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AI optimisation

AI audit

Map your visibility in AI answers

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Before you can optimise for AI visibility, you need to understand where you stand. Where does your company appear in Google AI Overviews today? Which searches trigger AI answers that mention your brand? How often are you cited compared with your competitors?

An AI audit takes Google AI Overviews as its starting point and gives you the data to decide where to spend time and resources.

We analyse whether and how you appear, in what context and where there is room to grow.

Why companies need an AI audit

You cannot optimise what you do not measure

Traditional SEO has clear metrics: position in the search results, traffic and conversions. AI visibility is measured differently: the company needs to know whether it is cited in AI Overviews.

An audit can show, for example, that

  • The company ranks well in traditional results but is never cited in AI Overviews
  • The company is mentioned in AI Overviews but without a link (it gets exposure but no traffic)
  • Competitors dominate AI answers despite weaker traditional rankings
  • Important searches show AI Overviews where the company should appear but does not

The AI landscape is changing fast

Google constantly changes when and how AI Overviews are shown. Searches that produced AI Overviews three months ago may not do so today. New searches get AI answers, while others lose them.

An audit gives you a snapshot of your visibility in AI Overviews and a baseline to measure future improvements against.

How to get ahead of your competitors

An audit helps you find searches where you are already close to being cited and can get there with small adjustments.

What we analyse in an AI audit

Current state analysis: where do you appear today?

We start by mapping your visibility in AI Overviews right now.

Two reports provide the data. Generative AI performance in Search Console shows how often links to the site appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country and device. AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools shows how often the site is cited in Copilot and Bing’s AI summaries. The reports do not show which competitors appear or in what context you are mentioned, so we also check your most important search phrases.

How we map the searches that trigger AI Overviews

We test your most important search phrases (from the phrase cloud) and document

  • Which searches trigger an AI Overview?
  • Which searches show only traditional results?
  • Patterns: are they mainly question-based, informational or comparative searches?

Is the company cited in AI Overviews?

For every search where AI Overviews appear, we analyse whether you are mentioned and whether you are cited. By citation we mean a link to your page as a source, and by mention that the brand appears in the answer.

Is the brand mentioned?

  • Named directly: “Carnaby Solutions recommends…”
  • Referenced indirectly: information from your site without the brand being mentioned

Is your content linked?

  • Yes, with a clickable link
  • Mentioned, but without a link
  • No, neither linked nor mentioned

In what context are you cited?

  • As the main source (first or second position in AI Overviews)
  • As a supporting source (further down the summary)
  • As one of many (listed among five to ten sources)

This shows how prominent you are in the AI answer.

Competitor analysis: who is most visible in AI answers?

Knowing where the company appears is not enough. We also need to know who it is competing with.

Which competitors are cited most?

We map

  • Which sites are cited most often in AI Overviews for relevant keywords?
  • Are they the same competitors that rank highly in traditional search?
  • Are there new players that dominate AI answers but not traditional SEO?

This is what a competitor analysis can reveal

The sites that rank best in traditional search are not always cited in AI Overviews. Instead:

  • Trade publications may have the upper hand (stronger E-E-A-T)
  • Niche expert sites may be cited more often (deeper content)
  • Large media sites may dominate (authority)

This shows whether the company competes with different sites in AI answers from those it meets in traditional search.

How we measure share of voice in AI

We calculate an approximate share of voice, that is, how often you are cited compared with competitors.

Example

Among 50 industry-relevant searches where AI Overviews appear

  • Competitor A is cited in 25 (50 per cent)
  • Competitor B is cited in 18 (36 per cent)
  • You are cited in 8 (16 per cent)

This gives you a clear target: increase from 16 to 30 per cent over the next six months.

Technical analysis: is the site ready for AI?

AI tools need to be able to find, understand and trust the content.

Crawlability for AI bots

Can AI tools reach the content at all?

We check

  • Does robots.txt block important pages?
  • Are all important pages in the sitemap?
  • Is rendering correct (JavaScript-heavy sites)?
  • Is the site fast enough (slow sites are crawled less often)?

Is the structured data correct?

Google does not require any special structured data for its AI features. We review structured data as part of the standard SEO foundation.

We review

  • Is structured data implemented?
  • Is it correct (does it validate without errors)?
  • Does it cover the right content types (for example Article and Organization)?
  • Are relevant schema types missing?

Content analysis: is the content worth citing?

Google chooses to cite content that is easy to extract and verify.

How we assess citability

Can AI easily find concrete answers in your content?

We review

  • Do you answer questions clearly and early in the text?
  • Are there concrete facts and data (not just opinions)?
  • Is the information fact-based and verifiable?
  • Are clear headings used to structure the content?

After the audit comes implementation

The value of an AI audit comes when you implement the recommendations.

We help you through the whole process

Ready to map your AI visibility?

We analyse where you appear today, where you should appear and what it takes to get there.

Contact us for an AI audit

Want to know where you stand today?

Call us, or fill in the form and we will get back to you.

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