AI visibility report template - free CSV and metrics

Use this template to turn manual AI answer checks into a report your team can act on. Track the prompt, engine, brand mention, competitors, sentiment, source evidence, target page, and next action in one place.

The report structure

An AI visibility report should prove what the answer engines said, not just summarize a score. The report should show which prompts were tested, which engines answered, whether your brand appeared, which competitors appeared instead, and what action follows.

Public reporting examples from teams like Semrush, Wellows, and My Web Audit all point to the same practical need: AI visibility reporting has to separate evidence, interpretation, and next steps.

We also map the template to primary source behavior. Google reports AI feature traffic in Search Console under Web search and says eligible pages need to be indexed and available as Search snippets. OpenAI and Perplexity both document separate crawler or user-agent behavior, so a useful report needs one column for the answer and another for the sources that appear to support it.

Google: AI features and Search Console reporting OpenAI: crawler and user-agent docs Perplexity: crawler and WAF guidance

What to include

Section

What it should answer

Executive summary

State whether the brand is visible, where it is missing, which competitors are named instead, and what changed since the last report.

Prompt set

Group prompts by buyer intent: category shortlist, problem definition, alternative, comparison, and best-tool evaluation.

Engine results

Record each answer by engine so ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, and Kimi do not get blended into one vague score.

Competitor context

Track which competitors appear, where they appear, and whether they are named as primary recommendations or secondary alternatives.

Source and page gaps

List the pages, citations, reviews, directories, or third-party sources that appear to support the answer.

Next actions

Turn every finding into an owner, target page, action, and status. Reporting is only useful if it changes the next work item.

CSV columns

The CSV keeps the report simple enough for a first audit and strict enough to compare movement over time. Add more columns later only if they change a decision.

Column

Purpose

prompt

The exact buyer question tested.

intent

Category shortlist, problem, alternative, comparison, or how-to.

engine

The AI answer engine checked.

brand_named

Whether the tracked brand appeared in the answer.

brand_position

Where the brand appeared if it was named.

sentiment

Positive, neutral, negative, outdated, or inaccurate.

competitors_named

The rival brands recommended instead or beside you.

cited_sources

The pages, directories, reviews, or sources referenced.

target_page

The owned page most likely to fix the gap.

next_action

The specific content, source, or positioning fix.

owner

Who is responsible for the action.

status

Planned, in progress, shipped, or recheck needed.

How to use it

Choose 10 buyer prompts. Include category, problem, comparison, alternative, and best-tool questions.
Run the prompts across engines. Check at least ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode. Add Claude and Copilot if they matter to your buyers.
Record the answer, not your interpretation. Mark whether the brand was named, where it appeared, who else appeared, and which sources were cited.
Assign one next action. Each gap should map to a page update, new page, third-party mention, directory profile, or source fix.
Recheck the same prompts. Trend matters more than a single answer. Use the same prompts before changing the set.

Manual report vs monitoring software

A spreadsheet is the right first step if you have no baseline. It is cheap, transparent, and forces the team to understand the prompts. It is not enough once reporting becomes recurring. Manual checks drift by prompt wording, location, engine state, and reviewer judgment.

Sonarvue automates the recurring layer. It stores the prompt and answer, tracks presence, position, sentiment, competitors, citations, and share of voice across eight default engines, then turns each gap into a concrete action.

Related resources

Start with the AI visibility pillar, use the AI visibility optimization checklist, understand the AI visibility score, compare free AI visibility checkers, or evaluate AEO tracking software.

Frequently asked

What is an AI visibility report?

An AI visibility report shows whether answer engines name a brand for buyer prompts, which competitors are named instead, how the brand is described, which sources support the answer, and what should be fixed next.

What should an AI visibility report include?

It should include the prompt set, engines checked, brand presence, answer position, sentiment, competitor mentions, cited sources, target pages, next actions, owners, and status.

How often should you update an AI visibility report?

Monthly is enough for a first manual workflow. Weekly or daily reporting becomes useful once AI visibility is a channel metric or competitors are moving quickly.

Can I use a spreadsheet instead of AI visibility software?

Yes for a baseline or early audit. A spreadsheet breaks down when you need repeatable prompt runs, answer history, share of voice, alerts, and source movement across several engines.