Scores and methodology
The score is only useful if you know what is inside it. These answers explain the calculation, its limits, and the methodology we publish behind every figure.
- How is the AEOscore score calculated?
- A panel of real buyer questions is put to each engine on a set schedule. Every answer is scored for whether your brand is mentioned, whether your site is cited, and how prominently you appear, and those results combine into a weighted rate out of 100, split between brand questions (your reputation) and non-brand questions (your competitive strength). The full methodology is public.
- What counts as a mention versus a citation?
- A mention is your business named in the answer text, with or without a link. A citation is stronger: the engine uses or links your website as a source. We count them separately because the gap is diagnostic: mentioned but never cited means the engines are describing you from other people's pages, not your own.
- What is a good score?
- First scans under 20 out of 100 are entirely normal; a tool that softens that is not measuring. Direction matters more than the absolute number. Early on, your brand score should sit well above your non-brand score; the work of AEO is pulling the non-brand side up, because that is where new customers come from.
- Why does my score move week to week?
- AI engines are probabilistic: the same question can get different answers on different days. We sample each question repeatedly within every scan so noise largely cancels, but some week-to-week movement is inherent to the medium. Read the trend line, not a single week, and rely on the alerts for shifts big enough to mean something actually changed.
- Can anyone guarantee AI mentions?
- No, and nobody honest claims to. The engines are not ours, and their answers cannot be bought. AEOscore promises measurement you can audit and expert effort with a named person accountable for it. What you get is the real answers, a score you can track, and a straight verdict on every fix: improved, too early to tell, or no clear change yet.
- How is this different from rank tracking?
- Rank tracking watches positions on a results page. We track the answers themselves, because increasingly there is no results page between a buyer and a recommendation: the assistant just names two or three businesses. Position still exists inside answers, first-named beats afterthought, and we weight for it, but the thing being measured is what the engines say, not where links sit.
- Where can I read the full methodology?
- At aeoscore.co.uk/methodology, in public, no signup. It covers how prompt panels are built, how sampling works, how mentions, citations and prominence are weighted, and what the score deliberately ignores. If a number in your dashboard cannot be traced to that page and your recorded answers, we consider that a bug in the product.
What's your AEO score?
Send your domain and a named expert will run it through all six engines, score the results and email your report within 1 to 2 working days. Free, no card, no signup.
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