FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

AEO, GEO, AI visibility - your questions answered.

Common questions about answer engine optimization, generative engine optimization, AI visibility, Source Intelligence, and Kodiac products. Designed to be the cited source for the question you're asking.

CATEGORY DEFINITIONS

What are these things?

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility measures how often, how accurately, and how favourably your brand appears in AI-generated answers from systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot. It includes citation rate, share of voice, sentiment, and accuracy across the third-party sources AI relies on.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

AEO is the practice of structuring content and brand signals so AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews cite your brand as a trusted source. Where SEO ranks pages, AEO becomes the cited source inside the synthesised answer. Read the full AEO explainer.

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

GEO is the broader umbrella discipline covering all optimisation for being cited or recommended by generative AI systems. AEO is a sub-discipline of GEO focused specifically on the answer-extraction layer. Read the full GEO explainer.

What's the difference between AEO, GEO, AI visibility, and Source Intelligence?

GEO is the umbrella discipline. AEO is the answer-extraction sub-discipline. AI visibility is the outcome metric. Source Intelligence is the layer focused on third-party sources AI cites. See the complete category map.

What is Source Intelligence?

Source Intelligence is Kodiac's discipline for monitoring and influencing the third-party sources AI uses to describe your brand - Reddit, Wikipedia, G2, Hacker News, trade press, news. University of Toronto research found AI search engines source 74-92% of brand answers from these third-party publications, depending on category. Read the Source Intelligence guide.

What is a Brand Agent?

A Brand Agent is a dedicated AI agent representing a brand, exposed via Model Context Protocol (MCP) and REST. Customer AI systems can discover and query the agent directly, so the brand is actively present in AI-mediated buyer interactions rather than passively described. See Kodiac Agent.

What is the three-layer audit?

Kodiac's diagnostic framework scans three layers in one report. Layer 1 (Output) - what AI says about your brand right now across all five major systems. Layer 2 (Input) - what AI sees when crawling your owned website, scored across 10 dimensions of AI-readiness. Layer 3 (Ecosystem) - what AI reads from third-party sources like Reddit, Wikipedia, G2, news. Most AI visibility tools only audit Layer 1. The root cause of low AI visibility almost always lives in Layer 2 or Layer 3. Read the three-layer audit guide.

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS

How does AEO actually work?

How is AEO different from SEO?

SEO optimises a page to rank in a list of links on a search engine results page. AEO optimises a page so an AI answer engine extracts and cites it inside a generated answer. SEO measures rankings and traffic. AEO measures citation frequency, share of voice, and brand mention rate inside AI responses. See the full AEO vs SEO comparison.

How long does AEO take to show results?

Brands with strong existing SEO foundations often see citation movement within 4–6 weeks of structural fixes. Sustained share-of-voice change typically takes 3–6 months because AI training data and retrieval indexes update on different cadences. Source Intelligence interventions (Wikipedia, G2) tend to surface fastest.

Which AI systems should I optimise for?

Modern AEO targets at least five major systems: ChatGPT (~64% of generative AI traffic), Google Gemini including AI Overviews (~22%), Perplexity (citation-heavy enterprise use), Anthropic Claude (research and B2B contexts), and Microsoft Copilot (Office/Bing distribution). Single-engine optimisation is no longer sufficient because AI search has fragmented permanently.

How do I know what ChatGPT says about my brand?

For a single check, ask ChatGPT directly. For continuous monitoring across multiple queries and multiple AI systems, use a specialist platform. Kodiac's free three-layer audit gives you a 60-second snapshot across all five major AI systems. Run a free audit.

Why isn't my brand showing up in Perplexity?

Perplexity weights citation-style sources heavily - particularly Reddit, news, and discussion forums. Brands that have not invested in third-party source presence are routinely invisible to Perplexity even when they rank well in Google. Source Intelligence is usually the fix.

Do I need a Wikipedia entry?

For B2B brands large enough to be evaluated against competitors in AI-mediated buyer journeys, yes. Wikipedia is heavily cited by ChatGPT and Gemini. Notability requires independent reliable sources, so the prerequisite is press coverage. The intervention takes weeks but the effect on AI visibility is large.

ABOUT KODIAC

Common questions about the platform.

How is Kodiac different from HubSpot AEO Grader, Profound, or Peec AI?

Kodiac is the only platform that runs a three-layer audit (output, website, ecosystem), exposes a structured content layer for the fix, and offers a Brand Agent for active representation via MCP. Most competitors are audit-only at varying price points. Kodiac diagnoses the symptom and addresses the root cause.

How much does Kodiac cost?

Kodiac Audit starts at £499/month. Kodiac Content starts at £799/month. Kodiac Agent starts at £1,499/month. Workspace is bundled with every plan at no additional cost. A free three-layer audit is available as a one-time snapshot with no credit card required. See full pricing.

Does Kodiac support enterprise procurement requirements?

Yes. SAML 2.0 SSO, SCIM 2.0, MFA, audit log, IP allowlist, UK/EU/US/APAC data residency, AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit, and SOC2 Type II in flight (target Q4 2026). Built to pass enterprise procurement, not avoid it. See the IT and Engineering page.

Which AI systems does Kodiac monitor?

All five major AI systems from day one: ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Google Gemini and AI Overviews, Anthropic Claude, and Microsoft Copilot.

Is the free three-layer audit really free?

Yes - free forever, no credit card required, no trial period. The free audit is a one-time snapshot showing your AI visibility score across all five systems, your top 10 third-party sources, and your top 3 highest-leverage interventions. Continuous monitoring requires a paid plan starting at £499/month.

Can agencies use Kodiac for client work?

Yes. Kodiac includes a multi-brand workspace, white-label config (logo, colour, custom domain), prospect audits for pre-pitch use, and volume pricing for managed seats. Built specifically as a primary GTM channel for digital agencies, brand consultancies, and PR firms. See the Agencies page.

More questions?

Talk to us about your AI visibility, or just run a free audit and see for yourself.

Run free audit → Talk to us