Running a check
A check is something you ask the assistant to do in a session — the same kind of conversation described in Using AI sessions. This guide walks through what happens between asking and getting your report.
Ask the assistant
Start a session and describe what you want to know. A campaign's chat works well since it already has context on what you're promoting; Pulse's "New report" is just as good if you're starting fresh. For example:
- "How visible are we in AI search?"
- "Check our AI visibility."
- "How visible is our brand in AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews? Run an AI visibility check."
- "How do ChatGPT and Gemini talk about us compared to [a competitor]?"
- "Are we showing up when people ask about [a topic you care about]?"
Once you have a report, the same session can act on it:
- "Walk me through the top recommendations from my last AI visibility check and start with the highest-impact one."
You don't need to phrase it any particular way — anything that's clearly asking about how AI assistants portray or mention your business will kick off the same flow.
Confirm the prompts
The assistant reads your Business DNA and proposes a set of questions a real customer might ask an AI assistant — things like "what does [your brand] do" or "best [your category] near me," each covering a different angle (general service questions, pricing, local intent, urgent needs, reputation/trust). It shows you the full list with every question already checked. Uncheck anything you don't want probed, or leave them all checked — it's your call before anything runs.
Confirm the engines
Next it shows the seven engines it can check — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews, and Microsoft Copilot — again all pre-checked. Uncheck any you'd rather skip for this run.
Approving the check
Actually running the check spends real AI and search credits — one probe for every question × engine combination you confirmed, so a small check can still mean dozens of calls. Because of that, the assistant asks you to approve the check before anything runs, the same way it confirms before anything with a real cost or consequence happens. Once you approve, the check starts.
While it runs
You'll see the assistant's progress as it works through each engine. A check that hits a snag on one engine doesn't stop the whole thing — that engine's result is just left out, and the rest of the check keeps going.
Reading the report
When the check finishes, a report tile appears in the chat. Click it to open the full report panel, which walks through:
- Brand visibility score — your overall score, with the change versus your last check.
- Four metric cards — sentiment, share of voice, the number of questions you "win" (appearing in most engines' answers), and what share of citations point back to something you own.
- Trend — your visibility score and sentiment plotted over every check you've run.
- Share of voice vs. competitors — how your mention count compares to each named competitor that came up.
- Per-engine visibility — the same score broken out by engine.
- Where AI sources its answers — a breakdown of citations by type (your own site, a competitor's, a directory listing, or social).
- Recommendation plan — see Recommendations.
The report also carries a status: Probing… while it's running, Complete once every engine answered, Partially complete if one or more engines couldn't be reached (their results are simply excluded, not counted against you — see Overview), or Failed if the check couldn't produce a result at all.
You can export the report at any time from the panel if you want a copy to share or keep.
FAQ
Q: Can I skip the confirmation steps and just run a check immediately? A: No — confirming the prompt list and engine list happens every time, since the check spends real credits and you should know what it's about to probe before it does. It only takes a moment; every question and engine starts pre-checked, so if the defaults look right you just approve and go.
Q: Where do the suggested questions come from? A: The assistant generates them from your Business DNA — your category, audience, and named competitors — so they resemble what a real customer in your category would actually ask. The more complete your Business DNA, the better the suggestions (see Setup notes).
Q: Can I add my own question instead of only picking from the list? A: Yes — tell the assistant what else you'd like checked and it will add it to the confirmed set before the check runs.
Q: What happens if I don't approve the check? A: Nothing runs and nothing is spent. You can ask again whenever you're ready, or change the prompt or engine list first.