§01 · AI Radar for agencies

Your clients are asking what AI says about them. Hand them the answer, weekly.

WhyIQ AI Radar measures whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI actually cite each of your clients on the questions their buyers ask. That is how agencies report an AI mention rate to clients: as a measured weekly number, not a screenshot of one answer. Each client gets 40 buyer questions across all 5 engines, each asked 3 times and averaged, 600 queries a week, so one noisy answer cannot swing the rate. Every week ends in a white-label client report on a durable link: verdict, movement, verbatim AI quotes, and the plan. $149/mo includes 1 client, then $49/mo each additional.

By Ben Little, WhyIQ Founder · Updated October 20, 2026 · Sources: sample client report, how AI Radar measures, AI Radar pricing

Explore the live demo Start Agency · $149/mo

§02 · The problem

"Does ChatGPT recommend us?" is now a client question. Most agencies answer it with a shrug.

Buyers increasingly start with an AI answer instead of ten blue links. When a client asks where they show up, pasting a prompt into ChatGPT once and screenshotting the reply is not measurement: the same prompt can produce a different answer an hour later. The most accurate way to tell a client whether they show up in AI search is to ask their buyers' questions on every engine, more than once, every week, and report the rate: AirOps' 2026 research found only 30% of brands stay visible from one AI answer to the next. Profound measured 40 to 60% of cited domains changing from one month to the next (2025), so last month's screenshot is out of date before the next client call.

Most of a client's AI visibility is earned off their own site. AirOps' 2026 research found 85% of brand mentions in AI search come from sites other than the brand's own, and Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands (December 2025) found brand mentions correlate with AI visibility at 0.66 to 0.71 across ChatGPT, AI Mode and AI Overviews, about three times the correlation for backlinks. That off-site work, the content, the entity cleanup, the review-site footprint, is what you are already billing for, and it takes 4 to 8 weeks to land in AI answers. Without a weekly measured trend, that lag reads to the client as nothing happening. With one, it reads as a plan unfolding.

AI Radar gives you the defensible number: every client tracked weekly across all 5 engines, multi-pass so the data is a band rather than a coin flip, and a report that turns the trend into something a client actually reads. See exactly how it measures.

§03 · The pitch

Five things you tell the client. Five things Radar hands you.

The AEO pitch that closes is always the same five parts, in this order. Each card is one part: the line you say in the room, and the measured evidence behind it.

Part 01Overview

Where they stand, per engine

Here is how often ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Google AI cite you when a buyer asks.

Radar hands you

40 questions, 5 engines, 3 passes a week: 600 measured answers per client.
One cited rate with its denominator stated, plus a bar per engine.
A head-to-head against their strongest rival on the same questions.

Part 02Competitors and sources

Who holds the slots they do not

Here is who the engines cite instead of you, by domain, on which questions.

Radar hands you

Every competing source, ranked by the answer slots it holds.
The exact placement: the thread, the listicle, the review page.
The engine's own sentence about the rival, quoted from the stored answer.

Part 03Fixes

The first ninety days, on-page and off-page

Here is what we fix on your site first, and the third-party presence we build after.

Radar hands you

Every lost answer becomes a fix: one question, one engine, one checklist.
Each fix names where the work happens: their page, a thread, a listing.
On-site fixes ship with a build prompt for the client's own site tool.

Part 04Client reports

What they get every month

Here is the report, under our brand, with the four things that matter and nothing else.

Radar hands you

Where they stand, what moved, who holds the slots, what we did and do next.
Weekly and monthly documents under your logo, accent and contact. PDF included.
On Agency the WhyIQ credit switches off. No vendor branding on the document.

Part 05The Overview chart

The timeline before movement

Expect four to eight weeks before off-page work shows up in answers. The chart will show it.

Radar hands you

Shipped work is marked on the citation-rate trend, week by week.
A fix counts as won only after two consecutive weekly scans confirm it.
A steady week says steady. Radar never invents movement.

All five, in one document

The client report is the pitch, repeated every week.

Open the sample report on a fictional client and read the five parts in order, exactly as a client would. Then open the live demo and click into the fixes behind it.

01Where they stand, per engine
02Who holds the slots they do not
03The first ninety days, on-page and off-page
04What they get every month
05The timeline before movement

See the sample report Open the live demo

Every figure above is measured from stored answers, never estimated.

§04 · What you get

Built for the agency workflow, client by client.

One client included, add more at $49/mo

The $149/mo base covers 1 client domain. Each additional client is $49/mo, with its own workspace, prompt bank, and white-label report. No per-engine add-ons anywhere.

600 AI queries per client, weekly

40 buyer-intent prompts x 5 engines x 3 passes = 600 real queries per client every week. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI, all included.

3-pass confidence band

Every prompt runs 3 times per engine and the passes are averaged. The report says cited 2 of 3 passes, not a single-shot yes or no that flips next week.

White-label weekly client report

One durable link per client. Your branding, a plain-language verdict, what moved, verbatim AI quotes, the competing sources, and the plan. PDF export included.

Client portfolio dashboard

All clients on one screen, sorted so the ones that moved this week float to the top. Each opens on a plain-language Overview, with Search Console style depth one click away.

Honest methodology, always visible

Every report carries a note on how the numbers were measured, including sample sizes. A steady week says steady. That honesty is what makes the number defensible in front of a client.

§05 · The per-client workspace

Open a client. Read where they stand in thirty seconds.

Every client in your portfolio opens on the same Overview: the citation-rate trend with the work you shipped marked on it, whether AI is recommending them, what moved this week, and who holds the answer slots they are missing. Fixes turns each lost answer into a checklist your team works through, and the next scans show the client whether it flipped. Click through to the tracked queries and any single-query deep-dive. This is the real product on sample data, not a mock. Onboarding a client takes about ten minutes each; the setup guide walks it screen by screen.

WhyIQ AI Radarapp.whyiq.ai/radar

Fernway Coffee

fernway.example · Overview, week of Jul 6

The read

Week of Jul 6

Citation rate · weekly

work landedengine update

20%30%40%50%

Apr 5hover or tap a weekJul 5

Are you being recommended?

AI engines regularly recommend Fernway Coffee.

Non-brand

16%

26 of 160 answers

32 queries × 5 engines

Strong

Brand

100%

40 of 40 answers

8 queries × 5 engines

Overall

33%

66 of 200 answers

40 queries × 5 engines

Head to head with your strongest rival

First source cited, across 128 answers to your 32 buyer queries this week (Gemini excluded). Measured on your questions, not an industry average.

sprudge.com21 (16%)

Fernway Coffee26 (20%)

3-pass confidence bandevery query run 3 times, then averaged

What moved

Every question that moved, then who holds the answers you are missing

This week vs last

Queries cited by AI answers

Last week29 of 40 citedThis week32 of 40 cited+3

Cited-rate movement

5Climbing1Slipping

Movers (6)Click a column to sort


Climbing	best specialty coffee subscriptionNon-brand	40%+20%	2+1	#3.0+1
Climbing	best coffee for pour over at homeNon-brand	20%+20%	1+1	#5.0--
Climbing	decaf coffee subscription that actually tastes goodNon-brand	20%+20%	1+1	#5.0--
Climbing	coffee gift subscription for a birthdayNon-brand	20%+20%	1+1	#5.0--
Climbing	coffee subscription with tasting notesNon-brand	20%+20%	1+1	#5.0--
Slipping	coffee subscription gift ideasNon-brand	0%-20%	0-1	--

Everything else 3427 still cited · 7 not cited by any engine

Still cited · still cited, a held position this week


Steady	Fernway Coffee reviewsBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	Fernway Coffee subscription priceBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	Fernway Coffee vs Trade CoffeeBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	is Fernway Coffee any goodBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	Fernway Coffee shipping timesBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	Fernway Coffee discount codeBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	how to cancel Fernway CoffeeBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	where does Fernway Coffee source its beansBrand	100%· 0%	5	#1.0
Steady	freshest coffee beans deliveredNon-brand	40%· 0%	2	#1.0+1
Steady	how to buy coffee that was roasted this weekNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#3.0+1
Steady	coffee delivered within days of roastingNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#3.0
Steady	which coffee subscriptions list the roast dateNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#3.0+1
Steady	coffee subscription you can pause anytimeNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#3.0
Steady	best coffee beans for espresso at homeNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#5.0
Steady	ethically sourced coffee subscriptionNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#3.0
Steady	coffee subscription for one personNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	how fresh should coffee beans be when they arriveNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	light roast coffee subscriptionNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0+1
Steady	coffee club vs buying from a local roasterNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#5.0
Steady	monthly coffee delivery service reviewsNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0+1
Steady	coffee subscription without a long contractNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	specialty coffee delivered monthlyNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#5.0
Steady	what does single origin coffee actually meanNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	best value coffee subscriptionNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0+1
Steady	roasters that ship the same day they roastNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	small roaster coffee delivered to your doorNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#4.0
Steady	coffee subscription that lets you choose the roastNon-brand	20%· 0%	1	#5.0

Not cited · no AI answer cited you: the biggest pool of opportunity


Not cited	single origin coffee roasters worth tryingNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	coffee subscription with free shippingNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	best small batch coffee roasters onlineNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	best coffee grinder for subscription beansNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	how to store coffee beans after deliveryNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	coffee subscription comparison chartNon-brand	0%· 0%	--
Not cited	is a coffee subscription worth itNon-brand	0%· 0%	--

Holding the answer slots you are missing: reddit.com (37), sprudge.com (28), beanbox.com (19), and 2 more.

This week's work

The work itself is in Fixes

8fixes to do 1waiting on a scan or a reply 1answer won back

Reply in the r/pourover thread the engines citeStart here. reddit.com holds the answer on all 5 engines, 14 weeks running.Open in Fixes
This week's report, week of 5 JulPublished 7 Jul. The client link shows this week.Open

Overview · this month

Fernway Coffee

fernway.example

Are you being recommended

AI engines regularly recommend Fernway Coffee.

Non-brand

13%

81 of 640 answers

32 queries × 5 engines × 4 weeks

Strong

Brand

100%

160 of 160 answers

8 queries × 5 engines × 4 weeks

Overall

30%

241 of 800 answers

40 queries × 5 engines × 4 weeks

Across the 4 weeks ending Jul 5 · +7.1% vs last month

25 of 32 queries were cited at least once this month, up from 14 last month.

Head to head with your strongest rival

First source cited, across 512 answers to your 32 buyer queries this month (Gemini excluded). Measured on your questions, not an industry average.

sprudge.com87 (17%)

Fernway Coffee81 (16%)

The month, week by week

18.0%

7.7%

The climb is real: the cited rate rose 6.9% across the month without giving a week back. This is the signal, keep pushing the same work.

3-pass confidence bandevery query run 3 times, then averaged

The monthly read pools four weeks of scans, so the trend is measured, not eyeballed: the trajectory line, the month-over-month delta, and which questions were cited at all.

Fixes

One lost answer at a time. A checklist per fix; the next scan checks your work.

Not cited: win the answer 4

Biggest loss first

Reply in the r/pourover thread the engines cite
“single origin coffee roasters worth trying”
ChatGPTPerplexityClaudeGeminiGoogle AI
reddit.com holds the answer on all 5 engines, 14 weeks running.
Add a genuinely useful answer to the thread every engine quotes for this question, from a real account, naming Fernway only where it answers the question.
- Done: Open the thread and read the top three replies
- To do: Post an answer that names two roasters worth trying and why
- To do: Check back in two days and answer any follow-up
Tick every step, confirm it is live, and the next two weekly scans check whether the answer flipped.
Get included on wirecutter.com's subscription guide
“coffee subscription gift ideas”
ChatGPTPerplexityClaudeGeminiGoogle AI
wirecutter.com took the slot back this week after Fernway held it on Perplexity for four.
The engines quote Wirecutter's gift guide for this question. Pitch the editor with a sample and the one fact the guide does not cover yet.
- To do: Find the guide's editor and their contact route
- To do: Send samples with a two-line pitch
- To do: Log the reply on this move
Tick every step, confirm it is live, and the next two weekly scans check whether the answer flipped.
Make /subscription answer this question in its first paragraph
“coffee subscription with free shipping”
ChatGPTPerplexityClaudeGeminiGoogle AI
atlascoffeeclub.com holds the answer on all 5 engines, 10 weeks running.
Your subscription page covers free shipping below the fold. Move the answer into the opening paragraph with the threshold and the delivery window, so an engine can quote it whole.
- To do: Rewrite the first paragraph to answer the question directly
- To do: Add the free-shipping threshold as a plain sentence
Tick every step, confirm it is live, and the next two weekly scans check whether the answer flipped.
Reply in the r/Coffee subscription thread
“best small batch coffee roasters online”
ChatGPTPerplexityClaudeGeminiGoogle AI
reddit.com holds the answer on all 5 engines, 14 weeks running.
The engines cite one r/Coffee round-up thread for this question. Answer it with specifics from a real account, without a pitch.
- To do: Open the thread
- To do: Post a specific, useful answer
Tick every step, confirm it is live, and the next two weekly scans check whether the answer flipped.

Cited, could be higher 1

Furthest from first, first

Lift /subscription above tradecoffee.com's comparison
“best specialty coffee subscription”
ChatGPTPerplexity
tradecoffee.com is cited first, Fernway is cited #3 of 8 on the answers that name it.
You are already cited here, below the first source. Add the side-by-side comparison the leading page has, so the engines can quote Fernway's roast-date promise against the alternatives.
- To do: Add a comparison table with roast date, shipping and pause options
Tick every step, confirm it is live, and the next two weekly scans check whether the answer flipped.

Queries

40 tracked · weekly

The non-brand and brand queries we send to all 5 engines each week. Click one to see exactly what every engine answered.

“best specialty coffee subscription”

Cited on 2 of 5 engines this week.

Market US · weekly · solution-aware buyer

Cited rate for this question, weekly

48%latest 40%

0%hover or tap a point

Engines that cited you first, then the ones that did not

ChatGPTCited2 of 3 runs

Cited you on 2 of 3 runs, at #3 of 9 sources on the run that did, linking /subscription. The top recommendation.

“For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.”

First source: fernway.example, “Fernway Coffee - Fresh specialty subscription”
Also named: Trade Coffee, sprudge.com

Full details

Your page linked

fernway.example/subscription

First source URL

fernway.example/subscription

Every source cited

fernway.example
reddit.com
sprudge.com

Tone about you

positive

Framed as

trustedpremium

Scanned

Jul 7 · default model

What ChatGPT said in full

For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.

PerplexityCited2 of 3 runs

Cited you on 2 of 3 runs, at #3 of 9 sources on the run that did, linking /subscription. The top recommendation.

“For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.”

First source: fernway.example, “Fernway Coffee - Fresh specialty subscription”
Also named: Trade Coffee, sprudge.com

Full details

Your page linked

fernway.example/subscription

First source URL

fernway.example/subscription

Every source cited

fernway.example
reddit.com
sprudge.com

Tone about you

positive

Framed as

trustedpremium

Scanned

Jul 7 · default model

What Perplexity said in full

For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.

Claude✕ Absent0 of 3 runs

Did not name or cite you.

First source: tradecoffee.com
Also named: Trade Coffee, Bean Box

Full details

Scanned: Jul 7 · default model

Gemini✕ Absent0 of 3 runs

Did not name or cite you.

First source: tradecoffee.com
Also named: Trade Coffee, Bean Box

Full details

Scanned: Jul 7 · default model

Google AI✕ Absent0 of 3 runs

Did not name or cite you.

First source: tradecoffee.com
Also named: Trade Coffee, Bean Box

Full details

Scanned: Jul 7 · default model

Each engine ran this question more than once and the results are averaged, because AI engines do not answer identically every time.

Overview

The weekly client report

Every week ends in something you can put in front of a client.

One durable white-label link per client. A plain-language verdict, what moved, what the AI actually said verbatim, who holds the answer slots you are missing, and the plan. Your branding, your name on it, numbers frozen per week. This is the real report component with sample data, not a mock.

Brightside Digital

Search and AI visibility for growing brands

AI Search Report

Fernway Coffee

fernway.example · Week of July 5, 2026 · Prepared by Brightside Digital

This week in one paragraph

AI engines regularly recommend Fernway Coffee. 16% of 160 AI answers to buyer questions cited Fernway Coffee this week. Buyer-question citations finished up 4 on the week, winning 5 answers and losing 1 answer. The headline win: Perplexity now cites Fernway Coffee on "best specialty coffee subscription". All 40 brand-name searches held. The largest single block is reddit.com, a community site holding 37 answer slots Fernway Coffee does not. The plan below starts with: Answer the top subscription threads on Reddit.

Is AI recommending Fernway Coffee?

AI engines regularly recommend Fernway Coffee.

16%StrongA WhyIQ guideline, not an industry benchmark: under 5 percent is Starting, 5 to 12 is Building, 12 to 25 is Strong, 25 or more is Leading. No published benchmark exists for AI citation rates, and a good rate depends on your category and questions, so the head-to-head against your strongest rival is the better read.

of 160 AI answers to buyer questions (32 questions × 5 engines) cited Fernway Coffee (typical range 10 to 22%). Searches for Fernway Coffee by name are counted separately.

Brand-name searches: cited on 40 of 40.

Across your questions: 24 of 32 questions were cited at least once this week.

Head to head with the strongest rival

Which source the AI cited first, across 128 answers to 32 buyer questions this week (Gemini excluded).

sprudge.com21 (16%)

Fernway Coffee26 (20%)

How to read the rate: there is no published industry benchmark for AI citation rates, and a good rate depends on the category and the questions tracked. The Strong label is a WhyIQ guideline. This comparison, on your own questions, is the measured benchmark.

Momentum this week

Won

Perplexity now cites Fernway Coffee on "best specialty coffee subscription", and did not last week

Won

ChatGPT now cites Fernway Coffee on "best coffee for pour over at home", and did not last week

Won

ChatGPT now cites Fernway Coffee on "decaf coffee subscription that actually tastes good", and did not last week

Won

Perplexity now cites Fernway Coffee on "coffee gift subscription for a birthday", and did not last week

Won

Claude now cites Fernway Coffee on "coffee subscription with tasting notes", and did not last week

Lost

Perplexity stopped citing Fernway Coffee on "coffee subscription gift ideas" (wirecutter.com now holds the slot)

Who the AI recommends instead

On buyer questions where Fernway Coffee was not cited, these are who the AI put forward. Some held the answer slot as the first source cited; others the AI recommended by name in its own words. Both count the same, because a buyer reading the answer sees either. The label says what kind of site it is, which decides the move.

reddit.comCommunityA discussion site such as Reddit. You cannot outrank a thread by publishing a page. You earn a place by being genuinely useful in the thread itself.37 answers · cited in 37Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

r/pourover · "roasters that surprised you this year" · won "single origin coffee roasters worth trying"

in that answer the AI named Heart, Sey

r/Coffee · "best coffee subscription 2026" · won "best small batch coffee roasters online"

won "coffee club vs buying from a local roaster"

sprudge.comCompetitorA rival business in your category. This is the one you have to outrank, usually by publishing a page that answers the query better than theirs.28 answers · cited in 28Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

won "best coffee for pour over at home"

won "how to buy coffee that was roasted this week"

won "which coffee subscriptions list the roast date"

beanbox.comCompetitorA rival business in your category. This is the one you have to outrank, usually by publishing a page that answers the query better than theirs.19 answers · cited in 19Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

won "freshest coffee beans delivered"

won "coffee delivered within days of roasting"

won "light roast coffee subscription"

Wirecutter · wirecutter.comCompetitorA rival business in your category. This is the one you have to outrank, usually by publishing a page that answers the query better than theirs.18 answers · cited in 18Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

/reviews/best-coffee-subscription · won "coffee subscription gift ideas"

in that answer the AI named Wirecutter's, Atlas Coffee Club, Trade

won "monthly coffee delivery service reviews"

won "coffee gift subscription for a birthday"

Trade · tradecoffee.comCompetitorA rival business in your category. This is the one you have to outrank, usually by publishing a page that answers the query better than theirs.16 answers · cited in 15 · named in 1Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

won "best specialty coffee subscription"

won "coffee subscription you can pause anytime"

won "coffee subscription for one person"

Atlas Coffee Club · atlascoffeeclub.comCompetitorA rival business in your category. This is the one you have to outrank, usually by publishing a page that answers the query better than theirs.14 answers · cited in 13 · named in 1Who the AI put forward on buyer questions you lost. A site the answer cited first and a business the answer named in its text count the same, because a buyer reads both. The number is how many lost answers did one or the other, each answer counted once per rival. A name links to their site when an AI answer cited it or when their own homepage carries the name.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Google AI · 4 buyer questions, e.g. "coffee subscription gift ideas"

Where Fernway Coffee shows up

All questions asked on each engine, brand-name searches included, so these counts can read higher than the buyer-question rate above.

ChatGPT

cited on 19 of 40

Perplexity

cited on 15 of 40

Google AI

cited on 12 of 40

Gemini

cited on 8 of 40

Claude

cited on 12 of 40

What the AI actually said

Verbatim excerpts from this week's AI answers: where Fernway Coffee was cited or named, and where an answer sent the reader to a rival instead.

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "best specialty coffee subscription"
“For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.”

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "Fernway Coffee reviews"
“Fernway Coffee reviews consistently highlight the roast-date transparency and a subscription that is easy to pause, with most complaints limited to limited decaf options.”

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "Fernway Coffee subscription price"
“Fernway Coffee's subscription starts at a mid-range price with free shipping over the monthly tier, positioning it between budget roasters and premium clubs.”

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "freshest coffee beans delivered"
“If roast-date freshness is the priority, Fernway Coffee leads this category: every bag lists the roast date and orders ship the same week they are roasted.”

Cited a rivalThe engine answered this buyer question and pointed the reader at another source. These are the slots the plan works to displace.ChatGPT answering "coffee subscription gift ideas"
“The strongest coffee gift subscriptions this year are the picks in Wirecutter's gift guide, led by Atlas Coffee Club and Trade, which cover most budgets and roast preferences.”
The answer cited wirecutter.com instead. It named Wirecutter's, Atlas Coffee Club, Trade.

Cited a rivalThe engine answered this buyer question and pointed the reader at another source. These are the slots the plan works to displace.ChatGPT answering "single origin coffee roasters worth trying"
“For single origin roasters worth trying, the most consistent recommendations come from the r/pourover community, where Heart, Sey and September are the names that come up again and again.”
The answer cited reddit.com instead. It named Heart, Sey.

What we are doing about it

Fixes in play

FixesOne question, one engine, one rival holding the answer. A fix is the single change that wins that answer back, and the next two weekly scans decide whether it worked. shipped in the last eight weeks or asked of another site, and where each one stands. A shipped fix is judged by the next two weekly scans, not this one.

Make /roast-fresh answer this question

Confirmed

“how to buy coffee that was roasted this week” on Claude, held by sprudge.com

Confirmed. Claude now cites you on this question.

Make /guides/pour-over answer this question

Cited on some runs

“best coffee for pour over at home” on ChatGPT, held by sprudge.com

Shipped Jun 15. Cited on some scans since. Two strong weeks in a row confirms it.

Get listed on sprudge.com's roaster directory

Awaiting reply

“best coffee beans for espresso at home” on Perplexity, held by sprudge.com

Asked Jul 1. Waiting on their reply.

Reply in the r/pourover thread the engines cite

Off your siteWork on someone else's property: a listing, a thread, a mention. This is the off-page half, and it lands in AI answers on a 4 to 8 week lag.

“single origin coffee roasters worth trying” on all 5 engines, held by reddit.com

Fix: Add a genuinely useful answer to the thread every engine quotes for this question, from a real account, naming Fernway only where it answers the question.

Get included on wirecutter.com's subscription guide

Off your siteWork on someone else's property: a listing, a thread, a mention. This is the off-page half, and it lands in AI answers on a 4 to 8 week lag.

“coffee subscription gift ideas” on all 5 engines, held by wirecutter.com

Fix: The engines quote Wirecutter's gift guide for this question. Pitch the editor with a sample and the one fact the guide does not cover yet.

Make /subscription answer this question in its first paragraph

On your siteAn edit to the client's own pages. This is the on-page half of the plan.

“coffee subscription with free shipping” on all 5 engines, held by atlascoffeeclub.com

Fix: Your subscription page covers free shipping below the fold. Move the answer into the opening paragraph with the threshold and the delivery window, so an engine can quote it whole.

Answer the top subscription threads on Reddit

Off your siteWork on someone else's property: a listing, a thread, a mention. This is the off-page half, and it lands in AI answers on a 4 to 8 week lag.

reddit.com holds the answer slot on 2 of the buyer questions where Fernway is absent, and Perplexity leans heavily on community threads.

Next: Post genuinely useful answers in the two highest-traffic coffee-subscription threads this week, from a real account, without a pitch.

Pitch the gift-guide listicles that AI answers cite

Off your siteWork on someone else's property: a listing, a thread, a mention. This is the off-page half, and it lands in AI answers on a 4 to 8 week lag.

wirecutter.com took over the gift-ideas answer slot this week. AI engines cite established gift guides almost exclusively for this query class.

Next: Send samples + a short pitch to the three gift-guide editors whose pages the engines cited this week.

2 more open fixes on the list. These are the biggest losses first.

What the terms mean

Cited: The AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the outcome we are working towards: the reader is given a route to you.
Mentioned: The AI answer named your brand in the text but did not link to your site. You were part of the answer, without the traffic.
Buyer questions: Questions that do not contain your brand name, asked the way someone looking for what you sell would ask them. Searches for your brand by name are counted separately, so the headline rate is not inflated by people who already know you.
Typical range: How much the headline number would realistically move if the same week were measured again. It comes from how many questions were asked: fewer questions, wider range. It shows how firm the number is.
Answer slot: One source link inside one AI answer. Engines cite only a handful of sources per answer, so these are the finite positions every brand in your category is competing for.
Confidence band: AI engines do not give the same answer every time. Where a question was run several times, the results are averaged into a band rather than reported from a single run.
Zone: A WhyIQ guideline for the cited rate, not an industry benchmark: under 5 percent is Starting, 5 to 12 is Building, 12 to 25 is Strong, and 25 or more is Leading. No published benchmark exists for AI citation rates, and what counts as good depends on the category and the questions tracked, so read it alongside the head-to-head.
Head to head: On the same buyer questions and engines, how often the AI cited you as the first source, against the competing business that was cited first most often. Community sites, review sites, video platforms and authority sources are not counted as rivals. Each answer has one first source, so the two counts share a denominator. Measured on your questions, not an industry average.
Rate change: A change shown as +4 percent means the cited rate itself moved by four, for example from 10 percent to 14 percent. It does not mean four percent of the previous figure.
Won and lost: A question is won when an engine that did not cite you last period cites you now, and lost when the reverse happens. A new question entering the scan is counted separately, so adding questions never masquerades as progress.
Climbed and slipped: A question whose cited rate moved meaningfully against the prior period, on enough answers to trust the swing. Small-sample wobble is folded into steady rather than reported as movement.
Cited a rival: An answer that did not cite you and instead pointed the reader at another source. The quoted excerpts name who took the slot, which is what the plan works to displace.
Held slots all N weeks: This source held at least one answer slot in every week measured. An entrenched blocker worth planning around, unlike a site that appears for a single week.
Source kinds: What sort of site holds the slot, because the kind decides the move. Community (a discussion site such as Reddit): you earn a place by being genuinely useful in the thread itself, not by publishing a page. Review site: get listed and collect real customer reviews. Publisher (a blog or news site): get included in the article, or publish something more useful. Authority (an institution): be referenced by it, you will not outrank it. Video: have video that answers the question. Competitor: outrank them with a better answer.

How this is measured

40 real buyer questions were run through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI, Gemini, Claude this week, and every cited source was recorded from the actual answers. Each question ran 3 times and the results were averaged into a confidence band, because a single run of a probabilistic engine is noise, not a number you can defend.

This report measures what AI engines actually answered during the week of July 5, 2026. It is not a prediction, and AI answers can change between scans. Off-page changes typically take 4 to 8 weeks to appear in AI answers.

What the AI actually said

Verbatim excerpts from this week's AI answers: where Fernway Coffee was cited or named, and where an answer sent the reader to a rival instead.

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "best specialty coffee subscription"
“For freshness-focused buyers, Fernway Coffee is a strong pick: beans ship within 48 hours of roasting and the subscription lets you pause or reschedule from a single dashboard.”

CitedThe AI answer linked to your site as a source. This is the win: the engine did not just know about you, it pointed the reader to you.ChatGPT answering "Fernway Coffee reviews"
“Fernway Coffee reviews consistently highlight the roast-date transparency and a subscription that is easy to pause, with most complaints limited to limited decaf options.”

On every report, always

A methodology footer states how the numbers were measured, with sample sizes. On Agency it reads: each question ran 3 times per engine and the results were averaged into a confidence band. A steady week says steady. That honesty is what makes the number defensible in front of a client.

Open this report in the live demoFictional client, real product. Agency tier publishes it white-label.

§06 · The other half

The audit wins the engagement. Radar keeps it.

AI Radar is one half of the WhyIQ agency stack. The other is the WhyIQ CRO Scanner: white-label CRO audits that simulate 50 visitors on a client page and report why they leave. Agencies open with the audit as the paid diagnostic, then attach Radar as the recurring proof behind the monthly retainer. Two subscriptions, both self-serve, every price published.

See the white-label CRO audit →

§07 · Pricing

About $30 per client per month. Billed to you, resold your way.

For client work

Agency

$149/ month + $49 / extra client

3-pass confidence band on every check. So the data is not single-shot noise.

1 client domain included, then $49/mo per additional client
40 prompts per domain, 5 engines, 3 passes
White-label weekly client reports + PDF export
Per-client workspaces + weekly scan emails
Cancel anytime

Start Agency · $149/mo

Cancel anytime. 7-day refund window.

Free check

Run one check on a client domain first. No account needed.

8 sample prompts × 5 AI engines
Citation Score + per-engine grid
Competitor leaderboard, top 5
Results emailed in about 3 minutes

Run a free check

One per visitor.

Full tier comparison, including the $29/mo SMB plan for single-brand tracking, on the AI Radar pricing page.

§08 · FAQ

Agency questions, straight answers.

Is the client report really white-label?

Yes. The weekly report carries your logo, agency name, accent color, and contact details. On the Agency tier you can switch off the small WhyIQ credit in the footer, so the report itself contains no WhyIQ branding at all. The PDF export is generated from the same page, so it is fully white-label too. One honest caveat: the web share link currently lives on a whyiq.ai address (custom domains are not available yet), so the PDF is the delivery path when the URL itself must carry your brand.

How is this different from the white-label CRO audit?

They are the two halves of the agency stack. The WhyIQ CRO Scanner audit is a one-off diagnostic: why a page loses visitors and what to fix. AI Radar is ongoing measurement: whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI actually cite your client, tracked weekly with a client-ready report each cycle. Agencies typically sell the audit to win the engagement and use Radar to justify the monthly retainer.

How quickly will a client see movement?

Honestly: off-page work usually takes 4 to 8 weeks to show up in AI citations. That is exactly why the report is weekly and trend-based. In between citation wins, it surfaces the leading signals that move first, like brand mention rate and position shifts inside AI answers, and on a genuinely steady week it says so rather than inventing movement.

Why does Agency run every check 3 times?

AI engines are probabilistic. Ask the same question twice and you can get two different answers, so a single-shot check reports noise as a verdict. The Agency tier runs every prompt on every engine 3 times each week and averages the passes into a confidence band. If a number is going in front of a client, it should be one you can defend.

What does it cost per client?

The Agency tier is $149/mo and includes 1 client domain with the full toolkit. Each additional client is $49/mo and gets the same full treatment: 40 tracked prompts across all 5 AI engines with the 3-pass band, their own workspace, a weekly scan email, and the white-label weekly report. Cancel anytime, 7-day refund window on checkout.

Put the first report in front of a client next week.

Start Agency with your first client, add more at $49/mo each, and the first weekly cycle produces a white-label report per client. Or look at the sample first: fictional client, real product.

Start Agency · $149/mo Explore the live demo