The prompts you track determine the quality of your AI visibility data. Track the wrong prompts and you'll get a distorted picture — either falsely optimistic or unnecessarily alarming. After analysing thousands of brand queries across four AI platforms, we've developed a structured taxonomy that covers every stage of the buyer journey.
Why Prompt Selection Matters More Than You Think
A brand might appear in 90% of "best [category] tools" queries but 0% of "how to solve [specific problem]" queries. Both matter, but they tell different stories. Category queries measure awareness. Problem queries measure consideration. Comparison queries measure decision-stage influence. You need coverage across all three to understand your true AI visibility.
Stage 1: Awareness Prompts (Top of Funnel)
These are the broad, category-level queries that introduce users to potential solutions. They're the AI equivalent of a Google "best of" search. Examples include: "What are the best [category] tools in 2026?", "Top [category] platforms for [industry]", "What software do [role] professionals use for [task]?", "Emerging [category] solutions worth trying", and "What's trending in [category]?"
Track at least 5-8 awareness prompts. These establish your baseline category visibility. If you're not appearing here, you have a fundamental awareness problem that no amount of consideration-stage optimisation will fix.
Stage 2: Consideration Prompts (Mid Funnel)
These prompts signal active evaluation. The user knows they need a solution and is researching options. Templates: "How does [your product] work?", "Is [your product] good for [use case]?", "What are the pros and cons of [your product]?", "[Your product] reviews and ratings", "What do people think about [your product]?", "How much does [your product] cost?"
These prompts reveal whether AI models have accurate, current information about your product. Incorrect pricing, outdated features, or confused positioning at this stage directly kills conversions. Monitor these weekly and flag any inaccuracies immediately.
Stage 3: Comparison Prompts (Decision Stage)
Decision-stage prompts pit you directly against competitors. Templates: "[Your product] vs [Competitor]", "Should I use [Your product] or [Competitor]?", "Best alternative to [Competitor]", "[Your product] compared to [Competitor] for [use case]", "Switching from [Competitor] to [Your product]"
Track comparison prompts against your top 3-5 competitors. Pay attention not just to whether you're mentioned, but how: are you positioned as the better option, a worthy alternative, or a lesser choice? The sentiment and positioning of comparison responses often have more impact on conversions than raw mention counts.
Stage 4: Problem Prompts (Intent-Based)
These are the prompts most brands miss entirely. Users asking AI to solve specific problems without naming a product category. Templates: "How do I [specific task related to your product]?", "What's the easiest way to [workflow your product solves]?", "I need help with [problem your product addresses]", "Why is my [process your product improves] not working?"
Problem prompts represent the highest-intent traffic in AI search. A user asking "how do I track my brand's AI visibility" is closer to buying than someone asking "best AEO tools." These prompts also reveal whether AI models understand your product's core use case well enough to recommend it for specific problems.
Building Your Custom Prompt Library
Start with 10-15 prompts across all four stages. Add your brand name, your top competitors, your category, and your primary use cases. Run each prompt across all four AI platforms monthly at minimum. Track not just mentions, but position, sentiment, accuracy, and sources cited. Over time, expand to 30-50 prompts as you identify gaps and opportunities. The brands winning in AI search aren't just monitoring — they're systematically mapping how AI models perceive their entire market position.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn't tracking branded prompts ('what is my brand?') enough?
Because branded prompts almost always return a positive answer for any indexed brand — they measure presence, not preference. The valuable signal is at consideration and decision stages, where users are choosing between options. A brand can have 100% branded mention rate and 5% decision-stage mention rate; the second number is what predicts pipeline.
How many prompts should a small brand track?
Twenty-five to fifty is the sweet spot for most brands. Fewer than 20 and you don't get statistically meaningful patterns. More than 100 and you're capturing noise on long-tail queries that don't move pipeline. Focus on the 30 prompts that map directly to your buyer's research path; expand only when the core set is well-tuned.
Should I track prompts in multiple languages?
Yes if you operate in multiple markets. AI brand visibility differs significantly by language because AI models draw from language-specific training data. A brand strong in English-language responses can be invisible in German or Japanese for the same category. Each market deserves a localised prompt set, not a translated one.
Free check · No signup
See your brand in AI search right now
Run a free check across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Find the prompts where you appear, the prompts where competitors win, and what to fix first.
Track your brand across AI platforms
Linksii monitors how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity describe and recommend your brand — including source citations, sentiment, and competitor positioning across every prompt your buyers ask.
