An AI answer can name your business, cite a page or suggest you as an option. Each tells you something different about how your brand appears.
Start by reading the answer as a buyer would. Is the description accurate? What supports it? Does it help someone judge whether you fit their needs?
Keep the foundations strong
For AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google says established SEO practices remain relevant, with no extra requirements or special optimisation. A supporting page must be indexed and eligible for a search snippet. Meeting those conditions does not guarantee inclusion. [1]
Keep your information accessible, useful and accurate. Fix missing explanations and make important evidence easy to find. These foundations still deserve attention as discovery changes.
That guidance applies to Google's Search features. Other AI systems need to be assessed on their own terms.
Give people something to assess
Our view is straightforward: a claim should have support a buyer can examine. Explain what you do, identify the expertise behind it and show the work or reasoning that matters.
Use independent references where they support a specific point. Explain your own interpretation. A familiar name attached to a claim does not make the claim stronger by itself.
For example, a specialist firm could explain which problem its method addresses, who applies it and where its limits lie. That gives a reader something useful to assess. It does not establish whether an AI system will select the page.
Know what you are measuring
A mention names the brand. A citation links to a source. A recommendation presents the business as a suitable option. Record each separately.
Bing's February 2026 AI Performance announcement describes citation reporting across supported Microsoft AI experiences and selected integrations. It says aggregated cited-page data does not establish ranking, authority or a page's role in an individual answer. [2]
Citation activity is useful visibility evidence. Buyer preference and commercial results need their own evidence.
Start with a real buyer question
Choose a small set of questions your buyers would ask. Record the system, date, wording, answer and sources. Check how your business is described and which information supports that description.
Correct inaccuracies you control. Answer important questions your content leaves open. Check relevant external references, then repeat the assessment to look for patterns.
Credible evidence gives buyers a stronger basis for judgement. Build that foundation while checking AI visibility directly. No page or claim can guarantee a citation or recommendation.
Assess AI discovery as part of your wider brand visibility with the Valent Visibility System.
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