Academy / AI Search & GEO

Rank vs citation, then the engines · 32 min

Worked audit: eight prompts, four statuses

In this lesson

  • Write eight prompts a real buyer would type — inventory for a lot, heat/service for a shop
  • Log cited / mentioned / absent / hallucinated with observed vs inferred — never invent a footnote

How to fill a row

Columns that survive a second buyer: date; engine (AI Overviews / ChatGPT / Perplexity); mode (browsing on, Search UI, default chat); prompt verbatim; status (cited / mentioned / absent / hallucinated); who else was named; source URLs if the engine showed them; one quoted claim if you observed it; observed or inferred. Cited means named and used as a source. Mentioned means the name appeared with no footnote. Absent means the business was not in the answer. Hallucinated means a false fact (wrong hours, a VIN that is not on the lot, a 24/7 dispatch Priya does not sell, a shop that does not exist). If you did not run the prompt, you may still file a row as inferred — write the habit you expect, leave the quote cell blank, and never invent a URL. Fabricated “the model said we were #1” is a critical fail.

Eight Northfield buyer prompts

These are appointment prompts, not homework queries. Use them as the lot pack: (1) Who sells used Honda CR-Vs in Frederick MD? (2) Best used car dealer near Frederick Maryland for a first-time buyer. (3) Does Northfield Motors offer a 48-hour test drive? (4) Used SUVs under $16,000 near Frederick MD. (5) Northfield Motors Frederick hours and phone number. (6) Where can I get same-day used-car financing in Frederick? (7) Is there a 2018 CR-V on the lot at Northfield Motors? (8) Used car dealers in Frederick MD that let you take a car home overnight. Teaching predictions (label inferred unless you run them): (1) and (4) often absent or mentioned-as-generic if there is no crawlable SRP/VDP. (3) and (8) stay absent until the 48-hour offer is a public sentence, not a footer rumor. (5) is the hallucination magnet — models invent Sunday hours. (7) is hallucinated if the answer invents a VIN. Do not add “how does a CVT work” — that is SEO research, not a citation job.

Eight Cedar & Stone buyer prompts

Service and heat pack — different artifact from any Northfield keyword map: (1) Emergency heat repair Hagerstown MD tonight. (2) Who does furnace repair near Williamsport Maryland? (3) Cedar & Stone HVAC fall tune-up price. (4) Licensed HVAC company Dual Highway Hagerstown. (5) Same-week emergency heat response Hagerstown. (6) How much is a new AC in Hagerstown? (7) Cedar & Stone HVAC Saturday appointment. (8) HVAC company that gives a written estimate before replacement Hagerstown. Teaching predictions (inferred): (1) and (2) go to whoever has a public area-served sentence; Priya will lose if the site never says Williamsport / 25 miles / not Baltimore. (3) stays absent or hallucinated until $129 online is on a crawlable page. (6) is research-leaning — score it, but do not treat a generic cost essay as a citation win. (7) is a hallucination risk against Saturday-morning capacity. Cheap-Heat-style competitors can win mentions with fake reviews; your job is to record that, not invent better stars.

Pick one business for the assignment. If you already built a Northfield keyword map in SEO class, audit Cedar & Stone. The table must use citation statuses — not volume, CPC, or campaign names.

Exercise

Draft the eight-row log

Choose Northfield or Cedar & Stone. Copy the eight prompts from this lesson. For each row fill engine, predicted status, one competing name you expect, and observed vs inferred. You may run the prompts; if you do, add date and a short quote. If you do not, leave the quote blank.

Deliverable: 8-row audit table plus a three-sentence engine-notes paragraph.

Create a free account and verify your email to save progress, quizzes, and portfolio work. Create a free Academy account · Sign in

Rank, engines, and audit check

Northfield ranks #1 for “used cars Frederick MD” but ChatGPT recommends a national chain and does not link the lot. What is the most useful diagnosis?
You want the fairest first look at whether a Dual Highway service URL can be retrieved as a source. Which engine habit fits?
Which labels belong on an AI visibility audit row? Select all that apply.
True or false: If you rank #1 organically, Google AI Overviews will automatically cite your page.
True or false: If you did not run the prompt, you should invent a ChatGPT quote so the audit looks complete.

Assignment

8-prompt AI visibility audit

Pick one business: Northfield Motors (inventory / 48-hour test drive citations) or Cedar & Stone HVAC (service / emergency-heat citations). If you already submitted a Northfield keyword map in SEO, pick Cedar & Stone. File eight buyer prompts from the lesson. For each row: engine, mode, status (cited / mentioned / absent / hallucinated), who else was named, source URLs if shown, quote only if observed, and observed vs inferred. Add a short engine-notes paragraph: how AI Overviews vs ChatGPT vs Perplexity treated (or would treat) that business. Do not invent footnotes. Do not add a volume or CPC column.

Deliverable: 8-row citation table + engine-notes paragraph. Statuses only — no keyword map.

Write at least a short brief (80+ characters). A mentor reviews for a pass.

Ask the tutor

The tutor will guide you. It will not finish graded work for you.