> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.rankability.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.rankability.com/track/ai-answers-tab.md).

# Reading AI answers

Use **AI answers** to review what each enabled AI platform returned for a tracked prompt, whether the visible answer names the client brand, and how that mention was portrayed when sentiment evidence is available.

This report is a captured result for one project, keyword, platform, location segment, and scan. It is not a statement about every response that platform can produce.

## Before you start

The tracking project must include at least one AI platform and have a completed AI scan. Platform cards appear only for selected platforms with current, previous, empty, or failed result state.

Review [supported tracking platforms](/track/supported-tracking-platforms.md) before adding platforms or extra AI locations because each successful check adds workload.

## Read an answer

1. Open the relevant tracking project and keyword report.
2. Choose **AI answers**.
3. Select the primary or additional AI location when location segments are available.
4. Expand a platform card to read the captured answer.
5. Compare the capture date and historical answers before treating a wording change as a trend.
6. Open [AI citations](/track/ai-citations-tab.md) when you need the pages that supported the answer.

The answer shown inside a platform card and its **Mentioned** status refer to the same visible response. Rankability checks the displayed answer prose against the tracked brand and its configured aliases.

How an answer is laid out follows the structure the provider returned. Google AI Overview and AI Mode answers keep the provider's text blocks, Perplexity answers keep their headings, lists, tables, and citation markers, and other platforms show the captured answer as formatted text. A plainer card means the provider returned less structure, not that Rankability captured less.

## Interpret the platform badges

| State                             | Meaning                                                                                                                          |
| --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Mentioned**                     | The visible answer prose names the tracked brand or a configured alias.                                                          |
| **Cited as source**               | A recognized client source is cited, but the visible answer does not name the brand.                                             |
| **Not mentioned**                 | An answer was captured, but its visible prose does not name the brand.                                                           |
| **No AI Overview / No AI answer** | The platform check succeeded, but that surface did not return an AI answer for the query. This is not the same as a failed scan. |
| **Scan failed**                   | The platform did not complete successfully. Previous data may be shown and labeled as such.                                      |

Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, and Brave AI do not generate an answer for every query. A neutral no-answer state means the surface was absent for that run; it does not mean an answer existed and omitted the brand. Rankability does not bill that unavailable surface when the product explicitly says no answer was returned.

## Read sentiment carefully

When a visible answer mentions the brand and sentiment was captured, the card can show **Positive**, **Neutral**, **Mixed**, or **Negative**, with a short evidence reason.

Sentiment describes the tracked brand in that answer—not the overall tone of the entire response and not the reputation of the brand everywhere. A dash means sentiment was not captured for the answer; it should not be converted into a neutral classification.

## Mentions and citations are separate

These states can occur independently:

* The answer names the brand but cites only third-party sources.
* A client page is cited as a source but the answer never names the brand.
* The answer both names the brand and cites a client page.
* The answer contains neither a brand mention nor a client citation.

SPI therefore calculates AI mentions and AI citations as separate categories. Where per-platform tracking-mode controls are available, a project can track both, citations only, or mentions only for an AI platform.

## Location and history

Additional AI locations create separate answer segments for location-eligible model platforms. Google AI Overview and AI Mode use the search result's own location context instead of the extra model-location fanout.

Use historical answers to compare the same platform and location over time. AI wording and citations can vary between runs, so confirm a repeated pattern before making a broad claim or changing strategy.

## ChatGPT maps and sponsored results

Some ChatGPT responses include structured results in addition to answer prose:

* **Map businesses** can show the business or agency name and, when the provider returned them, details such as image, rating, category, and open status. Use **Copy names** to copy the captured business names for comparison or follow-up research.
* **Sponsored results** are shown separately from map businesses. Rankability only treats a result as an ad when the captured provider data contains usable sponsored creative; a map listing is not labeled as an advertiser merely because it has a business name or logo.

Structured fields depend on what ChatGPT returned for that scan. A missing rating, image, business name, or ad detail means that field was not available in the captured result; it should not be converted into zero or inferred from another result.

## Export complete answers

From the Tracker project list, select one or more reports and choose the spreadsheet export. Each report worksheet includes a full-AI-answer section with the captured answer text and its keyword, platform, capture time, location, mention state, citation state, sentiment evidence, cited URLs, provider, and provider tier.

Very long answers can continue across numbered rows because Excel limits the text stored in one cell. Join those continuation rows in order when analyzing the answer outside Rankability. A report with no captured answer does not receive a fabricated answer row.

The workbook is a historical evidence export. It does not rerun the platforms or refresh an answer at download time. Compare the capture timestamp before using it in a current client claim.

## Failed and stale results

If a platform fails, Rankability can show previous data with a failure notice. Do not report that answer as newly captured. Use **Retry** where available and avoid parallel duplicate retries.

If no AI response data is available, run an AI scan rather than a Traditional or Video-only scan. Those narrower scans do not refresh AI answers.

## Act on the result

* If the brand is absent, compare named competitors and the evidence they receive before deciding what to change.
* If the answer is inaccurate or unfavorable, preserve the exact answer and source evidence before planning remediation.
* If a third-party page supports the answer, review its mention status in [AI citations](/track/ai-citations-tab.md) and move qualified outreach targets into Prospector.
* If the client page needs improvement, continue with [Page Content Auditor](/audit/page-content-auditor-guide.md) or [Copywriter](/copywriter/creating-a-content-project.md).

An absent mention is evidence for that measured prompt and scan—not proof that the brand never appears on the platform.