# AI Visibility FAQ: 18 Questions Answered 18 questions. The first 5 cover how we work. The other 13 are answered from 3 benchmark studies; each answer names its source and links to it. Data last changed November 3, 2026. ## How The AEO Company works ### Isn’t this just SEO with a new invoice? [#faq-isnt-this-just-seo-with-a-new-invoice](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-isnt-this-just-seo-with-a-new-invoice) AEO is not SEO with a new invoice. Some of it starts there — AI can’t recommend what it can’t find — but SEO stops at links and rankings. We work where your buyers actually are now: inside the answers ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity give them. Different game, different work, measured differently. ### How do you actually measure this? [#faq-how-do-you-actually-measure-this](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-how-do-you-actually-measure-this) We take 150+ real questions your buyers ask, run them through every engine on a schedule, and count how often you’re named. You see every question, every run, every number. No black box, no blended score. ### AI traffic is still small. Why now? [#faq-ai-traffic-is-still-small-why-now](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-ai-traffic-is-still-small-why-now) AI referral traffic is still small, but the traffic isn’t the point — the shortlist is. And answers harden: whoever the engines trust today keeps getting recommended. Waiting just makes it more expensive. ### How does this show up in revenue? [#faq-how-does-this-show-up-in-revenue](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-how-does-this-show-up-in-revenue) AI visibility shows up in revenue three ways: we tag AI visitors in your analytics, we ask new customers how they found you, and every quarter we match AI-sourced deals against your CRM. Attribution is partial by nature — we say so — but it’s measured three ways instead of guessed. ### Would you actually turn a client down? [#faq-would-you-actually-turn-a-client-down](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-would-you-actually-turn-a-client-down) Yes, we turn clients down. Under $1M revenue, nothing published for AI to find, or a category nobody asks AI about — we’ll tell you on the first call and save us both a quarter. ## From the research ### What share of B2B brands have zero AI citations? [#faq-brands-never-cited](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-brands-never-cited) 41 of 90 B2B brands (46%) in the index were never cited as a source by any of 6 AI engines across 6,000 answers. Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### Which AI engine cites B2B brands most often? [#faq-engine-cites-most](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-engine-cites-most) Perplexity cited at least one index brand in 592 of 1,000 answers (59%), the highest rate of 6 engines and 13 percentage points above Google AI Mode (46%). Grok was lowest at 107 of 1,000 (11%). Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### How concentrated are brand mentions in AI answers? [#faq-mention-concentration](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-mention-concentration) The 20 most-named of 90 brands (22% of the index) took 8,307 of 17,771 brand mentions (47%) across 6,000 AI answers. Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### How often do AI answers cite a brand they do not name? [#faq-ghost-citations](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-ghost-citations) 346 of 2,495 brand citations (14%) pointed to a brand the answer did not name (a ghost citation). Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### How many B2B websites look empty to AI crawlers that do not run JavaScript? [#faq-sites-empty-without-js](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-sites-empty-without-js) 50 of 240 B2B homepages (21%) were close to empty without JavaScript: less than 20% of their text was in the page before scripts ran. Source: AI crawler readability audit of B2B sites, May 2026. ### What share of B2B websites block AI crawlers in robots.txt? [#faq-sites-blocking-ai-crawlers](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-sites-blocking-ai-crawlers) 40 of 240 B2B sites (17%) blocked at least one of 4 AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended) in robots.txt. GPTBot was blocked most often, by 33 of 240 sites (14%). Source: AI crawler readability audit of B2B sites, May 2026. ### How many B2B websites publish an llms.txt file? [#faq-llms-txt-adoption](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-llms-txt-adoption) 20 of 240 B2B sites (8%) published an llms.txt file, against 210 (88%) with an XML sitemap. Source: AI crawler readability audit of B2B sites, May 2026. ### How often is a typical B2B company named in AI answers about its category? [#faq-typical-prospect-share](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-typical-prospect-share) Across 64 free AI-visibility teardowns of B2B companies, the median company was named in 14% of its 450 AI answers (a median of 61.5 answers). Source: Free 150-prompt teardowns, Jun-Oct 2026. ### Are B2B companies with a review-site profile named more often by AI? [#faq-review-profile-effect](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-review-profile-effect) B2B companies with a review-site profile are more likely than B2B companies without a review-site profile to be named in AI answers: median 21% vs 10% of answers (27 teardowns with a review-site profile vs 37 without one, of 64 free AI-visibility teardowns of B2B companies). Source: Free 150-prompt teardowns, Jun-Oct 2026. ### Are B2B companies with a crawler-readable website named more often by AI? [#faq-readable-site-effect](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-readable-site-effect) B2B companies with a site AI crawlers can read are more likely than B2B companies with a site AI crawlers cannot read to be named in AI answers: median 16% vs 7% of answers (41 teardowns with a readable site vs 23 with an unreadable site, of 64 free AI-visibility teardowns of B2B companies). Source: Free 150-prompt teardowns, Jun-Oct 2026. ### Which B2B SaaS brands do AI engines name most often? [#faq-most-named-b2b-saas-brands](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-most-named-b2b-saas-brands) Zandry (25%), Cindro (23%) and Darvex (19%) are the B2B SaaS brands AI engines name most often, by share of 2,400 B2B SaaS answers naming each brand (36 brands ranked, median 7%). Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Answers to prompts that name a brand still count for that brand: 1,226 of 7,110 mentions in this ranking (17%). Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### Which fintech brands do AI engines name most often? [#faq-most-named-fintech-brands](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-most-named-fintech-brands) Sabrel (33%), Brumolt (29%) and Fiscen (22%) are the fintech brands AI engines name most often, by share of 1,800 fintech answers naming each brand (27 brands ranked, median 11%). Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Answers to prompts that name a brand still count for that brand: 1,078 of 5,373 mentions in this ranking (20%). Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026). ### Which cybersecurity brands do AI engines name most often? [#faq-most-named-cybersecurity-brands](https://www.theaeocompany.co/faq#faq-most-named-cybersecurity-brands) Kovrin (31%), Jarnek (26%) and Brevaul (23%) are the cybersecurity brands AI engines name most often, by share of 1,800 cybersecurity answers naming each brand (27 brands ranked, median 9%). Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Answers to prompts that name a brand still count for that brand: 781 of 5,288 mentions in this ranking (15%). Source: The AEO Index, Q3 2026 edition (October 2026).