Picture a prospect typing “best business tool for marketing” into the Google search. Instead of just one answer, you get an artificial intelligence (AI) overview, search assist, and a slew of sponsored brands. The truth is, the way we search is changing, and the way we measure it is changing as well.
With the new wave of search engine agents helping out, we need to get the right tools in order to track the metrics that matter most. So, how are you measuring your search results (through LLMs and AIOs) lately? We’ve got some tips, tools, and resources to get you going. Let’s dig in.
What is AEO again?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of showcasing your business online so AI search tools and assistants can find you, trust you, and list you as the answer. If you’re a business owner, you’re marketing to both humans and agents now. It’s less about ranking higher than a list of brands, and more about being the answer itself (for the bots).
Tip 1: Get your tracking tools in order
Before you start measuring AEO, make sure you have the right infrastructure in place. Having a trusted marketing customer relationship management (CRM) with built-in analytics, such as Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud, helps centralize your performance metrics.
Tracking your AEO performance doesn’t require expensive enterprise software or dedicated data teams. Most growing businesses can get started using free built-in analytics, simple spreadsheets, and the core tools already in their tech stack.
- Integration tools: Connect collaboration tools like MuleSoft for analytics and Slack monitor real-time updates and share insights, together. AgentExchange extends your tracking capabilities and connects your workflows.
- AI answer engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for manually testing prompts and monitoring brand mentions.
- Prompt tracking sheet: A spreadsheet or document to log targeted query results, citations, and share-of-voice trends over time.
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Tip 2: Start with a prompt list asking the right questions
Before you buy anything, write down 15 to 20 questions a real customer would search about your business online. This can be about what you do, where you are, and how you can help them. Run these questions in any AI search tool yourself, then log whether you show up in the results, and what others are listed.
For example, type in the search bar:
- “What is the best CRM software for a small marketing agency?”
- “What are the least expensive CRMs for small teams”
- “Where can I find a good marketing tool?”
Based on these answers, you now have a baseline to go on from there. If you’re already running campaigns, your marketing tools can connect the list to the campaigns to actionable ways to get started. It’s pretty amazing what AI agents can do to help you get campaigns off the ground.
Tip 3: Track citations and mentions separately
As far as what to measure, consider ‘mentions’ vs. ‘citations’. A mention means the AI search assist or overview listed your name. A citation means it linked to your website as the source. If you’re mentioned but never cited, your content probably isn’t the clearest answer on the page.
This is where you’ll want to work with messaging, keywords, and how you speak to the smart tools you’re marketing to. You can do this with the help a digital teammate on your marketing team, who knows your business from day one. Train an AI marketing agent to understanding your brand, your vision, and your voice and tone. You can help the AI search tools to crawl your website better with the right words.
Tip 4: Measure your voice against two competitors first
Next, choose your top competitors that your customers compare you to the most often. For each prompt, note who gets listed first and who’s a runner up. Over a few weeks, you’ll see your share of voice — the percentage of overall visibility your brand gets in AI search results compared to your competitors — take shape, which is an easy metric to track for you and your team.
Tip 5: Connect AI referral traffic to real customers
If you have a modern CRM or business operating system (OS), it will show analytics from specific AI tool referral traffic only. Based on this performance, view what the visitors do next: Do they fill out a form, book a call, purchase something? A CRM system that tags the lead source lets you follow that visitor all the way to a closed deal, so you’re measuring revenue and not just visits.
Tip 6: Keep your eye on it — AI answers will change
Not only do our online habits change, but so do our ways of searching. Ask the same prompt twice and you may get two different answers. That’s normal, and it’s why a single snapshot won’t tell you much. Run your list monthly, keep the results on one sheet, and look at the trend line. This is the kind of recurring, rules-based work that AI agents are built to pick up, which frees you to spend your time fixing the pages that need it.
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Make it easy to measure AEO every month with digital teammates
You don’t need a perfect setup to start. You need a prompt list, a place to store it, and a calendar to get everyone going. Enlist AI agents for help across every workflow. Try Agentforce to take on the work of checking your AEO results and keeping your data tied to results. Here are some additional resources to get started:
- Trailhead Generative AI Basics: A free module that explains how the models behind AI answers work, on Trailhead.
- Salesforce State of Marketing report: Fresh data on how marketers use AI, in the State of Marketing report.
- AEO guide: A clear walkthrough of what answer engine optimization is and how it differs from classic search, from Semrush.
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AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.
What does it mean to measure AEO?
It means tracking how often AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity mention or cite your business when people ask questions about your category.
What are the most useful AEO metrics for a small business?
Start with mentions, citations, share of voice against two competitors, and AI referral traffic in your analytics. Those four tell you whether you’re visible, trusted, and bringing in real visitors.
How often should I run AEO strategies and checks?
Monthly is a good rhythm for most small teams. AI answers shift from run to run, so the trend over several weeks matters more than any one result.
Do I need a paid tool to measure AEO for small business?
No. A prompt list and a spreadsheet get you a solid baseline, and you can add tools later. If you want help organizing the follow-up, Salesforce Marketing research shows how other teams are using AI.
Can small businesses really compete in AI answers?
Yes. Answer engines favor clear, credible, consistent sources over big ad budgets, so a focused SMB can show up ahead of a bigger name that hasn’t caught up.
