AI visibility, defined.

AI visibility

How often, how prominently, and how favourably an AI engine names a brand in answer to a buyer-intent prompt. Sentinel measures this across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)

The discipline of being named in AI answers, not just ranked in classic search. AEO covers the content, entity, citation and PR signals that make an engine choose to mention your brand.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)

The engineering side of AEO. The schema, structured content, internal linking and corroboration work that shifts what generative engines say. Used interchangeably with AEO by most practitioners.

Share of voice

Your brand's share of named mentions across a category's canonical prompt set on a given engine, in a given period. Sentinel reports SoV by engine and by prompt cluster so trends are comparable.

Citation rate

The percentage of answers that link to your domain when naming you. A high mention count with a low citation rate means the engine knows you, but is sending the click somewhere else.

Sentiment score

Whether the engine names you favourably, neutrally, or as a cautionary example. Negative sentiment in an answer is worse than no mention, because it actively warns your buyer.

Canonical prompt

A stable, buyer-intent question (e.g. "best AI visibility platform for B2B") that we re-run on a fixed schedule so results are comparable over time. The prompt set is the scoreboard.

Entity matching

Resolving a mention to a real brand entity rather than to a string. Catches cases where the engine paraphrases, abbreviates, or links to your product instead of your company name.

The Vault

Fortitude's archive of how AI engines answered real buyer questions over time. New customers get up to twelve months of category history on day one, so the first read already has a baseline.

Sentinel

Fortitude's AI visibility tracking product. Runs canonical buyer-intent prompts against four engines on a fixed schedule and reports share of voice, citations, sentiment and the changes that moved them.

Forge

Fortitude's managed service. A team that ships the content, PR, schema and web changes that move Sentinel scores. Sold in monthly hour packs (Ember, Furnace, Foundry) with Sentinel Scale included.

Google AI Overviews

The generative answer Google shows above the classic blue links for many queries. Sentinel tracks brand mentions and citations inside AI Overviews as one of its four engines.

Answer engine

Any interface where the primary result is a synthesised answer rather than a list of links. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google AI Overviews are answer engines. Classic Google is a search engine that now hosts one.

Discovery audit

A paid, fixed-scope first read of where your brand stands across the four engines, with a 90-day plan to move scores. GBP 1,500, credited back against a Forge plan if signed.

Cite this page: Fortitude Media, "AI visibility, defined." https://www.fortitudemedia.ai/glossary