes are worth naming separately. A neutral-heavy split (40–60% neutral) means AI mentions you factually but rarely with enthusiasm — you're in the answer without being recommended. And a negative share in double digits is the cue to read those mentions directly: it's usually a stale review, an old news story, or a known issue surfacing.
What changes it:
- Press coverage (positive or negative).
- Recent reviews on third-party sites.
- Customer complaints surfacing in Reddit, forums, or news.
- Specific phrasing in your own marketing being picked up.
Other things SimplyRank surfaces
Beyond the three core metrics:
Citations — the external sources AI cites in its responses. See Citations and sources.
Gap analysis — prompts where your competitors appear and you don't. See Gap analysis.
Recommendations — auto-generated suggestions for improvement based on your scan data. See Recommendations.
Tracking — your visibility over time, compared across competitors, prompts, categories, models or intents. See Trends and history.
What we don't measure (and why)
- Click-through to your site. AI answers don't always link out, and where they do, the data isn't reliably exposed. SimplyRank measures whether you appear in the answer — that's the upstream signal.
- Direct revenue attribution. AI search drives discovery, not the final click. Use it as a brand and pipeline metric.
- Sentiment toward your competitors. We focus on your brand and your benchmark — competitors are tracked for visibility and position, not their sentiment.
What's next
Still need help? Email us at [email protected]. Or browse all help articles.