User guide
How to use BrandRadar
BrandRadar tells you whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews recommend your business — and hands you the exact playbook to become the answer they give. Plain-language steps, real examples, and use cases. New term? It’s in the glossary.
Quick start — your first 5 minutes
The whole loop is: see where you stand → get the fixes → prove they worked. You can do the first pass without an account.
Enter your business
Type your business name on the home page and pick it from the list (that pins the exact location and category).
Watch the scan
Four AI engines get asked the real questions your customers ask — like “best {your category} in {your city}.” It streams live.
Read your score
You get a 0–100 visibility score and one honest sentence — e.g. “ChatGPT doesn’t know you exist yet.”
Open the playbook
Click Show me how to fix this. You’ll get 3–5 ranked moves, each tied to a real gap we measured.
Apply & re-scan
Do a move, mark it Applied, then re-scan. The next scan proves the climb and updates the plan.
Tip: start with the top move. It’s ranked first because it has the biggest estimated impact for the least effort — the playbook is already sorted so you don’t have to decide.
Core concepts — the mental model
Five ideas make everything else click. Skim these once and the whole product reads easily.
AI-search visibility
When someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation, does it name you? That’s visibility. It’s the new “page one of Google,” except the AI gives one answer, not ten links.
Your 0–100 score
A single, honest score for how often and how prominently AI names you, blended across engines. It comes with a confidence range because AI answers vary — we show the wiggle, never a fake-precise number.
GEO · AEO · SEO
GEO = get named inside AI answers. AEO = be the direct answer (structured, machine-readable).SEO = still be found on Google. Every fix is tagged with the front it lifts.
Share of voice
Of all the businesses AI names for your category, what share is you vs. each competitor? That’s your share of voice — the scoreboard for “who is AI recommending instead of me.”
The Playbook & verify loop
We don’t stop at a score. We diagnose why and generate ranked, specific fixes — then the next scan confirms each one worked. Anxiety in, pride out.
The four engines
ChatGPT (reads Bing), Perplexity (reads the live web + Reddit), Gemini (reads Google & Maps), and Google AI Overviews. Each picks winners differently — so the same fix can help them for different reasons.
The four engines, at a glance
| Engine | Pulls its picks from | Leans toward |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Bing’s index | Pages that rank in Bing; encyclopedic sources |
| Perplexity | The live web | Fresh content, cited sources, Reddit |
| Gemini | Google & Google Maps | Google Business Profile, reviews, local proximity |
| AI Overviews | Google Search | Authority & “best of” listicles |
Why this matters: a brand can be strong on one engine and invisible on another. If ChatGPT ignores you, the fix often lives in Bing, not Google. BrandRadar routes each move to the engines it actually helps.
Run & read a scan
A scan asks each engine the same set of customer questions several times (so the score is honest, not a one-off fluke), reads who got named, then reads your website and listings.
What the score screen tells you
- The big number + range — your blended visibility, with its confidence interval.
- Per-engine bars — where you’re strong and where you’re invisible.
- One honest sentence — the verdict in plain English, never blame.
- Scan confidence — how clearly we could see you this scan (connect Google Business + your website to raise it).
- The one action — Show me how to fix this, which opens the playbook.
Work the playbook — how you actually climb
The playbook turns your gaps into a ranked to-do list. Each move is a lever — a specific, evidence-backed change — sorted so the highest-impact, lowest-effort win is first.
Each fix has three tabs
- Your fix — the step-by-step, with your real data woven in and paste-ready assets (JSON-LD, a review-request text, an outreach email) written for your business.
- Guideline — the “why it works,” the standard to hit, and worked good-vs-bad examples, so you learn the craft, not just the checklist.
- What we measured — the raw numbers behind the move (your fact density, review count, schema, etc.) so you can verify the gap yourself.
A worked example
Homepage opens with: “Welcome! We’re a family-owned business passionate about quality and committed to excellence.”
No answer, no facts — AI has nothing concrete to quote.
Homepage opens with: “A standard kitchen remodel in Dhaka takes 4–6 weeks and costs ৳4–8 lakh. We’ve completed 240+ projects since 2011, rated 4.8★ across 180 reviews.”
Answer-first + sourced facts — research links this to ~+41% more AI citations.
The done-state & verify loop
When you finish a move, mark it Applied. It carries forward to your next scan, which checks whether it landed and updates your climb. That’s the loop that turns a score into progress.
Honesty promise: every recommendation carries an evidence tag — confirmed, research-backed, or likely — and we never suggest a debunked tactic (keyword stuffing, domain age, buying links). A coach, not folklore.
Beat your competitors
The playbook page shows you exactly where you stand against the field and what to do about it.
- You vs. the field — your share of voice next to each rival’s, your rank, and the concrete edges the leaders have that you don’t (more reviews, a higher rating, FAQ schema, sourced facts).
- Queries your rivals own — the exact questions where AI names a competitor and not you, sorted by real search demand, each with a Win this → link straight to the fix.
- Rivals rail — on every fix, the top rivals and whether they already do that move, so social proof drives urgency.
How AI talks about you
Two checks sit above your playbook, both about what AI actually says.
Is AI positive about you?
We read the words AI uses about you across answers and show the tone (positive / mixed / needs care) plus the real praise and criticism phrases — so you can double down on what’s working and fix what isn’t.
Is AI right about you?
We flag clear factual errors AI repeats — wrong location, “permanently closed” when you’re open, a service you don’t offer, wrong contact — against your real details, so you can correct the source.
If AI is repeating a wrong fact, fix it where AI reads it: your website, your Google Business Profile, and the directories — then re-scan to confirm it stopped.
Prove it worked — the climb & AI traffic
Visibility only matters if it drives real outcomes. Two places prove it:
- The Climb — your score over time, with your completed fixes marked on the line, so you can literally see “I did this, the score rose.”
- AI Traffic (Analytics → AI Traffic) — connect Google Analytics (read-only) and see the real visits ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot sent you, per engine, over time, with conversions where GA4 can attribute them.
Honest by design: AI-traffic conversions are a measurable floor — a lot of AI value is zero-click (someone reads the answer and just calls you), so your real impact is higher than analytics can see.
Scans, schedules & alerts
- On-demand scans — run one anytime from a brand’s page or the home input.
- Scheduled scans — weekly (or daily on higher plans) so your climb tracks itself. Turn these on per brand.
- Alerts — on a re-scan, one gentle notification when something real changes: a drop beyond the margin of error, a new rival AI now names, or a newly-blocked AI crawler.
- Deep Scan — an optional, premium pass that runs frontier models with live web tools for the sharpest read. Available as an add-on on paid plans.
For agencies
Everything above, at portfolio scale, plus the tools to sell and retain the work.
White-label reports
Branded, shareable reports and PDFs with your logo and colors — hand a client the proof without our name on it.
The embed widget
Drop a free-scan widget on your site. Prospects scan their own business, you capture the lead, and the report is branded to you.
Sub-accounts & portal
Give each client a read-only view of their own brand — they see the climb, you do the work.
One command center
Every client brand in one attention-sorted workspace, so you always know which account needs you next.
Agency tools (white-label, competitor share-of-voice, daily scans, client accounts, BYOK & API) unlock on the Agency and Scale plans.
Plans & billing
One account type, tiered by plan. Higher tiers add brands, tracked queries, engines, competitor tracking, cadence, and agency tools. See Plan & billing for current pricing and to change plans.
| Plan | Best for | Key capabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Trying it | 1 brand, on-demand scans, 3 engines, score + playbook |
| Solo | One business | Weekly scans, 1 competitor, AI coach, Deep Scan add-on |
| Agency | Client work | All 4 engines, 3 competitors, white-label + widget, daily scans |
| Scale | Portfolios | 5 competitors, client sub-accounts + portal, BYOK + API |
- Change plan — the Compare & change plans button on the billing page opens the full comparison; upgrades/downgrades explain exactly what changes before you confirm.
- Account credit — one-time, non-expiring balance that offsets overage and add-ons (like Deep Scans). Top up anytime; turn on auto-recharge so you never stall.
- Billing ledger — every charge, refund, top-up, and plan change in one place, with filters, CSV export, and “email me this statement.”
- Lifetime codes — redeem an AppSumo code (and stack several to climb tiers) under “Have a lifetime code?”
Use cases & worked walkthroughs
“Is ChatGPT recommending my dental clinic?”
Maria runs a dental practice. She scans and learns ChatGPT names competitors but not her.
- Her top move is Publish answer-first content — she turns “how much do dental implants cost in Austin?” into a page that answers it in the first line, backed by her real pricing.
- Move two: Grow reviews — she texts her last 10 happy patients the review link the app wrote for her.
- Move three: Get found in Bing — because ChatGPT reads Bing, she verifies her site in Bing Webmaster Tools.
- A week later she re-scans. ChatGPT now names her for two questions; her score climbs 14 points; the completed moves are marked on her Climb.
“Win the pitch, then retain the client.”
An agency uses the free-scan widget on its site as a lead magnet.
- A prospect scans their construction firm on the agency’s embedded widget — the report is branded to the agency, and the lead lands in the agency’s inbox.
- In the pitch, the agency shows You vs. the field: the client is #4 of 6, and the leader owns 38% of AI answers.
- They work the playbook across the client’s brand, tracking competitor share-of-voice each week.
- They hand over a white-label report and give the client a read-only sub-account to watch their own climb — proof that renews the retainer.
FAQ
How often should I scan?
Weekly is plenty. AI answers change slowly and fixes take a week or two to surface, so daily scanning rarely tells you anything new. Do run an on-demand scan right after you ship a batch of fixes to capture the climb.
Why did my score change when I didn’t do anything?
AI answers are non-deterministic — ask twice, get different names. We sample each question several times and show a confidence range, so small wiggles are expected. A real change lands outside that range.
Is the first scan really free?
Yes — one scan per visitor, no signup, no card. The full score is free. Seeing the step-by-step playbook takes a quick email signup.
Will BrandRadar change my website?
Never. We only read your public site and listings and tell you what to change. You (or your developer) make the changes; we verify them on the next scan.
What’s the fastest way to move the score?
Do the top move — it’s ranked first for a reason. For most local businesses that’s answer-first content with sourced facts, or growing reviews. If ChatGPT specifically ignores you, fix Bing.
What is a Deep Scan?
An optional premium scan that runs frontier AI models with live web tools for the sharpest, most current read. It’s a paid add-on; a standard scan is enough for day-to-day tracking.
Glossary
- AI-search visibility
- Whether AI assistants name your business when someone asks for a recommendation.
- GEO
- Generative Engine Optimization — getting named/cited inside AI answers.
- AEO
- Answer Engine Optimization — being the direct, structured answer (schema, answer-first content).
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization — still being found in classic Google results.
- Mention rate
- How often AI named you out of all the questions we asked.
- Share of voice (SOV)
- Your share of all the businesses AI names for your category, vs. competitors.
- Lever
- One specific, evidence-backed fix in your playbook (reviews, schema, content, citations, and more).
- Schema / JSON-LD
- Structured data in your page’s code that lets AI read your business details cleanly.
- NAP
- Name, Address, Phone — kept identical everywhere so AI is confident who you are.
- E-E-A-T
- Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust — signals of who stands behind your pages.
- Confidence range
- The wiggle around your score, because AI answers vary run to run. Honesty, not fake precision.
- Verify loop
- Mark a fix Applied → the next scan confirms it worked → your climb updates.
Ready to see where you stand?
Run a free scan — no signup, no card. You’ll have your score in about a minute.
Building or deploying BrandRadar instead? See the operator & developer guide.