AI Visibility Hybrid Scan

What Is Hybrid Scanning

A hybrid scan uses two data sources in parallel:

Real-time brand checks:

• Sends actual queries to AI platforms and checks if your brand is mentioned in the response
• Platforms: ChatGPT (GPT-4o), Claude (Sonnet 4.0), Gemini (2.0 Flash), Perplexity (Sonar)
• Detects: Mention presence, sentiment, position in recommendations

Historical tracking:

• Searches a database of indexed AI responses
• Platforms: Google AI Overview, ChatGPT historical data
• Detects: Existing mentions, citation patterns, search volume trends

Together, these cover 5 unique AI platforms for a complete visibility picture.

Why Hybrid Is More Accurate

Single-method scanning has limitations:

• API-only misses context about how often your brand appears historically
• Historical-only misses real-time platform responses and newer content

Hybrid scanning compensates for both:

1. Real-time queries catch current responses that historical data may not yet include
2. Historical data reveals patterns across thousands of queries that a few real-time queries cannot capture
3. Cross-referencing both methods catches discrepancies (a brand mentioned historically but not in real-time queries may indicate declining visibility)

The hybrid approach also covers more platforms. Historical data only includes Google AI Overview and ChatGPT. Real-time queries add Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.

Platforms Checked

| Platform | Method | What It Detects |
|----------|--------|-----------------|
| ChatGPT (GPT-4o) | Real-time + Historical | Live mentions, historical citation frequency |
| Claude (Sonnet 4.0) | Real-time only | Live mentions in responses |
| Gemini (2.0 Flash) | Real-time only | Live mentions in responses |
| Perplexity (Sonar) | Real-time only | Live mentions with web search results |
| Google AI Overview | Historical only | Citations in Google Search AI summaries |

Running a Hybrid Scan

Prerequisites

1. Configure your brand name in AI Visibility settings (required)
2. Set your primary domain in Settings > General (recommended for historical tracking)
3. Verify required integrations are active

Steps

1. Navigate to Analytics > AI Visibility
2. Click Run 5-Platform Scan
3. Wait 30-90 seconds while both sources are queried
4. View results on the dashboard

The scan runs 5 queries against 4 real-time platforms (20 API calls) plus one historical lookup. This takes longer than a standard scan but provides fuller coverage.

Manual vs Background Refresh

When you visit the dashboard with data older than 24 hours, the system can:

• Auto-refresh in background (default): Shows cached data immediately while a background task updates it
• Manual refresh only: You must click the scan button

Configure this in AI Visibility > Settings > Auto-refresh on visit.

Interpreting Hybrid Scan Results

Overall Score (0-100)

Weighted combination:

• 70% from real-time mention rate (average across 4 platforms)
• 30% from historical presence (capped at 30 points based on mention count)

A score of 60+ indicates strong AI visibility.

Platform Breakdown

Each platform shows:

• Mention Rate: Percentage of queries where your brand appeared
• Average Position: If your brand appears in numbered lists, what position (lower is better)
• Sentiment: Positive, neutral, or negative context around mentions
• Historical Mentions: Total indexed mentions (historical platforms only)

Query Results Table

Shows each test query with:

• Which platforms mentioned your brand (green checkmark)
• Which platforms did not (gray dash)
• Context snippet if mentioned
• Competitor alerts if competitors were mentioned instead

Metrics to Watch

Strong indicators:

• Mention rate above 50% on any platform
• Position 1-3 in recommendation lists
• Positive sentiment in context snippets
• Increasing historical mention count

Warning signs:

• Zero mentions on Claude or Gemini (newer AI platforms are important)
• Competitors mentioned where you are not
• Negative sentiment in context
• Declining mention rate week-over-week

Automation Schedule

Hybrid scans run automatically on a schedule:

| Task | Frequency | Time |
|------|-----------|------|
| Background refresh | On dashboard visit (if data >24h old) | Immediate |
| Scheduled full scan | Weekly | Wednesdays at 8 AM |
| History recording | Weekly | After scheduled scan |

The scheduled scan runs for all tenants with AI visibility enabled. Results are cached for 24 hours by default (configurable per tenant).

Triggering Manual Scans

Manual scans are rate-limited to prevent excessive usage:

• Maximum 1 manual scan per hour per tenant
• Cached results remain valid until expiration (default 24 hours)

Related Features

• AI Visibility Dashboard - View scan results and trends
• AI Query Opportunities - Discover content gaps in AI responses
• Citation Alerts - Get notified when content gets cited
• Weekly Digest - Email summary of AI visibility metrics

Troubleshooting

Scan takes longer than 2 minutes: Real-time queries sometimes experience delays. If a scan times out, try again later. Background refreshes handle this gracefully.

Missing data for some platforms: Check AI Visibility > Settings to ensure all platforms are enabled. Some platforms may also rate-limit during high-traffic periods.

Historical data shows zero mentions: Your domain may not yet appear in indexed AI responses. Continue publishing authoritative content and check again after a week.