How to read share of voice in AI answers

Why it matters

A mention rate tells you whether you appear. Share of voice tells you how much of the answer space you hold when you do. A business that appears in 8 of 10 answers next to 6 other brands is in a very different position from one that appears in 8 of 10 answers next to 1.

The number is easy to misread. It moves when competitors change, when engines list more or fewer brands per answer, and when you edit the prompt list. Reading it well means knowing what is held constant.

Key takeaways

• Share of voice equals your mentions divided by all brand mentions in the same set of answers.
• It only compares like with like: the same prompts, the same engine, and the same competitor list.
• Read it next to mention rate. High mention rate with low share of voice means you appear in crowded answers.
• There is no universal good score, so compare against your own history and the competitors you chose.

Step by step

1. Fix the competitor set

   List the 5 to 10 businesses you actually compete with for customers. Keep directories, marketplaces, and review sites in a separate list, because they affect your visibility in a different way. Do not change the set mid-quarter without noting the date.

2. Count mentions per brand

   Across all runs in a period, count how many times each brand name appeared in an answer. Count a brand once per answer, even if the text names it twice. Include your own brand and every brand outside your set, so the total is honest.

3. Divide to get the share

   Your mentions divided by all brand mentions gives your share. Do the math per engine, because engines differ in how many brands they list. A single blended number hides the engine where you are weakest.

4. Split by prompt group

   Calculate share for each group, such as local prompts, comparison prompts, and problem prompts. Many businesses hold a strong share on problem questions and almost none on comparisons. That split tells you which pages to build next.

5. Put mention rate beside it

   Mention rate is the percentage of prompts where you appear at all. If it is high and your share is low, answers list many brands and you are one of them. If both are low, you are mostly absent and should check whether the right pages exist and are indexed.

6. Open the sources behind the weak spots

   For each prompt where a competitor dominates, read the pages the engine cited. Note whether they are the competitor's own pages, a directory, or a comparison article. That shows where the engine found its evidence, and where you need a page or a listing.

7. Chart it over time and annotate

   Plot share per engine weekly or monthly. Mark the dates you published pages, fixed facts, or changed the prompt list. A line that moves after a marked change is evidence, and a line that moves with no change is a reason to check the competitor set.

A worked example

Questions