How do you actually test if your GEO strategy is working? Looking for measurement frameworks

Here’s the measurement framework I use:

The GEO Measurement Pyramid:

Level 1: Visibility Metrics (Leading Indicators)

• Visibility Rate: % of prompts with your brand mentioned
• Position: Average position when mentioned (1st, 2nd, etc.)
• Coverage: % of platforms where you appear

Level 2: Quality Metrics

• Citation Rate: % of mentions that cite your content
• Context: Positive vs. neutral vs. negative mentions
• Accuracy: Correct vs. incorrect information

Level 3: Business Metrics (Lagging Indicators)

• AI Referral Traffic: Visits from AI platforms
• Conversion Rate: Conversions from AI traffic
• Revenue Attribution: Revenue from AI sources

Measurement Cadence:

Key insight: Visibility metrics lead business metrics by 4-8 weeks. Improvement in visibility now = improvement in traffic later.

Isolate tactics with controlled testing:

The GEO A/B Testing Framework:

Step 1: Group Pages

• Control: 10 similar pages, no changes
• Test: 10 similar pages, specific optimization

Step 2: Single Variable Change only ONE thing:

• FAQ schema addition
• Answer-first restructuring
• Table addition
• Heading optimization

Step 3: Time Period Run test for 6-8 weeks minimum. AI systems update slower than Google.

Step 4: Measure Both Groups Track visibility for both control and test. Compare improvement rates.

Example test:

• Control: 10 blog posts, no changes
• Test: 10 blog posts with FAQ sections added

Results after 8 weeks:

• Control: Visibility +3% (baseline drift)
• Test: Visibility +18%
• Net impact of FAQ: +15%

This proves FAQ addition specifically worked. Repeat for each major tactic.

Weekly monitoring catches issues fast.

Weekly Testing Protocol:

Same 50 prompts every week: Run on Tuesday (consistent timing) Document visibility and position Track changes from prior week

Weekly Dashboard:

What to watch for:

• Consistent improvement: Strategy working
• Volatility: AI systems unstable, wait
• Decline: Investigate potential issues
• Competitor surge: They did something

Weekly action items:

• Note any major changes
• Investigate declines over 5%
• Document any platform updates
• Adjust monthly strategy accordingly

Different platforms need different measurement:

Platform-Specific Considerations:

ChatGPT:

• Most traffic (87% of AI referrals)
• Slower to update
• Measure monthly for trends
• Expect 4-8 week lag on changes

Perplexity:

• Real-time search component
• Faster response to changes
• Measure weekly
• Good early indicator

Claude:

• Growing rapidly
• Training data cycles
• Measure monthly
• Good quality signals

Google AI Overview:

• Tied to Google search
• Traditional SEO affects it
• Measure weekly
• Check alongside rankings

Multi-Platform Dashboard:

Don’t average early. Track each platform separately. They respond to different signals at different speeds.

Connect visibility to business impact:

AI Traffic Attribution Setup:

GA4 Configuration:

1. Create segment for AI referrals
2. Regex pattern for AI sources:

   chatgpt.com|perplexity.ai|claude.ai|gemini.google.com|copilot
   

3. Set up conversion tracking

Metrics to track:

• AI sessions (volume)
• AI session rate (% of total)
• AI conversion rate (vs. organic)
• AI revenue (if applicable)

Monthly business dashboard:

Correlation analysis: Chart visibility score vs. AI traffic. Look for 4-8 week lag.

Visibility → Traffic → Conversions → Revenue

This proves ROI to leadership.

How to know which tactics work:

Tactic Testing Sequence:

Month 1: Technical Foundation

• Fix robots.txt
• Improve page speed
• Fix entity consistency Measure: Any immediate improvements?

Month 2: Schema Implementation

• Add FAQ schema to test pages
• Control group: no schema Measure: Schema pages vs. non-schema pages

Month 3: Content Restructuring

• Restructure test pages
• Control group: original structure Measure: Restructured vs. original

Month 4: External Signals

• Build mentions for test pages
• Control group: no mention building Measure: Pages with mentions vs. without

Result tracking:

This shows restructuring and mentions had biggest impact. Double down on those.

Be careful about statistical significance.

Sample size matters:

Testing with 10 prompts = high variance Testing with 100 prompts = meaningful trends

Variance considerations:

• AI responses vary by session
• Same prompt can give different results
• Test multiple times for average

Recommended approach:

• Minimum 50 prompts per category
• Test each prompt 3x for average
• Calculate standard deviation
• Only claim improvement if > 2 standard deviations

Example calculation: Week 1: 35% visibility (variance ±8%) Week 8: 48% visibility (variance ±7%) Improvement: +13%

Is +13% significant? If variance is ±8%, then yes. If variance is ±15%, maybe not.

Rule of thumb:

• <5% change: Noise, not signal
• 5-10% change: Possible signal, continue monitoring

• 10% change: Likely real improvement

Don’t celebrate 2% improvements. That’s noise.

Compare against competitors, not just yourself.

Competitive testing:

Same prompts, track competitor visibility:

Insights this reveals:

• Your brand queries are safe
• You’re behind in category queries
• Competitor A dominates - study their strategy

Monthly competitive tracking: Track share of voice over time. Are you gaining or losing ground?

You’re gaining. Comp A is losing. Continue current strategy.

Absolute improvement matters less than relative position.

Report GEO results to stakeholders:

Monthly GEO Report Template:

Executive Summary:

• Overall visibility: X% (±Y% from last month)
• Share of voice: X% (vs. Y% competitor average)
• AI traffic: X sessions (±Y% from last month)

Visibility Trends:

• Chart: Visibility over time
• Breakdown by prompt category
• Platform comparison

Tactic Performance:

• What we implemented this month
• Results observed
• What worked vs. what didn’t

Business Impact:

• AI-attributed traffic
• Conversion rate
• Revenue/leads from AI sources

Next Month Plan:

• Priority actions
• Expected impact
• Resources needed

Keep it simple for leadership:

• One page summary
• Trend arrows (up/down)
• Connection to revenue
• Clear action items

Now I have a real measurement framework. Implementation plan:

Week 1: Baseline Establishment

• Build 100 prompt library
• Test across all platforms
• Document current state

Week 2: Monitoring Setup

• Set up Am I Cited tracking
• Configure GA4 AI segments
• Create weekly dashboard

Ongoing: Weekly Monitoring

• Same 50 prompts weekly
• Track visibility and position
• Note any anomalies

Monthly: Tactic Evaluation

• Compare test vs. control pages
• Calculate net impact per tactic
• Adjust strategy based on results

Monthly: Stakeholder Reporting

• Visibility trends
• Business impact
• Competitive position
• Next steps

Key insights:

1. Baseline is mandatory - can’t measure without it
2. Test one tactic at a time to isolate impact
3. Allow 6-8 weeks for meaningful results
4. Track platforms separately - they update differently
5. Connect visibility to business metrics for ROI proof

Thanks all - this transforms our GEO from guessing to measuring.