Prompts and categories

Prompts are the questions SimplyRank runs against AI models. Open Prompts in the sidebar, or use Manage prompts on Overview, Tracking or Scans. Settings → Prompts remains available. The data is only as useful as the prompts are realistic — this is the most important page to get right.

For what to write in a prompt, see How prompts work. This page covers how to manage them in the dashboard.

Adding a prompt

1. Open Prompts in the sidebar, or click Manage prompts on Tracking.
2. Click Add Prompt.
3. Enter the query: a sentence or two, the question a real customer would ask.
4. Choose a category. Every visibility prompt needs one (more on categories below).
5. Optionally set the intent (informational, transactional, commercial or navigational) and add tags.
6. Click Create.

If your monthly query allowance has room, an active prompt is scanned as soon as you create it, and it's included in every scheduled scan after that. The free trial includes a single sample scan, so a prompt added after it is saved but is not scanned until you choose a plan. Saving a prompt does not mean a scan has completed. You can also scan a prompt from its row, or run a full scan from the Scans page; both use the same allowance.

A scan that is still running offers View progress. Once it finishes, use View results to open its saved AI answers. If a scan cannot start, the message explains why, such as a used trial scan or monthly allowance.

Editing a prompt

At your prompt limit, Upgrade to Add More opens Settings → Billing for the current workspace. You can still use Edit on an existing prompt, or archive one to free a slot and add your own. Onboarding suggestions count toward the same limit. Editing or adding prompts after the trial sample is used does not generate fresh answers; choose a plan to scan the revised questions.

Use the edit button on a prompt's row. You can change:

• The query.
• The category and intent.
• The tags.
• Whether it's active (active prompts run on every scan; inactive prompts are paused, and their results are kept).

You can also switch a prompt on or off in the Active column of the list.

Editing the query keeps the prompt's history, but the answers from before and after the edit are to different questions, so comparisons across the edit aren't like for like. To track a genuinely different question, add it as a new prompt and archive the old one.

Archiving a prompt

To stop tracking a prompt, use the archive button on its row. It stops being scanned and no longer counts toward your plan's prompt limit. Its past results stay in your trends and reports, including Tracking (or Sentiment, if it's a sentiment prompt), though the prompt will drop out of the Recommendations list, which only covers active prompts, the next time that list refreshes. You can restore it from Archived prompts while you have room under your prompt limit; it comes back switched off, so switch it on in the Active column to scan it again.

A prompt that was never scanned can also be deleted for good from Archived prompts. A prompt with results can only be archived, so no history is lost.

There's no bulk import or export of prompts: add them one at a time.

Categories — grouping prompts by topic

Categories let you organize prompts and filter results by topic. They're especially useful when you have 50+ prompts.

Examples

Adding a category

Categories have their own page. To open it, go to Settings → Prompts and click Manage categories, next to the category filter. The same link sits above the category field when you add or edit a prompt.

1. Open the Categories page.
2. Click Add Category, give it a name (and, if you like, a description and colour), and save.
3. Click Back to prompts, then assign prompts to the category by editing each prompt and choosing it.

There's no limit on how many categories you create, on any plan.

Owners, admins and members can add and edit categories, and owners and admins can delete them. Viewers see the list but can't change it. Team members lists what each role can do.

Filtering by category

The dashboard, Tracking, Gap Analysis, Citations and Sentiment pages have a category filter. Selecting one shows you only the data for prompts in that category. This is how you spot patterns like "we're strong in use-case prompts but weak in direct comparisons."

How prompts interact with scans

Each scan runs every active prompt against every supported AI model. For example:

• 50 prompts × 4 AI models = 200 individual queries per scan.
• A daily scan on Pro = 150 prompts × 4 models × 30 days = 18,000 queries per month.

On paid plans, the monthly query limit caps total scan volume. Once you reach it, new scans can't start until 00:00 UTC on the 1st of the next month (the count follows the calendar month, not your billing date), or until you upgrade. The trial includes one sample scan; choose a plan to scan again after it is used. See Plans and pricing.

Tips

• Start broad, narrow over time. Begin with 10–20 general prompts, see what works, then add specific ones.
• Mix prompt types. A balanced set includes recommendation prompts, comparison prompts, and use-case prompts.
• Avoid your brand name. Tracking "Tell me about [your brand]" is interesting once but doesn't simulate organic discovery.
• Refresh quarterly. Customer language evolves. Review prompts every 3 months and replace any that feel stale.

What's next

• How prompts work — what makes a good prompt
• Brands and competitors
• Scans