AEO Foundations

What is share of voice in AI search?

Answer

Share of voice (SOV) in AI search is the percentage of AI-generated responses on a topic that mention or cite a specific brand. It is measured by sampling a representative set of prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot, then counting brand appearances against competitors. SOV is the primary KPI of AEO programs.

How SOV is calculated

Sample N prompts per topic, query each AI platform, count brand mentions and citations, divide by the total possible (N * platforms). Express as a percentage. Track over time to measure AEO program impact.

What strong SOV looks like

Brands with 30 to 50 percent share of voice on their core commercial queries typically dominate citation in those topics. Brands below 5 percent are functionally invisible. The middle is the work zone where most AEO programs operate.

How to improve SOV

Combine technical AEO (schema, llms.txt, AI Instructions), entity work (Wikipedia, Wikidata), citation harvesting (Reddit, Stack Exchange) and answer-pattern content. Spacemen Digital structures every retainer around measurable SOV lift.

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