AI Visibility Monitor

The AI Visibility Monitor is an open-source toolkit designed to help website owners and small consulting practices track their visibility on AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini, as well as conventional Google search results. This toolkit provides a straightforward approach to diagnosing whether AI engines can effectively read and index a given website.

Features

This toolkit consists of four distinct Python scripts, providing functionality without the need for SaaS subscriptions or dashboard services. Users can run each script locally using their own credentials. The generated JSON outputs remain fully controlled by the user, allowing seamless integration into existing dashboards or reporting systems.

Script	Functionality	Frequency	Required Credentials
prereqs_sweep.py	Verifies robots.txt, llms.txt, sitemap.xml, and checks AI bot permissions for specified sites	Monthly	None
citation_check.py	Queries Claude with web_search enabled to track cited URLs of the domain	Monthly	Anthropic API key
gsc_pull.py	Pulls Google Search Console data including top queries, pages, and geographic/device analytics	Weekly	Google ADC
ga4_pull.py	Retrieves Google Analytics 4 data with a focus on AI-referer traffic	Weekly	Google ADC

Insights Provided

This toolkit specifically addresses five critical elements that impact whether a website appears in AI-generated answers:

1. Crawlability - Ensures bots can access the website, verified by prereqs_sweep.py.
2. Citation Rate - Directly measures domain visibility through citation checks with citation_check.py.
3. Search Performance - Tracks Google ranking and search visibility through gsc_pull.py.
4. Traffic Conversion - Monitors website engagement and conversion rates via ga4_pull.py, particularly focusing on AI referral data.
5. Page Performance - Future enhancements include metrics for Core Web Vitals to further assess page load speed.

Output and Reporting

Each script outputs data in a structured JSON format saved in the ./data/ directory, enabling users to maintain both dated snapshots and a continuous record of the most recent metrics. Sample outputs are available in the sample-data/ directory for users to reference.

Why It Matters

The AI Visibility Monitor serves a critical need for those who require detailed insights into AI citation tracking and search visibility at an affordable cost. It provides essential visibility statistics without the burden of expensive enterprise tools, offering a practical solution for budget-conscious operators and consultants.

For further insights into the importance of citation tracking for mid-market AI consulting, additional reading is available at Work-Smart.ai.

Contribution

Contributions and enhancements to the toolkit are welcomed, with particular interest in adding functionalities such as Core Web Vitals support and additional output formats. Suggested features and improvements can be found in the CONTRIBUTING.md file.

Conclusion

The AI Visibility Monitor stands out as a valuable asset for marketers and website operators looking to enhance their digital presence across AI search platforms. This toolkit not only delivers direct data insights but also empowers users to tailor those insights to their unique tracking and reporting requirements.