Running Your First AI Audit
Time to get your hands dirty. Today you'll actually run an AI audit — asking 50+ questions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude to find out exactly where you stand.
This is Week 1's most important action. The results will either terrify you or motivate you. Probably both.
The 50-query framework
You need at least 50 queries across 5 categories. Here's a template you can copy:
Best-in-category (15 queries): "best [product] for [use case]" — vary the use case each time. Sleep, anxiety, energy, muscle recovery, general health — whatever applies to your category.
Head-to-head comparisons (10 queries): "[your brand] vs [competitor]" — test against your top 5 competitors, asking from both directions.
Validation queries (10 queries): "is [brand] worth it" / "is [brand] legit" / "[brand] review" — test how AI handles trust questions.
Problem-solution (10 queries): "best supplement for [specific problem]" — test whether AI connects problems to your solutions.
Technical/educational (5 queries): "[ingredient] benefits" / "[ingredient A] vs [ingredient B]" — test whether your educational content gets cited.
Run queries on all three platforms
Don't just use ChatGPT. Each AI platform has different strengths and pulls from different sources.
ChatGPT — The biggest platform by volume. Use both the free and Plus versions. Note that Plus users with browsing enabled may get different results than free users.
Perplexity — The most citation-heavy platform. It always shows its sources, making it the easiest to audit. Check which URLs it references for each recommendation.
Claude — Often gives the most detailed, structured responses. Pay attention to how it frames comparisons and whether it includes specific data points.
For each platform, ask the same queries. You'll often get different recommendations — that's valuable data about which platform you need to optimize for first.
Scoring your results
After running all 50 queries, calculate your AEO Score:
Visibility rate — In what percentage of queries are you mentioned at all? Target: 50%+ within 90 days.
#1 rate — In what percentage of queries are you the top recommendation? Target: 30%+ within 90 days.
Citation sources — How many unique external sources cite your brand? Target: 5+ within 60 days.
If your visibility rate is under 10%, you have significant ground to cover. That's completely normal — it means you're starting at the same place as 99% of brands. The 7-layer system you'll build over the next 15 days will change those numbers dramatically.