What Is an AI Visibility Score? A Pillar Guide
Search is being rebuilt in real time. Googles Search Generative Experience (SGE), Microsoft Copilot in Bing, and a growing list of AI assistants now summarize the web for users — often without sending a single click to the source. For marketing and SEO leaders, the question is no longer Can we rank on page 1? but rather Will AI mention us at all? That question is answered by a new metric: the AI visibility score.
The shift from SEO to AI visibility
Traditional organic rankings are still valuable, yet early data from industry trackers shows that SGE and similar AI snapshots appear on up to 90 percent of commercial queries in U.S. testing.1 When a generative answer fills the top of the results, classic blue links move below the fold, and brand exposure depends on being cited by the large language model (LLM) behind the answer. A growing chorus of analysts refers to this discipline as generative engine optimization (GEO).
Definition of an AI visibility score
An AI visibility score quantifies how often, and how prominently, a brands content is surfaced inside AI-generated answers across multiple engines (Google SGE, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, ChatGPT Browse, and others). Where a domains organic ranking might sit at position 3 for a keyword, its AI visibility could be zero if the assistant never cites it.
Core AI visibility metrics explained
- Inclusion rate — The percentage of tracked queries in which a domain is named, linked, or quoted in an AI snapshot.
- Prominence weighting — How high in the answer the citation appears (e.g., first paragraph vs. footnote).
- Source label type — Whether the engine displays a clickable link, inline brand mention, or generic reference such as “a leading provider.”
- Content match score — Semantic overlap between the generated answer and on-page copy, signaling how well the page trains the LLM.
- AI visibility index — A composite benchmark that tracks a sites share of voice against its competitive set over time.
Inside the Project 40 AI Visibility Score
Project 40 developed its proprietary AI Visibility Score to give marketers a single, objective number they can track weekly. The methodology combines:
- Cross-engine crawling — Automated prompts trigger hundreds of generative answers across leading AI search interfaces.
- Entity extraction — Natural-language processing identifies brand mentions, URLs, product names, and authors inside each answer.
- Weighted scoring — Each mention is scored on inclusion, prominence, link type, and freshness. The weights are calibrated through regression analysis against downstream traffic data.
- Visibility benchmarking — Scores are normalized to an AI visibility index that allows true apples-to-apples comparison across industries.
The result is the Project 40 AI Visibility Score, expressed on a 0–100 scale, where 50 represents the median visibility of the tracked competitive set.
AI visibility vs. traditional SEO KPIs
| Metric | SEO | AI Visibility |
|---|---|---|
| Primary unit | Rank position | Citation inclusion & prominence |
| Click intent | High (blue links) | Variable; often zero-click |
| Optimization levers | On-page SEO, backlinks, Core Web Vitals | Content depth, entity clarity, model training data |
| Benchmarking | Domain vs. SERP | Domain vs. AI visibility index |
Improving your score through generative engine optimization
1. Strengthen entity signals
LLMs rely on structured data. Add or refine Schema.org markup, maintain consistent brand mentions, and build rich author profiles.
2. Publish LLM-friendly content
Concise answers, FAQs, and data tables are more likely to be extracted verbatim by AI models. Align copy with the questions customers ask.
3. Diversify authoritative citations
Earn mentions in trusted databases, peer-reviewed journals, and high-authority media. LLMs weigh these sources heavily when crafting summaries.
4. Monitor AI visibility metrics weekly
Just as rank tracking informs SEO, frequent monitoring of your AI visibility metrics ensures you can react as models update.
Benchmarks, tools, and next steps
A recent Project 40 study of 250 B2B SaaS domains found an average AI visibility score of 38/100, but leaders in each niche exceeded 70/100. The data suggests that early movers can build durable advantage before AI results become saturated.
To see where you stand, request a complimentary benchmark report powered by the Project 40 AI Visibility Score. Youll receive:
- Your domains AI visibility index across five leading engines
- A competitive gap analysis highlighting quick-win keywords
- Actionable GEO recommendations aligned to your content roadmap
AI assistants are rewriting the customer journey. Marketers who adapt their measurement stack today will own tomorrows visibility. Start tracking your AI visibility score, and stay ahead of the curve.
1. SGE Appearance Rate: BrightEdge Generative Search Study, March 2025.
