Frequently asked
questions.

Surfedo is an AI search visibility platform that shows brands their exact position rankings on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews — and generates the content fixes to improve those rankings. Unlike tools that only track whether you were "mentioned," Surfedo returns exact #1, #2, #3 positions per query per engine, then closes the full loop: find the gap, generate the fix, verify it worked.

AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude now recommend brands to millions of buyers daily. Most B2B SaaS brands have no idea whether they're being recommended or not — let alone how to improve. Surfedo gives you exact position data, explains why competitors outrank you, and generates the content fixes to close the gap.

SEO tools track Google rankings. Surfedo tracks AI engine rankings — a completely different system with different signals. AI engines rank brands based on entity authority, review platform presence (G2, Capterra), structured data, and llms.txt files — not backlinks and keyword density. Surfedo is purpose-built for this new layer of discovery.

Surfedo is built for B2B SaaS founders and growth teams who want to rank on AI engines when buyers research their category, marketing agencies managing AI visibility for multiple clients, and any brand that wants to be recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Claude instead of their competitors.

Surfedo tracks five AI engines simultaneously: ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Gemini (Google), and Claude (Anthropic). For each engine, Surfedo returns your exact position ranking (#1, #2, #3, etc.) per query — not just whether you were mentioned.

SEO gets you into Google's ranked list of blue links. AI visibility gets your brand specifically recommended inside AI-generated answers on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. The signals are different: AI engines weight entity authority, review volume, structured data, and llms.txt files. They are complementary disciplines — good SEO helps AEO, but AEO requires additional specific work.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of optimising your brand to be cited and recommended by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. It involves entity authority building, structured data (schema markup), llms.txt files, FAQ content, comparison pages, and review platform presence. It is also called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) or LLMO.

AI engines build brand recommendations from multiple signals: entity authority (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Knowledge Panel), review platform presence (G2, Capterra, Reddit), content structure (FAQ schema, HowTo schema, comparison pages), technical signals (llms.txt, ai.txt, robots.txt allowing AI crawlers), and third-party citations across blogs, forums, and publications.

Run a free scan at surfedo.com/scan — email signup — no card needed for the scan, results in about 2 minutes. You'll see your exact position rankings across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude for queries relevant to your category. To track rankings weekly, access the Fix Generator, and monitor position changes over time, sign up for a Pro or Agency plan.

Yes. Surfedo offers a free one-off scan at surfedo.com/scan — sign up with your email — no card needed for the scan, results in about 2 minutes. Full tracking, Fix Generator, and weekly re-scans require a paid plan starting at $79/month.

The free scan takes about 2 minutes. It queries ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude simultaneously across your most relevant queries and returns exact position rankings in real time.

Surfedo automatically identifies the most relevant commercial queries for your category based on your domain — the queries buyers actually type into AI engines when researching solutions like yours.

Pro costs $79/month (or $63/month annually): 1 domain, 50 queries/domain, all 5 engines, weekly re-scan, Fix Generator (10/month), fix verification, GA4 integration, PDF reports, 1 seat. Agency costs $199/month (or $159/month annually): 10 domains, 150 queries/domain, daily re-scan, Fix Generator (50/month), white-label reports, API access, Slack/Teams alerts, 5 seats.

Yes — both Pro and Agency plans include a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. Sign up with your email and get full access for 7 days. A card is only needed when you choose to upgrade to a paid plan.

Yes. Surfedo subscriptions can be cancelled anytime from your account settings. No long-term contracts, no cancellation fees.

The Fix Generator produces ready-to-publish AI-written content to improve your AI rankings. It generates 8 fix types: FAQ pages, JSON-LD schema markup, llms.txt entries, entity descriptions, comparison content, Reddit citations, structured data, and off-site citation drafts. Pro plans include 10 fix generations per month; Agency plans include 50.

An llms.txt file is a plain-text file at your domain root (yourdomain.com/llms.txt) that tells AI crawlers what your brand is, what pages matter, your pricing, and how to describe you. Google ignores it — LLMs use it. It is one of the fastest, lowest-effort AEO fixes available.

Perplexity can reflect new content within days. ChatGPT and Gemini typically take 4–12 weeks. Plan for 4–8 weeks to see initial movement, and 3–6 months to build systematic citation presence.

No. FAQ pages, structured schema, and quality comparison content are good for both AEO and Google SEO. They are fully complementary.

Your competitors likely have stronger entity signals: more G2/Capterra reviews, Reddit mentions in relevant threads, Wikidata entries, and third-party press coverage. Surfedo's competitor WHY analysis shows you exactly which signals your competitors have that you're missing.

Yes — if AI crawlers are blocked, they cannot index your content regardless of your schema or llms.txt. Make sure GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, anthropic-ai, and GoogleOther are explicitly allowed. This is a 10-minute fix and a prerequisite for all other AEO work.

Run a baseline scan before making any changes, implement your fix, wait 4–6 weeks, then re-scan. Compare your position rankings before and after. Surfedo's fix verification loop automates this — it tracks before/after position data per fix so you can prove which changes moved the needle.