GUIDE · PART OF AI SEARCH ANALYTICS
AI search KPIs:
the few worth reporting.
There's no agreed set of KPIs for AI search yet, which leaves every team choosing its own. Choose badly and you'll report numbers that look good and mean nothing. This guide gives a short set that holds up when someone senior asks what it shows, and says how far each one can be trusted.
What are the KPIs for AI search?
AI search KPIs are the measures used to report how a brand is doing in AI answer engines. They fall into three groups. Visibility KPIs, such as mention rate and citation rate, show whether engines name and use you. Traffic and outcome KPIs show the visits AI tools send and what those visitors do. Proxy KPIs, such as branded search, pick up the influence that leaves no click. A useful report takes one or two from each group.
Key facts
- AI search KPIs come in three groups: visibility, traffic and outcomes, and proxies
- Visibility KPIs move first. Traffic and outcomes follow later, if at all
- Every KPI should be read against your own baseline, because there are no reliable industry benchmarks
- A raw count of mentions means little without the number of prompts and runs behind it
- No KPI puts a dependable revenue figure on a citation
- SEORCE reports visibility in AI Beacon and AI visits and goals in Web Analytics, in the same project
Last reviewed 15 October 2026 by the SEORCE team.
Everyone reports something different.
With no standard, AI search reports range from a single score to forty charts. Both extremes fail the same test: a senior reader can't tell whether things are getting better.
Each tool has its own headline number
Scores with the same name are built differently, so a KPI lifted from a tool's dashboard may not mean what you think.
"We were mentioned 400 times"
Out of how many answers? On which questions? A count without its denominator can't be judged.
"What is it worth?"
It's the right question, and nobody can answer it precisely. A good set of KPIs says so and shows the nearest honest evidence.
Three groups, one or two from each.
A report with six KPIs, two from each group, covers the whole picture without burying the reader.
Your place in the answers
These move first. If your work is having an effect, it shows here weeks before it shows in traffic.
- Mention rateAnswers that name you, divided by answers tracked.
- Citation rateAnswers that used one of your pages as a source.
- Share of voiceYour mentions against competitors', on the same prompts.
What followed
These are what leadership cares about, and they arrive late. Report them alongside visibility so a slow quarter here isn't read as failure.
- Visits from AI toolsAs their own channel, split by tool.
- Goal completions from those visitsDemo requests, signups, orders.
- Landing pagesWhich pages AI tools send people to.
What can't be measured directly.
A buyer who hears about you in an AI answer may search your name a week later. That effect exists and can't be traced, so report it as a proxy and label it.
- Branded searchWhether more people are looking for you by name.
- Direct visitsWhich rise when people type your address after an answer.
- Always labelledSay they are proxies, and rule out campaigns and press before crediting AI.
Choosing your KPIs, and making them stick.
Do this once, with whoever reads the report, and don't change it for a year.
Pick one or two from each group
Six at most. Agree them with the person who'll read the report.
Fix the prompt set
Visibility KPIs only compare over time if the prompts stay the same.
AI visibility measurement →Record the baseline
Every KPI, on one date, before any new work begins.
Set targets against yourself
Aim to beat your own baseline. Other companies' figures were measured on other prompts.
Report quarterly
Shorter periods are mostly noise. Say what was done in between.
SEO reporting guide →Two of these KPIs cost nothing to start.
Web Analytics is free on every SEORCE plan, and it counts AI visits and goals. Alongside it, the log analyser shows which AI bots fetch the pages you want traffic to.
Six KPIs, and the caveat for each.
| KPI | Kind | What it shows | The caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mention rate | Visibility | How often engines name you. | Depends on the prompts you chose. |
| Citation rate | Visibility | How often your pages are used as a source. | A citation isn't a click. |
| Share of voice | Visibility | Your standing against rivals. | Only fair on the same prompt set. |
| AI referral visits | Traffic | People arriving from AI tools. | Undercounted. Some visits carry no referrer. |
| Goals from AI visits | Outcome | What those visitors did. | Small numbers swing. Read a quarter at a time. |
| Branded search trend | Proxy | Influence that left no click. | Rule out campaigns and press first. |
Visibility, visits, goals. One project.
AI Beacon supplies the visibility KPIs from your tracked prompts. Web Analytics supplies AI visits and goal completions, and is free on every plan. Because both read the same project, a report can show them side by side for the same period.
Frequently asked questions.
One or two from each of three groups: visibility (mention rate, citation rate, share of voice), traffic and outcomes (AI referral visits, goal completions) and proxies (branded search). Six in total is plenty.
One that improves on your own baseline. There are no dependable industry benchmarks, because every company is measured on different prompts.
The visibility ones. Mention rate and citation rate can shift within weeks of a change. Traffic and goals follow later.
Report goals from AI visits, which you can count. A revenue figure for a citation or a mention can't be worked out reliably, so present any such number as an estimate and show its workings.
Yes. Put them in the same report, for the same period. Seeing rankings and AI visibility together is how you notice when one moves without the other.
Quarterly, for most companies. The data varies enough week to week that a shorter window mostly shows noise.
Yes. Web Analytics is free on every plan and counts visits and goals from AI tools. The free forever plan also runs your prompts, which gives you the visibility KPIs.
Start with a baseline for each KPI.
Add your site and your first prompts. From that day, every KPI has a starting figure to measure against.
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