AI Search Sensor
How to Use AI Search Sensor

How to Use AI Search Sensor Step-by-Step

AI Search Sensor is a free, public dashboard that tracks how answer engine behavior is changing over time. It's designed to give marketers a baseline for how volatile the AI search landscape is so they can tell whether shifts they're seeing in their own performance are isolated or industry-wide. No login required. No form.

What AI Search Sensor Tracks

This dashboard has four charts. Here's what each one measures and how to read it.

AI-Referred Traffic Trends

Directional estimates of how much traffic ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity send to websites based on anonymized HubSpot customer data. Use this to understand whether AI-referred traffic is growing, declining, or stable across the market. These are directional trends, not exact counts.

AI Visibility Benchmarks by Industry

Estimated visibility scores and citation share from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity across 10 industries, updated regularly. Use this to understand how AI visibility shifts by sector, which is useful context when evaluating your own brand's performance.

The brands shown aren't necessarily competitors; they're recognizable names chosen to give you a meaningful benchmark for what typical AI visibility looks like in a given sector.

Toggle between Visibility Score and Citation Share to see both sides: a brand can be frequently named without being cited (strong presence, weaker content strategy) or cited heavily without being named (strong content, needs to build authority).

Citation Share Trends

A weekly view of which content types and source channels are appearing most often in AI-generated answers, based on anonymized HubSpot customer data.

Two views are available:

Content Type: Shows which formats — blogs, guides, comparison pages, product pages, documentation, and others — are being cited most. Sixteen content types are tracked. Watch for movement week over week, not just what's dominant. A format steadily gaining share is one AI engines have started favoring more recently.
Channel: Shows which types of sources AI engines are pulling from — owned content, earned media, review sites, affiliates, UGC, peer sites, and others. Nine channels are tracked. This view is a reminder that AEO isn't just about what's on your website. In many cases, third-party sources carry significant weight in what gets surfaced.

When you see a significant shift in either view, cross-reference it with the Volatility Tracker. A sudden change during an Elevated or Extreme week usually means an engine updated how it weights certain content, and that shift is likely affecting everyone, not just you.

Answer Engine Volatility Tracker

A score from 0–100 measuring how much daily citation, mention, and AI-referred behavior deviates from a widespread average within ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Answer engines regularly change the composition of their results: who gets cited, what content gets surfaced, how often brands appear. This score captures how much that's happening on any given day.

Calm (0–29): Minor fluctuations. Normal variation in citation and mention behavior.
Moderate (30–59): Noticeable shifts. Citation and mention patterns are moving.
Elevated (60–89): Large changes. Behavior is shifting significantly from the norm.
Extreme (90+): Major disruptions. Outsized, sustained deviation in citation and mention frequency.

Note: Daily volatility scores may fluctuate slightly for up to three days from the current date as final data rolls in. Small shifts in recent scores are expected.

What AI Search Sensor Does Not Track

Recommendations or action items. AI Search Sensor is an observation and benchmarking tool.
Your specific brand's AI visibility or citation share. For that, try HubSpot AEO.

Curious how visible your brand is in answer engines?

Analyze how your brand appears in answer engine responses and identify opportunities to improve visibility with HubSpot AEO.

Start your free trial Buy now

How to Use AI Search Sensor to Diagnose a Performance Shift

The core question AI Search Sensor is built to help you answer: Is what I'm seeing in my own metrics a me problem, or is the whole market moving?

Follow these steps when you notice a change in your AI referral traffic or visibility and want to understand what's driving it.

1. Check the volatility tracker first.

Look at today's score and the trend over the past week. Is the market Calm, Moderate, Elevated, or Extreme? This is your starting point. A high score means the engines have been making changes to how many links they show, how often they name brands, what content they surface, and how much traffic they send. A Calm score means the engines have been stable.

2. Look at AI-referred traffic trends.

Is industry-wide AI traffic up, down, or flat this week? Note both the direction and which engines are driving the trend. The picture can look very different depending on the platform. One engine pulling back while others hold steady is a different signal than all three moving together.

3. Compare to your own traffic data.

Pull your AI referral numbers from your own analytics. Are you moving with the market or diverging from it? The gap between what the industry is doing and what you're doing is where the diagnosis lives.

4. Interpret the gap.

Three common scenarios:

Industry traffic is up, but you're flat or declining: You may be losing share relative to competitors. Check Citation Share Trends to see which content types and channels are gaining ground, and compare that against what you're publishing.
Industry traffic is down, and so are you: Likely a market-wide shift rather than a strategy problem. Cross-reference with the Volatility Tracker. If it's Elevated or Extreme, that context is probably your answer. Avoid reacting to engine-level changes too quickly.
Industry traffic is down, but you're holding steady or growing: Your strategy is outperforming the market. Take note of what you've been doing differently.

5. Dig into citation share trends if you suspect a content or channel gap.

If industry traffic is up but yours isn't, this chart shows you what's earning citations right now. Check whether the formats and channels gaining share are ones you're active in. If they're not, that's the gap to close first.

6. Check AI visibility benchmarks for context on your standing.

Select your industry and find a brand you'd consider a household name. Where they're sitting gives you a calibration point. If you have access to your own visibility score (via HubSpot AEO), compare it against the benchmark range to understand how much ground there is to make up or whether your strategy is already outperforming the field.

Explore the Charts

Now that you've learned all about the Sensor, try it out using our portable widget version.

AI-Referred Traffic Trends

See how much traffic answer engines are sending to websites.

.aeo-ai-traffic-tracker-chart .aeo-chart-loading, .aeo-ai-traffic-tracker-chart { display: none; }

A traffic dip isn't always your fault. This chart helps you find out.

The numbers here show what's happening across the industry, not for your brand specifically. The way to get the most out of this chart is to compare it to your own traffic data — once you know what the industry is doing, you can figure out what it means for you:

Industry traffic is up, but you're flat or declining: You may be losing traffic share compared to your competitors. That's a signal to audit your AEO coverage, specifically looking at which engines are sending traffic, and whether your content is showing up in their answers. A good next step is to check the Citation Share Trends chart to see which content types are earning the most citations right now. Compare that against what you're actually publishing.
Industry traffic is down, and so are you: Likely a market-wide shift rather than a strategy problem. Check the Answer Engine Volatility Tracker to see if conditions changed that week. If they did, that context is probably your answer.
Industry traffic is down, but you're holding steady or growing: Your strategy is outperforming the market average. Take note of what you've been doing differently, because it's working.

Review each answer engine to see whether one is driving the traffic trend more than the others. Sometimes the picture looks very different depending on which platform you're looking at.

AI Visibility Benchmarks by Industry

See how often brands in your industry are appearing in AI search results, and whether that’s changing over time. Get insights into a company’s and across multiple weeks.

#industry-aeo-performance-chart .aeo-chart-loading, #industry-aeo-performance-chart { display: none; }

Use the brands you recognize to calibrate what's realistic in your industry.

The companies shown aren't necessarily competitors — they're familiar names chosen to give you a meaningful benchmark.

When you select your industry, you're not watching a race. You're getting a baseline for what typical AI visibility looks like and how wide is the spread between brands. In some industries, the top performers sit well above 70% visibility while others cluster around 30%. In others, the field is much tighter. Once you know the range, use it as a comparison point for your own brand. Pick a company in your industry that you'd consider a household name and note where they're sitting. If your own visibility score is tracking close to theirs, you're in the conversation. If you're well below them, you have a clear sense of how much ground there is to make up. And, if you're above them, that's a meaningful signal that your AEO strategy is working.

Toggle between Visibility Score and Citation Share to see both sides of the picture. A brand can be frequently named in AI answers without being cited as a source, meaning they have a strong, reputable presence across the web but a weaker content strategy. Inversely, if a brand is cited heavily without being named, they have a significant catalog of well structured content, but they need to improve their authority — or why someone should choose to buy their products & services.

Answer Engine Volatility Tracker

Track how AI answer engines are changing brand visibility. Get a daily snapshot based on mention, citation, and AI-referred traffic data to understand whether visibility shifts are market-wide — or a sign that your own AEO strategy needs attention.

.aeo-tt-chart .aeo-chart-loading, .aeo-tt-chart { display: none; }

Calm (0–29)

Moderate (30–59)

Elevated (60–89)

Extreme (90+)

Your weather report for AI engines.

When something looks off in your own AEO metrics, check here for what the market is experiencing. A spike in volatility means the engines have changed. How many links they show, how often they name brands, what sites or content they reference most, and how much traffic they send can all be shifting.

Use the score alongside your own data to diagnose what's actually happening:

Score is Elevated or Extreme, and your metrics dropped: Likely a market-wide shift. Focus on understanding what changed before making any adjustments to your strategy — reacting too quickly to engine-level changes often creates more disruption than the change itself.
Score is Calm, but your metrics dropped: This is worth investigating. The market is stable, which means the shift is more likely specific to your brand or content. That's the moment to look at your citation share and visibility data more closely.
Score is Elevated or Extreme, but your metrics are holding: Your content is weathering the shift better than average. Take note of what you've been doing, because it's working.

Watch for what's shifting, not just what's dominant.

Content Type:

This view shows which formats of content — blogs, comparison pages, documentation, guides, and others — are being cited most in AI-generated answers each week.

The content types holding the largest share tell you what AI engines are currently treating as authoritative. But another actionable signal is movement. A content type steadily growing its share week over week is one the engines have started favoring more recently — and a format potentially worth investing in if you're not already publishing it regularly. Equally, a content type that's shrinking is one losing favor, which may mean deprioritizing it isn't as risky as it once seemed.

When you see a significant shift, cross-reference it with the Volatility Tracker. A sudden change in the mix during an Elevated or Extreme week usually means the engine updated how it weights certain content. That shift is likely affecting everyone, not just you.

Channel:

This view shows which types of sources AI engines are pulling citations from — owned content (your website), earned media, review sites, affiliates, UGC, and others.

The most important thing this chart communicates is that AEO isn't just about what's on your website. AI engines pull from the entire web when deciding what to cite. In many cases, third-party sources like review sites, affiliates, and others carry significant weight in what gets surfaced.

If you look at this chart and see review sites or affiliates holding a large or growing share vs. owned, that's a signal that AI engines in your space are trusting what others say about brands more than what brands say about themselves. If your current strategy is focused entirely on your own content, this chart is telling you there's a meaningful piece of the picture you're not influencing.

On the flip side, if owned content is consistently strong in your industry, that's validation that investing in your own site — your blog, your product pages, your documentation — is the right place to focus.

Use this view to pressure-test where your effort is going. If the channels gaining share are ones you're not active in, that's the gap worth closing first.

Affiliate: Affiliate sites, where you can pay to have your content published
Competitor: Competitor domains, from the competitors set up during onboarding
Earned: Earned media, including news or PR
Owned: Your own domain
Peer: Peer sites are product/service companies that are not your direct competitors
Review sites: Third-party platforms where users rate and review products, such as G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot.
UGC: User Generated Content sites such as Youtube / Reddit

Related Tools

HubSpot AEO

Track your brand's AI visibility over time across all three engines, with daily updates and prioritized recommendations so you know exactly what to fix and in what order.

AEO in Marketing Hub

Everything in HubSpot AEO, plus CRM-powered prompt suggestions based on your actual business data and the ability to act on recommendations directly inside HubSpot using our content, social, and email tools.

AI Search Grader

Run a one-time snapshot of how ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini represent your brand. You get a visibility score, sentiment analysis, and competitive positioning in minutes, no login required.

Frequently Asked Questions

AI Search Sensor is powered by anonymized HubSpot customer data. Traffic trends and citation data are modeled from aggregated, anonymized behavior across HubSpot customers' websites. AI Visibility Benchmarks use estimates based on publicly available information — like a company's top products, competitors, and assumed customer profiles — rather than customer data directly.

The dashboard runs on a daily refresh cadence. Each chart includes a "Last Updated" timestamp. The Volatility Tracker updates daily; traffic and citation charts update weekly (Monday–Sunday). It can take a few hours for all data to populate after a week closes.

AI Search Sensor shows directional industry-wide trends, not exact counts. Actual results will vary by region, language, and industry. The trends are designed to give you a market baseline for comparison, not a precise match to your analytics.

No. AI Search Sensor tracks industry-wide patterns, not individual brands. It won't show your visibility score, citation share, or traffic numbers. To track your brand specifically, see the Related Tools section above.

They measure two different things.

Visibility score captures how often an AI engine names your brand in its answers, a measure of brand presence and authority.
Citation share captures how often your domain is linked to as a source, a measure of content authority.

A brand can score high on one and low on the other. High visibility without citation share typically means strong brand recognition but a content gap. High citation share without visibility typically means strong content but a brand awareness gap.

Daily scores may shift slightly for up to three days from the current date as final data finishes rolling in. Small fluctuations in the most recent scores are expected and not a sign of an error.

AI Search Sensor tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity across all four charts.

Each tool addresses a different level of visibility:

AI Search Sensor is a free tool to monitor industry-wide trends for understanding the AEO landscape and does not provide brand-specific data.

AI Search Grader is a free one-time snapshot of how your specific brand shows up in AI answers today.

HubSpot AEO is a paid tool ($50/month) for ongoing tracking on your brand with daily updates, competitor analysis, and prioritized recommendations.

Compare your brand's performance to industry-wide trends.

Track how your brand appears in answer engine responses with HubSpot AEO and compare with macro trends surfaced in AI Search Sensor.

Start your free trial Buy now

How to Use AI Search Sensor Step-by-Step

What AI Search Sensor Tracks

AI-Referred Traffic Trends

AI Visibility Benchmarks by Industry

Citation Share Trends

Answer Engine Volatility Tracker

What AI Search Sensor Does Not Track

Curious how visible your brand is in answer engines?

How to Use AI Search Sensor to Diagnose a Performance Shift

1. Check the volatility tracker first.

2. Look at AI-referred traffic trends.

3. Compare to your own traffic data.

4. Interpret the gap.

5. Dig into citation share trends if you suspect a content or channel gap.

6. Check AI visibility benchmarks for context on your standing.

Explore the Charts

AI Search Sensor

AI-Referred Traffic Trends

How to Read This Chart

Related Tools

HubSpot AEO

AEO in Marketing Hub

AI Search Grader

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does AI Search Sensor data come from?

How often is AI Search Sensor data updated?

Why might my own numbers look different from what AI Search Sensor shows?

Does AI Search Sensor show my brand's performance?

What's the difference between visibility score and citation share?

Why does the Volatility Tracker score change for recent days?

What engines does AI Search Sensor cover?

What's the difference between AI Search Sensor, AI Search Grader, and HubSpot AEO?

Compare your brand's performance to industry-wide trends.