4 stages from invisible to dominant. Find your current stage, understand the gap to the next, and know exactly what your team should prioritise this quarter.
Start at Stage 1 and work forward. You're in the highest stage where all characteristics apply. Most organisations are in Stage 2 — tracking exists but content and technical fixes are ad-hoc.
Stage 1 — Invisible (Visibility Score: 0–20)
AI crawlers can't access your site. No tracking. No strategy.
Characteristics — you're here if all of these apply
- •No AI platform tracking set up
- •No schema on key pages
- •Robots.txt may be blocking AI crawlers
- •No FAQ content on product pages
- •Brand never appears in AI comparison queries
- •Team has no AEO knowledge or ownership
What's happening
AI crawlers may not be able to read your site at all, or they can read it but have no structured data to extract. When users ask AI about your product category, you're absent from the answer entirely — your competitors fill that space by default. You may have excellent Google SEO rankings and still score under 20 on Hema's AI Readability audit.
Team structure at this stage
No dedicated AEO ownership. SEO team, if one exists, is focused entirely on Google. Leadership is not yet aware AI search is a distinct channel with distinct requirements.
Key metrics
- •Visibility Score: 0–20
- •AI platform mentions: near zero
- •Schema coverage: less than 20% of key pages
What to do first
Run your first Hema Site Audit. Fix every Critical issue — these are usually 1–3 changes that unlock the majority of your score improvement. Set up your first 10 prompts covering your core product queries and 3 competitor comparisons. You should see your Visibility Score cross 20 within 2 weeks of fixing Critical issues.
- •2 weeks to exit Stage 1 after fixing Critical issues
- •1–3 critical fixes typically unlock the biggest score jump
- •10 prompts to set up as minimum viable tracking baseline
- •+18pts typical Visibility Score gain from fixing one firewall block
Stage 2 — Reactive (Visibility Score: 20–40)
Tracking exists. Critical issues are fixed. Content is ad-hoc.
Characteristics
- •Hema or similar tool is set up
- •Critical technical issues resolved
- •10–30 prompts tracked
- •Some schema on pricing/product pages
- •Content published reactively when a gap is spotted
- •Monitoring but not optimising
- •Team knows the problem but has no systematic response
What's happening
You're visible to AI crawlers but inconsistently cited. You appear in some AI answers but not the ones that matter most — the comparison queries and category-defining prompts where purchase decisions are made. Content is published when someone notices a specific gap, not as part of a systematic calendar. Schema exists on some pages but is incomplete across the site.
Team structure at this stage
One person owns AEO — usually an SEO specialist or content marketer who took it on alongside their existing role. No dedicated budget. Fixes happen when bandwidth allows.
Key metrics
- •Visibility Score: 20–40
- •Share of Voice: 5–15%
- •Schema coverage: 40–60% of key pages
- •Articles published: 1–5 total
What to do next
Establish a content calendar — minimum 2 AEO-structured articles per month. Resolve all High severity audit issues (not just Critical). Expand tracking to 60–100 prompts covering all product lines, all competitor comparisons, and 3 location variants. Add Knowledge Base with brand guidelines so every generated article stays on-voice.
- •60 days to exit Stage 2 with 2+ articles/month published
- •2/mo minimum article publishing cadence to build authority
- •60–100 prompts needed for comprehensive tracking coverage
- •+20pts typical Visibility Score gain completing Stage 2 actions
Stage 3 — Intentional (Visibility Score: 40–65)
Regular publishing. SoV tracked. Competitors benchmarked.
Characteristics
- •Content calendar drives 4+ articles/month
- •100+ prompts tracked across all product lines
- •Competitors benchmarked with H2H win rate tracked
- •Schema complete on all key pages
- •AI-attributed lead tracking active
- •Location tracking across multiple markets
- •Regular review of Monthly Review Reports
- •AEO is a line item in marketing budget
What's happening
Your brand appears consistently in AI answers within your category. You're tracking Share of Voice against competitors and seeing a gradual upward trend. Content is published on a schedule and directly addresses the queries your customers use. Pipeline attribution is partially closed — you can see which companies are arriving from AI platforms. The next gap is in domination: you want to be the first recommendation, not just a mention.
Team structure
Dedicated AEO ownership with cross-functional support from content, dev, and analytics. Quarterly planning sessions that include AI visibility targets alongside SEO targets. Leadership visibility on Visibility Score as a KPI.
Key metrics
- •Visibility Score: 40–65
- •Share of Voice: 15–35%
- •H2H win rate: 50–65% of tracked days
- •AI-attributed sessions: measurable and growing
- •Articles published: 10–30 total in library
What to do next
Focus on the comparison queries where a competitor is still beating you. Run "Vs." article campaigns for your top 5 comparison queries. Expand to additional AI platforms (Gemini, Claude, Copilot on Business plan). Track Source Domain analytics — identify which publications AI is citing in your category and pursue coverage there. Expand Knowledge Base with detailed product specs and competitor differentiators.
- •90 days to exit Stage 3 with intensive vs. campaign
- •5 comparison articles to prioritise for comparison query wins
- •5 AI platforms to be tracking by end of Stage 3
- •>65% H2H win rate target before entering Stage 4
Stage 4 — Dominant (Visibility Score: 65+)
First recommendation. Pipeline closed. Category-defining.
Characteristics
- •Share of Voice >40% in category
- •First recommendation on most comparison queries
- •AI-attributed pipeline closed to revenue
- •Cited as default answer in category-defining prompts
- •Content library of 50+ AEO-structured articles
- •Source domain analytics: your site appears in AI citation data
- •Competitor H2H win rate >70% of tracked days
- •Multi-market, multi-language tracking active
- •AEO fully integrated into demand generation strategy
What's happening
Your brand is the answer. When a prospect asks ChatGPT for the best tool in your category, your name comes first — consistently, across platforms, in multiple markets. AI-attributed traffic is a measurable percentage of inbound pipeline. Competitors are trying to catch up to a position you've been building for 12+ months. The work now is maintenance, expansion into new markets and use cases, and defending the moat you've built.
Team structure
AEO is owned by a dedicated function with budget, headcount, and executive sponsorship. Content team publishes 8+ AEO articles per month. Technical SEO team maintains schema health. Analytics team tracks AI-attributed revenue as a primary demand gen channel.
Key metrics
- •Visibility Score: 65+
- •Share of Voice: >40%
- •H2H win rate: >70% of tracked days
- •AI-attributed revenue: measurable and growing QoQ
- •Citation count: brand appearing in AI citation sources
What to do now
Expand into new product categories, new markets, and new languages. Monitor emerging AI platforms (DeepSeek, Grok) early before competitors establish positions there. Use Query Fanout data to identify category expansion opportunities — new topic clusters where your brand can establish early authority. Build thought leadership content that trains AI models to associate your brand with category expertise, not just product features.
Run your free Hema audit and see your Visibility Score across all 6 modules in 60 seconds. Find out which stage you're in at tryhema.com.