The reasons answers move
- Sampling: language models pick words with some randomness, so two runs of the same prompt can produce different lists.
- Retrieval: a search-grounded answer is written from the pages found at that moment. Search results change, and so does which pages get read.
- Wording: “best”, “cheapest”, “family-friendly” and “open now” are different questions and get different shortlists.
- Context: location, language, account history, memory features and earlier messages in the chat can all shift the answer.
- Model updates: providers change models and search systems regularly, often without notice.
What that means for you
A single answer is a sample of one. It can be encouraging or alarming, and in both cases it can be noise. Be wary of anyone who shows you one screenshot as proof that you are invisible, or proof that their service got you ranked.
What you can trust is a pattern across repeated runs of the same questions: named in most of them, in a few, or in none. That is why AskedAboutYou shows a score band instead of one precise number, and why paid plans re-run the same questions weekly.
How to measure properly
- 01Fix a set of questions and do not change the wording between checks.
- 02Run them on a schedule, for example once a week.
- 03Record whether you were named, your position, and who else was named.
- 04Look at the trend over a month or more before drawing conclusions.
Questions
Is there such a thing as an AI ranking?
Not in the sense of a fixed position like a search results page. There are tendencies: some businesses get named more often than others for a given question. That is what is worth tracking.
Why does your score show a range?
Because one run is a sample. The band is 15 points either side of the run’s score until three scans exist, then it becomes the lowest and highest score actually recorded.
Check what AI says about your business
The free scan asks five customer-style questions with live web search and shows every reply word for word, who was named, and which pages were cited. About a minute, no card.
Run my free scan