TL;DR. AI visibility is not one number. Seven metrics describe different symptoms, and you need all of them to diagnose correctly. Visibility Score is the headline. Position tells you where. Sentiment tells you how. Mentions and Citations split awareness from trust. Detection Rate is the floor (branded). Share of Voice and Share of Citations are the competitive read.
The 7 metrics in one line each
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Visibility Score | Your aggregate score on a prompt variation or prompt group (0–100). Headline metric. Distinguish between branded & non-branded prompts. |
| Position | Where you show up in the answer (#1–3 strong, #4–6 mid, #7+ weak, Not Found). |
| Sentiment | How AI describes you: positive, neutral, mixed, negative. |
| Mentions vs Citations | Mentions = brand named in answer text (awareness). Citations = your URL sourced (trust). The gap between them is the Trust Gap. |
| Detection Rate | % of runs where you appear at all. |
| Share of Voice | Your mention share vs competitors on the prompt group. Use this as a market benchmark. |
| Share of Citations | Your citation share vs competitors on the prompt group. |
Why you need all seven
Visibility Score alone hides the diagnosis. A 40% score can mean "mentioned often but never cited" (Trust Gap) or "cited often but always ranked #7+" (Position Gap) or "not mentioned at all half the time" (Detection Gap). Each is a different fix in a different module. You cannot act on the headline number without the breakdown.
The two hygiene reads
Branded hygiene: look at Detection Rate first. If AI engines do not find you on your own brand name, nothing else compounds. This is the foundation.
Non-branded competitive read: look at Share of Voice and Share of Citations against the top 3 competitors. That tells you if you are in the conversation or being skipped.
Do this now:
Open the Brand Visibility Dashboard view in Rankscale where the seven headline metrics roll up per prompt group. Write down the 7 values for your top prompt group. Circle the one that looks worst. That is your entry point into the diagnostic in lesson 6 of this module.
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