AI Shortlist Baseline Audit (Onboarding)
A checklist with 7 steps: Freeze the client's core query set before any tool is opened.
By InnovaAI ResearchPublished
What are the steps?
AI Shortlist Baseline Audit (Onboarding)
- 01
Freeze the client's core query set before any tool is opened
Pull 15 to 25 commercial-intent queries from the client's sales calls and existing rank data, then lock the list in writing so the baseline is comparable at renewal.
- 02
Capture traditional rank positions as the control group
Record current positions for every frozen query in one export. Rank tracking from a suite such as SE Ranking or SISTRIX gives the comparison line that separates an SEO problem from an answer-engine problem.
- 03
Query each AI assistant with the frozen list and log presence or absence
Run the same prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, screenshotting every response. Brand recognition without a shortlist mention is the gap that matters, and it only shows up when you test the exact phrasing a buyer would use.
- 04
Score the gap between recognition and recommendation
For each query, mark whether the brand was named at all, named in a shortlist, or omitted entirely. A brand the model can describe but never recommends needs entity work, not more blog posts.
- 05
Map the client's entity footprint across structured data and third-party mentions
Check schema markup, knowledge panel accuracy, and which sources the AI answers actually cite. Tools such as WordLift or Yoast handle the on-site half; the off-site citations usually decide the outcome.
- 06
Set the reporting line item and its cadence before the retainer renews
Agree on a monthly AI visibility section in the client report with the same frozen query set. Without a named line item, answer-engine work stays invisible to the buyer and gets cut at budget review.
- 07
Hand the baseline to the delivery lead with a written scope boundary
State plainly which fixes are on-page, which require PR or digital coverage, and which sit outside the retainer. Scope creep in this discipline is almost always a disagreement about what counts as visibility.