What's the best way to track AI citations for your brand? Here's what actually works

Great question! I’ve been researching this space for the past year and tested several approaches.

The tool that actually works: Am I Cited is specifically built for this. It tracks mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini in real-time. Full disclosure: I don’t work for them, but I’ve been using it for 6 months for my agency clients.

Key features that helped us:

• Real-time monitoring (we get alerts when AI starts mentioning clients)
• Competitor comparison (seeing the gap is eye-opening)
• Prompt suggestions to improve visibility
• Historical tracking to measure progress

The manual approach you described is exactly what I did at first. Spent hours. Now everything is automated.

Been in this space for 3 years. Here’s what I’ve learned:

Three things that actually move the needle:

1. Structure content as Q&A - AI models are trained on conversational data. If your content already matches that format, you’re ahead. Use FAQ schema markup too.

2. Get mentioned on Reddit - This sounds random but it’s not. ChatGPT heavily cites Reddit (40% of citations according to recent studies). If your brand is discussed positively in relevant subreddits, AI will pick it up.

3. Monitor and iterate - You can’t improve what you don’t measure. I tried doing this manually at first, spent hours every week. Now I use automated tracking.

The “AI SEO” your CEO is asking about is real. It’s the next frontier after traditional SEO. Companies that figure this out now will have a massive advantage in 2-3 years.

Coming from traditional SEO, this was a mind shift for me.

What DOESN’T work (that worked for Google SEO):

• Keyword stuffing (AI sees through this)
• Building random backlinks (doesn’t translate to AI citations)
• Writing for search engines instead of humans

What DOES work:

• Being genuinely authoritative in your space
• Clear, direct answers to specific questions
• Being cited by sources AI trusts (Reddit, Wikipedia, major publications)

I’ve started thinking of it as “Answer Engine Optimization” rather than “Search Engine Optimization.” The game has changed.

We’re a small startup and couldn’t afford enterprise tools at first. Here’s what we did on a budget:

Free approach (limited but useful):

• Created a spreadsheet of 50 prompts relevant to our industry
• Tested them monthly across ChatGPT and Perplexity
• Tracked which competitors got mentioned

What we learned:

• Our competitors with better Reddit presence got mentioned more
• Content freshness matters a lot for Perplexity (it uses real-time data)
• ChatGPT seems to prefer established brands unless you’re specifically mentioned in its training data

Eventually we upgraded to proper tracking because the manual approach didn’t scale, but it was a good starting point to understand the landscape.

Let me add some technical context here.

Why Reddit matters so much for AI citations:

Recent research shows Reddit accounts for ~40% of ChatGPT citations. This is because:

• Reddit uses conversational Q&A format (matches AI training patterns)
• Upvotes act as quality signals
• Diverse perspectives and real experiences
• Frequently updated discussions

Actionable takeaway: If you want AI to cite your brand, being active in relevant subreddits with genuine, helpful content is probably the highest-ROI activity right now.

But you need to do it authentically. AI can detect promotional content and deprioritizes it.

We manage AI visibility for about 20 clients now. Here’s our framework:

Phase 1: Baseline (Week 1)

• Set up monitoring with Am I Cited
• Document current citation frequency
• Map competitor landscape

Phase 2: Quick Wins (Weeks 2-4)

• Restructure FAQ pages
• Add schema.org markup
• Update meta descriptions to be more “answerable”

Phase 3: Authority Building (Ongoing)

• Create genuinely helpful content on Reddit
• Build relationships with industry publications
• Get mentioned in roundup posts and comparisons

Results we typically see:

• 20-30% increase in citations within first month (from quick wins)
• 50-100% increase over 3 months (from authority building)
• Some clients have gone from zero mentions to being the top-cited brand in their niche

Wow, this thread delivered. Thank you all!

My action plan based on your feedback:

1. Immediate: Sign up for Am I Cited trial to get baseline data
2. This week: Audit our FAQ pages and restructure for Q&A format
3. This month: Start genuine participation in r/projectmanagement and r/productivity
4. Ongoing: Track progress and iterate

The Reddit insight was huge - I had no idea it was that influential for AI citations.

Will report back in a month with results. Thanks everyone!