Glossary

What is AI share of voice?

AI share of voice is the share of AI-generated answers in your category that mention your brand, compared with competitors, across a fixed set of prompts. If your product appears in 12 of 50 answers and your top competitor in 30, your share is lower. It's the AI-search version of share of search.

By the AgentLaunch team · Updated November 2026 · Also called share of AI voice

How to calculate it

  1. Fix a prompt set (for example 50 category questions) and a list of engines.
  2. Run each prompt and record every brand mentioned.
  3. Share of voice = your mentions ÷ total mentions of all tracked brands.
  4. Optionally weight by position (first mention counts more).

Picking prompts

Use the questions buyers ask before they know your name: "best X for Y", "alternatives to [leader]", "how to [job]". Branded prompts ("is [you] good") measure reputation, not share of voice; keep them separate.

What moves it

The sources AI engines retrieve for category questions. If those are review sites, directories and "best of" lists, appearing in them, with consistent descriptions, moves share of voice more than anything on your own site.

Example

In a 40-prompt set about launch tools, three competitors take 70% of mentions. A founder finds that the most-cited source in those answers is a handful of directory lists and two review sites. Six months after getting listed on all of them, her share rises from 3% to 14%.

FAQ

How many prompts do I need?

Enough to cover the main questions in your category: 30 to 100 is common.

Should I test in several engines?

Yes. Each retrieves different sources and gives different answers.

Is AI share of voice stable?

No. Track averages over repeated runs.

Sources

  1. Aggarwal et al.: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (arXiv)
  2. Google Search Central: AI features and your website

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