How to Measure SEO with AI

For years, the digital marketer's playbook was simple: achieve a high rank on Google, win the click, and control the sales funnel. Our success was measured in a language of impressions, backlinks, and click-through rates (CTR).

That playbook is now obsolete.

A new generation of "answer engines"—led by Google's AI Overviews and disruptors like Perplexity—is rewriting the rules of the game. These platforms no longer just send traffic; they synthesise information and deliver a direct answer.

In this new paradigm, your relevance is decided long before a user even considers clicking on your website. It's determined by whether your brand is mentioned, how it's described, and if you are deemed an authoritative source within the AI-generated response.

For most marketers, this is terrifying. For us at SEOTopSecret, it's the biggest opportunity in a decade. This is the moment SEO stops being a volume game and becomes a game of influence.

The 4 New Metrics (AI KPIs) That Define Your Relevance

1. Mentions: The Proof of Existence

The first metric is binary and brutal: does your brand exist in the conversation, or not?

• What it is: The frequency with which your brand, product, or service appears in AI-generated answers to key queries in your industry (e.g., "what are the best B2B marketing tools in Australia?").
• Why it matters: If you're not mentioned, you're invisible. For users who trust these AI answers, your company simply doesn't exist as a viable option. A consistent absence here is a clear red flag that your brand's authority is weak.
• How to use it strategically: Segment your mentions. Are you appearing in broad, informational searches ("how does SEO work?") but not in commercial ones ("best SEO agency Sydney")? This tells you that you have educational authority but lack commercial positioning. The absence of mentions provides a direct roadmap for where you need to build content and authority.

2. Sentiment: The Echo of Your Reputation

Being mentioned is the first step. But how you're described is what truly shapes your brand's perception.

• What it is: An analysis of the adjectives, qualifiers, and context the AI uses when discussing your brand.
• Why it matters: The AI absorbs and reflects the existing narrative about you online. If reviews and articles describe you as "innovative" but "expensive," or "easy to use" but with "poor support," those are the words the AI will echo.
• How to use it strategically: Sentiment analysis acts as a real-time barometer of your market perception.
  
  • Negative Sentiment: If you're framed as "complex," create content that simplifies your value proposition. If you're seen as "expensive," you need to develop ROI calculators and case studies that prove your value.
  • Positive Sentiment: If you are consistently described as "trusted," that is the core message to amplify across all your marketing campaigns.
    

3. Competitive Share of Voice: The New Battleground

Your metrics are meaningless without context. They must be benchmarked against your competitors.

• What it is: The measurement of your mention frequency and sentiment in AI responses compared to your direct rivals.
• Why it matters: It’s not enough to appear in 30% of relevant answers. If your main competitor appears in 70%, you're losing the battle for the customer's consideration. If you're described in neutral terms while they're hailed as "industry leaders," you're losing the perception war.
• How to use it strategically: This analysis is your new battle map.
  
  • What types of queries are they dominating? (That's where you need to create superior content).
  • What positive attributes is the AI assigning to them but not to you? (That's where you need to strengthen your messaging and social proof).
  • Where are you stronger? (That’s the competitive advantage you need to press).
    

4. Cited Sources: The Ultimate Authority Metric

This is the most important metric of all. It reveals who the AI considers the source of truth.

• What it is: An analysis of which specific websites and documents the AI uses as references to construct its answers.
• Why it matters: When an AI mentions your brand, you are part of the story. When an AI cites your article as a source, you are the one telling the story. This positions you as the definitive thought leader, the final authority that users will turn to for more detail.
• How to use it strategically: Audit the sources. Is the AI citing an industry publication, a competitor's blog, or your own content? If it's not citing your content marketing, it's a clear signal that your content isn't authoritative, in-depth, or well-structured enough. The goal is to create "citable content": reports with original data, definitive guides, and expert analysis.

The SEOTopsecret Playbook for the Age of AI

The temptation is to wait for a polished dashboard that measures all of this. That’s a mistake. The brands that will win are those that act now, using these insights to guide their strategy.

• If your MENTIONS are low: You have a visibility problem. Action: Expand your content strategy and your Off-Page SEO.
• If your SENTIMENT is negative: You have a perception problem. Action: Create content (case studies, testimonials) to counteract that narrative and prove your value.
• If your SHARE OF VOICE is low: You have a competitive problem. Action: Conduct a content gap analysis and create resources that are ten times better than your competition's.
• If you are not the CITED SOURCE: You have an authority problem. Action: Invest in pillar content and reports with original data that establish you as the thought leader.

Why Acting Now is Your Greatest Advantage

The AI search ecosystem is still in its infancy. The tools aren't standardised, and the rules aren't fully written. That's your opportunity.

Think back to the early 2000s. The companies that mastered Google's principles before SEO became mainstream built domains of authority that were nearly impossible to displace for years. We are in that same foundational moment right now.

Brands that start optimising their content to be citable, that monitor their sentiment, and that build their authority with an AI-first vision, are laying the groundwork to dominate search for the next decade. Waiting for a perfect playbook is an invitation to be left behind.

The New Role of SEO: Architecting Influence

The era of AI-powered search doesn't eliminate the importance of clicks or traffic, but it radically redefines the start of the customer journey. The first impression of your brand is no longer your homepage; it's an AI's description of you.

That’s why these new metrics are so critical. The mention is the new click. Sentiment is the new first impression. And the cited source is the new #1 ranking.

Modern SEO is no longer just about technical optimisation. It's about architecting influence. It’s a game of reputation, authority, and value on an unprecedented scale.

At SEOTopSecret, this is our specialty. We don't just react to changes in AI; we design AI and SEO strategies to position our clients as the inevitable leaders in the conversation.

‍