How to Monitor and Win Brand Mentions in AI Answers
Brand mentions used to feel like a bonus. A quote in an article. A tag on social. A “nice” mention in a roundup. Now they’re showing up inside AI answers, and those answers often shape what someone believes before they ever click a link. So if a brand wants to increase AI brand mentions, it helps to treat this like a real visibility channel, not a “we’ll get to it later” task. Monitor AI mentions like competitive research (not social listening) This isn’t the same as watching Instagram comments or responding to tweets. It’s closer to a weekly competitive scan: calm, consistent, and owned by the SEO/content/brand team, not just whoever runs community. Ahrefs frames this as repeatable monitoring: check mentions, compare against competitors, and review changes over time. A practical setup looks like: Manual prompt checks (free, limited): Once a month, run a set list of prompts customers actually ask (“best agency for…”, “alternatives to…”, “how to choose…”) and record who shows up....