For B2B marketers asking how they're showing up in AI search
AI search audit: Your AI baseline & action plan
You need to know if your business is showing up in AI search and what it takes to get on your buyers' shortlists. My AI baseline and action plan does exactly that. First, I test the questions that your buyers are asking and who's appearing in AI answers. Next, I build a content strategy and action plan that highlights the type of content you need to stand out from your competitors.
I'm Paul Maplesden, a B2B content strategist and marketer. I've been writing for complex B2B companies for more than ten years, including five at a global logistics company where I audited AI search visibility and built AI action plans.
I'll ask you to fill in a short form about your business, website, strategy, competitors, buyers, and the type of questions that your potential leads are asking. We'll work together on a list of buyer questions, and I'll clarify any other information with you. Then, I'll run an AI visibility audit, and use that baseline to find out where you appear in AI answers. Finally, I’ll create a detailed action plan so you know what needs changing.
Your AI baseline and action plan costs $2,200 for the whole thing, and I'll deliver it within two weeks. This price also includes any meetings we need to set things up or to review results.
It’s easy to find out where you appear in AI answers
What’s included in your AI search audit and action plan
Your report is a dated snapshot of how your business is performing in AI search right now and what you can do to improve things. It includes two main areas:
The AI baseline tells you whether AI includes your business in its results for specific buyer questions. It will also explain which of your competitors it's recommending and why.
The action plan tells you about the new and updated content you need to improve your placement on shortlists, together with an AI visibility strategy and prioritization.
The questions that your baseline and action plan will answer include:
Are buyers seeing you or your competitors in AI answers? Both the questions where you're appearing in AI search results and the ones where your competitors are appearing instead.
How are you appearing across different AI search engines? Measured results across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Gemini that tell you where you're appearing on each.
Why isn't your business on the shortlist? How your pages perform against competitors and why some of your content isn't making the list.
How can you win? Understand the best ways to get seen in AI answers, including the buyer questions that no one is answering well right now, or where you can enhance your pages to be better than your competitors.
What gaps should you close first? A content plan that's ranked by the highest impact changes and how much buyer interest there is in that topic.
What's the raw data? I include every question, result, and score in the report's appendices, so you can run it through your own models or check my working.
The baseline and plan are yours to use however you like. If you'd like me to build the content, that's what my AI visibility program (link) is for, and I can work directly with you or your team or agency.
The competitors you're tracking may not be who AI is recommending
One of the more surprising insights that's come out of my baseline analyses is the sheer variety of companies that are mentioned in AI answers. If you're already tracking your competitors in Semrush or a similar tool, that's helpful for organic search. But the picture for AI search can be very different.
For example, in a baseline that I ran for a client, three of their four closest organic competitors were mentioned less often than my client was in AI search results. Instead, three companies that they weren't tracking at all were mentioned in AI search more than my client was. In total, across 26 buyer questions, AI answers named more than 300 companies, with more than 170 showing up in more than one answer.
That's important because choosing where to put your marketing dollars is partly based on who you're competing against. Getting that overview helps you focus your budget where it really matters.
Do you need an AI visibility monitoring tool, an agency audit, or a baseline and action plan?
You have several options for measuring your visibility in AI answers, including AI monitoring tools, an AI audit from a marketing agency, or my baseline and action plan. Here's a comparison of what each one provides.
| Compare | AI monitoring tool | AI audit from an agency | My AI baseline and action plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it looks at | AI answers for a defined series of prompts, tracked over time | AI answers to prompts plus your content and the technical setup of your website | AI answers to buyer questions and a comparison of your pages vs. your competitors |
| Where the questions and prompts come from | Prompts from the tool or ones that you enter | Typically built from keywords and sometimes with input from sales | Buyer questions sourced from your sales team, your website, and your market |
| Which competitors are tracked | The ones you set up | The competitors you name | Every company that is named in an AI answer |
| What you'll learn | Your visibility score and how it changes | Where you appear, how you can compete, and gaps with best practice | Who AI search engines recommend instead of you, including a page analysis for each question |
| What you will need to do next | Mostly left up to you | Follow a prioritized roadmap | Follow a plan that's ranked by impact |
| What it costs | Low monthly subscription | One-off agency fee | $2,200, delivered within two weeks |
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