When people talk about "AI visibility", they usually mean one of two very different things. Your page can be cited, which means its link appears in the sources behind an answer. Or your brand can be recommended, which means its name appears in the answer itself, the part a buyer actually reads.
Why the difference matters
A buyer asking "what's the best SOC 2 platform for a mid-size fintech?" reads a short list of names. Very few click through to the sources. If you're cited but not named, you've done the AI's homework for it and a competitor gets the shortlist spot.
What gets a brand recommended
AI models are cautious about naming vendors. They tend to recommend brands that several independent sources agree on. In practice that means three layers of evidence:
- Your own site clearly explains who you're for, what you do, and how you compare.
- Open discussions, like Reddit threads, where practitioners mention you in context.
- Recognised experts, often your own people on LinkedIn, writing credibly about the problem you solve.
One strong layer rarely moves the needle on its own. When all three say the same thing about you, recommendations start to follow.
How to measure it
Track a fixed set of buyer questions, the ones that lead to a purchase, across the engines your buyers use. For each, record whether you're absent, cited, or recommended, and who else is named. Do it on Day 0 and on a regular schedule after. That record is far more useful than any single visibility score.
Being cited means you helped write the answer. Being recommended means you're in it.