How to track your brand in Google AI Mode

Google AI Mode is a separate tab in Google Search that answers questions in a conversation. It writes a long answer, links sources, and lets the user ask follow-ups. To track your brand in it, choose a fixed set of prompts, run them on a schedule, and record whether you are named, where, how you are described and which pages are linked.

This guide explains how AI Mode builds its answers, how to check it by hand, what to measure and how to improve your results.

How AI Mode sources its answers

AI Mode uses a Gemini model on top of Google Search. Its key technique is query fan-out. Instead of running your question as one search, it breaks it into several related sub-queries and runs them at the same time. It then reads the results and combines them into one response. Some sub-queries look at a topic from different angles. Others check specific facts, such as prices or reviews.

An example. A user asks, "What is the best CRM for a five person consultancy?" AI Mode might search for CRM tools for small teams, CRM pricing, CRM reviews from consultants, and integrations with common email tools. Your brand has to show up in the results of at least some of those searches to be considered.

This is close to prompt fan-out in other assistants, but AI Mode draws on the Google index directly, so classic search signals carry more weight than in most other engines. For a general definition, see Google AI Mode. It also differs from an AI Overview, which is a short summary on the normal results page. AI Mode is longer, conversational and more likely to compare options.

The practical result: you do not compete for one query. You compete across a cluster of them. Pages that rank for the sub-queries, and state their facts clearly, are the ones that get pulled in.

Choose the prompts to track

Use 20 to 50 prompts written as real users would type them. AI Mode invites longer questions than standard search, so include those.

Cover four types:

• Category: "Best accounting software for freelancers in Germany"
• Comparison: "Xero vs QuickBooks for a small agency"
• Situation: "I run a five person team and need to track client work. What should I use?"
• Follow-up: a second question that builds on the first answer

Follow-ups matter. AI Mode keeps context, so a brand that is missing from the first answer may appear in the second. Record the full sequence, and keep the wording fixed between runs.

Split branded and non-branded prompts in your log. Non-branded prompts show discovery. Branded prompts show what the engine says about you once someone asks.

Check AI Mode manually

1. Open Google in a private window and select the AI Mode tab. Note your country and language. Results vary by place.
2. Enter one prompt. Use a fresh session for each prompt.
3. Record the date, the location, the prompt and the full answer.
4. Note whether your brand is named, its position among the options, and the wording used about you.
5. Record every linked source: the URL, the domain, and whether it is yours, a competitor's, or a third party.
6. If you can see the searches behind the answer, note them. They show the fan-out, and they tell you which queries you need to win.
7. Repeat the prompt three times.

Then ask the follow-up and repeat the steps.

Repeat runs are not optional. Answers change between runs and between days. See answer volatility. A single run tells you very little.

What to measure

Mentions. How often your brand is named across runs. This is your brand mention rate.

Position. Where you sit in the list of options. AI Mode often presents ranked or grouped picks. Being first or in the opening group counts for more. See position in answer.

Sentiment. The tone, and the accuracy, of what is written about you. Log wrong facts separately, since a brand hallucination needs a specific fix.

Citations. Which pages AI Mode links. Split them into your own pages, competitor pages and third party pages. Keep mentions and citations as separate columns. A brand can be named without a link, and linked without being recommended. The citation rate shows how often your pages are used.

Share of voice. Your mentions as a share of all brand mentions across the prompt set. It shows how you compare with the competitors you named in advance. See share of voice in AI.

For AI Mode, add one more log: the fan-out queries, where visible. Count how many of them you rank for in normal search. That gap often explains a low mention rate.

Where manual tracking breaks down

Manual checks work for a first baseline. They struggle with scale. Twenty prompts, three runs each, plus follow-ups, is well over a hundred answers per round. Location adds more. Copying links and reading long answers takes hours, and the data ends up inconsistent.

Pineprompt tracks 8 engines daily on every plan, and AI Mode is one of them. It stores each answer with mentions, position, sentiment and citations, so you can see trends and compare engines. The Google AI Mode tracking page has the details. There is no free trial. See pricing for plans.

How to improve your visibility in AI Mode

Because AI Mode leans on Google Search, much of the work is search work aimed at a wider set of questions.

Map the fan-out for your topics. For each key prompt, list the sub-queries likely behind it: the category, the comparison, the price, the reviews, the integrations, the alternatives. Check whether you have a page that answers each one.

Cover the sub-questions on your own site. Build focused pages, one question each, with the answer at the top. A short pricing page, a clear comparison, a use case page for each audience. Pages that state facts plainly are easier to use in a combined answer.

Keep pages indexable. Make sure Googlebot can crawl and index them, and that they render without needing a script to show the main text. Check your robots.txt and canonical tags.

Earn third party coverage. Many fan-out queries return review sites, forums and listings, not brand pages. Look at the cited domains in your log. If a site appears repeatedly and you are absent or described badly, that is a target.

Use consistent facts and structure. Keep your name, category, prices and features identical across your site and profiles. Add structured data where it fits. This helps Google resolve you as one entity.

Show experience. Original data, named authors, real customer examples and dates help. See E-E-A-T in AI search.

Keep content current. AI Mode fetches live results, so a fresh, updated page can be picked up within weeks.

A simple weekly routine

1. Run the prompt set and follow-ups, three runs each.
2. Update the five measures and the fan-out notes.
3. Pick the three prompts with the largest gap to a competitor.
4. For each, find the missing sub-query page or listing, and ship it.
5. Review the trend after four weeks.

Log each change with its date, so you can link it to what happens next.

Summary

AI Mode turns one question into many searches and writes one answer from the results. Track it with a fixed prompt set, follow-ups and repeated runs. Measure mentions, position, sentiment, citations and share of voice, and note the fan-out queries. Improve by covering the sub-questions, keeping pages indexable and getting listed on the sources it cites. Begin by hand, then move to a tool once the volume is too much.