What is AI share of voice and how do I measure it?

AI share of voice is the percentage of brand mentions in AI answers that are yours: your mentions divided by all brand mentions across a fixed set of prompts, times 100. Because answers change between runs, measure it per engine over repeated runs, at least 50 to 100, and read it as a direction, not an exact score.

Facts

A common formula is your brand's mentions divided by all brand mentions in a fixed prompt run, times 100: 60 of 200 mentions gives 30%. (GEO Toolbox: AI share of voice (updated September 2026))
The same guide, updated in September 2026, suggests at least 50 to 100 prompt-runs before trusting the percentage. (GEO Toolbox: AI share of voice (updated September 2026))
In 10,000 ChatGPT responses tested in February and March 2026, 34% differed materially from other runs of the same query. (Texta: answer variability study (March 2026))
In that study, only 12% of queries got identical recommendations across five phrasings of the same question. (Texta: answer variability study (March 2026))
SE Ranking found only 9.2% of exact URLs repeated across three same-day runs of 10,000 keywords in Google's AI Mode (June 2025). (SE Ranking: AI Mode research (August 2025))

Count every brand named across a fixed set of prompts and runs, then divide your count by the total. Yours and your competitors' shares add up to 100%, because they share one denominator.

Pick one definition and keep it: counting mentions, counting cited links or weighting by position give different numbers from the same answers.

How do I measure it in a spreadsheet?

An open method that needs no tool:

Columns: prompt | engine | run | brands named (comma separated)
Mentions of a brand:   =SUMPRODUCT(--ISNUMBER(SEARCH("YourBrand", D2:D201)))
All brand mentions:    total of the mention counts of every brand you track
Share of voice (%):    = your mentions / all brand mentions * 100   (one number per engine)

Because the answers change. The same prompt returns different brands on different runs, rewording a question changes the recommendations, and each engine behaves differently: one brand can read 35% in ChatGPT and 8% in Perplexity.

You also choose the denominator: adding or removing prompts or competitors moves the number without any change in the market. Write the prompt set down and do not swap prompts between reports.

It can mean competitors are named instead of you, but it can also mean the assistants cannot read your pages at all: blocked crawlers, content rendered only by JavaScript, or no page answering the question. Check that before writing new content.

This is where easyIndex is the practical complement: it measures AI crawler reads and AI visitors per page, so you can tell "not read" from "read but not named". Its monthly scan does the repeated runs for citations: your coding agent asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini your tracked questions and easyIndex records which sources each answer cited, at which position.

Step by step

Write 20 to 50 real buyer questions. The questions customers ask before buying, in their words and language.
Fix the list of brands. Your brand and the competitors you track, plus any newcomer the assistants already name.
Run each question several times per engine. New chats each time, until you have at least 50 to 100 runs per engine.
Record every brand named. One row per answer: prompt, engine, run, brands named.
Compute one number per engine. Your mentions divided by all mentions, times 100.
Repeat monthly with the same prompts. Compare the trend, not one reading.

Common mistakes

Reporting a share of voice from one run of each prompt.
Changing the prompts or competitors between reports and calling the change progress.
Blending all engines into one number.
Reading 0% as a content problem without checking whether the pages can be crawled.

How easyIndex solves it

easyIndex adds the numbers share of voice does not show: your coding agent builds the pages over MCP, easyIndex audits each one, checks it live and measures AI visitors and AI crawler reads, and records which sources ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini cite for your tracked questions in the monthly citation scan your agent runs. It costs US$ 30 per website a month, with a 7-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good AI share of voice?

There is no standard: each guide uses a different denominator. Compare yourself with your own past readings, per engine.

How many prompts do I need?

Enough to reach at least 50 to 100 prompt-runs per engine, from real buyer questions.

Is share of voice the same as citations?

No. Share of voice counts names in the answer; a citation is a linked source. A brand can be named without being cited.

Does share of voice tell me about visits?

No. It counts mentions; visits from AI assistants have to be measured on your site.

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Last verified on October 9, 2026.