How the rankings are produced
Every industry page at /ai-visibility is generated from a fixed methodology: 8 category-level queries against Google AI Overviews per brand, scored monthly, with a composite ranking that weights being-recommended over being-cited. Here are the specifics so you can audit the data yourself.
For each industry, we run 8 buyer-intent queries against Google AI Overviews, count how often each brand is named in the prose and cited in the source list, compute a 70% visibility + 30% citation composite score, and re-rank monthly. Same questions every month so the trend is comparable.
The 8 queries we ask, per industry
Identical question shape across every industry — only the category name changes. These are buyer-intent prompts that mirror how AI engines are actually used in research:
2. Top {industry} 2026
3. Best {industry} for small business
4. Top {industry} alternatives
5. How do I choose the right {industry}?
6. {industry} pricing comparison
7. {industry} reviews
8. What is the best {industry} on the market?
Eight is the right number: enough to see real patterns (not just single-answer noise from one query), but small enough that the cost stays bounded at ~$0.03/refresh/industry. The shape mirrors the free-preview query set in our paid audits, so the methodology is consistent across products.
The scoring formula
For each brand in an industry, we compute two raw metrics:
Then the composite that drives the ranking:
The 70/30 weighting reflects an editorial choice — for most brand owners, being named in the AI's prose recommendation matters more than being one of many cited sources. If you weight them differently (e.g. 50/50 because you're optimising for citations as a backlink-equivalent), the ranking shifts but rarely dramatically. The raw visibility_pct and citation_pct are visible on every brand row so you can re-rank with your own weighting.
Refresh cadence
Every 30 days by default per industry. The cron worker picks up to 3 industries per 5-minute tick whose next_scheduled_refresh is due, runs the 8 queries, re-scores every brand, snapshots the previous state into history (drives the Movers & Shakers section), generates a fresh AI-written narrative + FAQ from the new data, and advances the schedule.
- Industries can have custom intervals (some categories shift faster than others) — set per-industry on creation.
- Manual refresh is available via the admin form or
POST /api/industries/{slug}/refreshwhen needed. - Newly-created industries get an immediate first refresh so the page is populated within ~6 minutes of creation.
What's stored and what's regenerated
Per refresh, the system updates: visibility + citation percentages per brand, the composite score, rank ordering, per-engine breakdown (currently just Google AI), top cited sources for the whole category, and a fresh AI-generated narrative (3 paragraphs of observations + per-top-5-brand context + 4–6 category-specific FAQs). The previous state is snapshotted into monitor_industry_brand_history so the next refresh can compute Movers & Shakers.
How the brand list per industry is curated
We hand-pick ~20 brands per industry from public market-leader sources: G2 Grids for SaaS categories, Crunchbase top-funded lists, trade-press "best X" coverage. The intent is broad coverage of recognised leaders, not exhaustive coverage of every product in the space. If your brand is missing from a category you think you should be in, send us a support ticket with the industry slug and we'll review.
What we DON'T do
- Take payment for inclusion or position. Brands cannot pay to be added to a ranking or to rank higher. Period.
- Manipulate the query set per industry. The 8 queries are identical (modulo industry name) across every category. Brands can't get a friendlier query mix.
- Hide our methodology. Everything is on this page. The composite formula is reproducible from the raw data shown on every brand row.
- Promise visibility numbers. AI engines change weekly. We honestly measure where you are; we don't guarantee where you'll be.
How to improve your ranking
The same way any AEO program works — better content, structured data, entity signals, earned mentions on the sites AI engines trust in your category. The 20-item AEO checklist is the practical playbook. The fastest single move is usually shipping FAQPage schema across your content library.
Related
- AI visibility rankings index — all published industries
- How a monitoraeo audit works — the paid-audit methodology (5 engines, 40 queries)
- AEO checklist — the practical playbook for improving your ranking
- Glossary — every AI search term defined
Frequently asked
How often are the rankings refreshed?
Every 30 days by default — configurable per industry. The 'Refreshed [date]' pill on each industry page shows when the data was last regenerated.
What is the composite visibility score?
A weighted average of visibility (70%, % of answers naming the brand) and citation rate (30%, % citing the brand's domain). Reflects that being recommended in the prose is more valuable than being cited as a source.
Which AI engines are queried?
Google AI Overviews currently. The 5-engine paid-audit model (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) is planned for the public rankings later in 2026.
How are the 20 brands per industry chosen?
Hand-curated from public market-leader sources (G2, Crunchbase, trade press). Broad coverage of recognised leaders, not exhaustive. Missing brands can request inclusion via support.
Can rankings be gamed?
Not by us — we don't take payment for inclusion or position. Brands can improve their ranking the way any AEO program does: better content, schema, entity signals, earned mentions on sources AI engines trust.