How to use the AI Mentions Tracker?

Track how AI platforms discover, mention, and recommend your brand across ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini.

Written By Tom van den Heuvel

Last updated 4 months ago

Overview Dashboard

What is the AI Mentions Tracker?

The AI Mentions Tracker monitors when AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity mention your brand in response to customer queries. Think of it as SEO rank tracking, but for AI search results.

Why AI Mentions Matter

When potential customers ask AI platforms "where should I buy [product type]?" or "what are the best [category] stores?", you want your brand mentioned in the response.

AI mentions drive:

  • Direct traffic to your store

  • Brand awareness and credibility

  • Sales from AI-assisted shopping

  • Competitive advantage over brands not mentioned

Example: A customer asks ChatGPT "best vitamin stores online" and your store appears in the top 3 recommendations. That customer is highly likely to visit your store.

How the AI Mentions Tracker Works

Step 1: Add Tracking Queries

Add questions customers might ask AI platforms about your product category:

Good query examples:

  • "best [your category] stores"

  • "where to buy [your product type] online"

  • "top [your niche] brands"

  • "most affordable [category] with good reviews"

  • "best place to buy [product] in [region]"

Tips for effective queries:
✅ Use natural language (how people actually talk)
✅ Include your category/niche
✅ Think about customer pain points
✅ Add location-specific queries if relevant
✅ Include both brand and product queries

Step 2: We Check AI Platforms

After you add a query, StoreRank:

  1. Sends your query to ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini

  2. Analyzes the responses for brand mentions

  3. Identifies which competitors are mentioned

  4. Extracts citation sources (articles, Reddit, reviews)

  5. Tracks sentiment (positive/neutral/negative)

Processing time: 2-5 minutes per query

Step 3: Review Your Results

You'll see:

  • Your mention count - How many times you appear for this query

  • Your ranking - Position compared to competitors

  • Competitor mentions - Which brands AI recommends instead

  • Citation sources - Exact articles, Reddit threads, and sites AI references

  • Sentiment - How AI talks about your brand

  • Platform breakdown - Which AI platforms mention you

Understanding Your Results

Mention Count & Ranking

What it means:

  • Mentioned frequently - AI platforms recognize your brand as relevant

  • Not mentioned - You need to improve your AI visibility

  • Ranking position - Your competitive standing vs other brands

Example result:

Query: "best supplement stores online" Your mentions: 2/3 platforms Ranking: #3 (behind CompetitorA, CompetitorB) Sentiment: Positive

What to do:

  • If mentioned: Great! Maintain and improve your ranking

  • If not mentioned: Focus on getting into citation sources (see below)

  • If ranked low: Analyze what competitors are doing better

Citation Sources (Most Valuable Data)

What are citation sources? These are the websites, articles, Reddit threads, and reviews that AI platforms reference when making recommendations.

Example sources AI might cite:

  • Reddit threads discussing best stores

  • Blog articles comparing top brands

  • Review sites with customer feedback

  • Industry publications listing top companies

  • Social media discussions about products

Why sources matter: AI platforms don't make up recommendations - they cite existing content. If you're mentioned positively in these sources, AI will recommend you.

Click ‘View XX Sources’ for any query and discover:

Sources for "best vitamin stores": - Reddit: r/Supplements - "Where to buy quality vitamins?" - Blog: healthyhabits.com - "Top 10 Supplement Stores 2024" - Review: trustpilot.com - Your store reviews - Article: wellandgood.com - "Best Places to Buy Vitamins Online"

Taking Action Based on Results

Strategy 1: Get Into Missing Sources

If you're not mentioned:

  1. Identify key sources competitors appear in

  2. Reddit Strategy:

    • Find relevant subreddits

    • Provide genuine, helpful answers (not spam)

    • Share your expertise, mention your store naturally when relevant

    • Build karma and community trust

  3. Blog/Article Strategy:

    • Reach out to blog authors for inclusion

    • Offer expert quotes or product samples for review

    • Pitch yourself to journalists covering your industry

    • Create content worthy of being cited

  4. Review Site Strategy:

    • Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews

    • Respond to all reviews professionally

    • Build positive review volume on major platforms

Strategy 2: Improve Existing Mentions

If you're mentioned but ranking low:

  1. Analyze why competitors rank higher:

    • Do they have more positive reviews?

    • Are they mentioned in more sources?

    • Do they have better brand recognition?

  2. Strengthen your presence:

    • Get more mentions in the same sources

    • Improve sentiment by addressing customer concerns

    • Build more authoritative citations

  3. Optimize your content:

    • Make sure your AI-optimized product pages are indexed

    • Add more helpful FAQs

    • Strengthen your schema markup

Strategy 3: Monitor Sentiment

Positive sentiment ("highly recommended", "excellent quality"):

  • Keep doing what you're doing

  • Amplify these positive signals

Neutral sentiment ("options include", "also sells"):

  • Work on differentiating your brand

  • Build more authority signals

Negative sentiment ("complaints about", "issues with"):

  • Address the root cause immediately

  • Work on reputation management

  • Create positive content to balance negative mentions

Example Action Plan

Scenario: Not mentioned for key queries

Query: "best protein powder brands"
Your mentions: 0/3 platforms
Top source: Reddit r/fitness discussion thread

Action plan:

  1. Join r/fitness and related subreddits

  2. Participate genuinely for 2-3 weeks (build trust)

  3. Answer protein questions with helpful advice

  4. Naturally mention your brand when relevant

  5. Wait 1-2 weeks for AI to re-crawl and update

  6. Check tracker again for improvement

Expected timeline: 3-4 weeks to see first mentions

Scenario: Mentioned but ranking low

Query: "where to buy vitamins online"
Your mentions: 2/3 platforms, ranked #5
Competitors above you: All have 4.5+ star reviews on Trustpilot

Action plan:

  1. Launch review collection campaign

  2. Email happy customers requesting reviews

  3. Add review incentives (discount on next order)

  4. Respond to all existing reviews

  5. Improve Trustpilot rating from 4.0 to 4.5+

  6. Monitor mentions monthly for ranking improvement

Expected timeline: 4-8 weeks to see ranking improvement

Best Practices for Better AI Mentions

✅ Optimize product pages with high-quality content and FAQs
✅ Ensure your schema and llms.txt are active (AI crawlers can read them)
✅ Engage in AI-cited sources (like Reddit or industry blogs)
✅ Use competitor queries to identify where they’re being mentioned

Summary

The AI Mentions Tracker helps you:

  • See when and where your store is mentioned by AI

  • Understand why certain stores are recommended more often

  • Take direct action to improve your ranking by showing up in cited sources