How to use AI Mention Monitor

AI Mention Monitor scans ChatGPT or Google AI Overview for any seed query. It returns the brands the engine named, the URLs it cited, and the related queries it expanded the seed into. Three signals, one picture.

The 30-second version

Pick an engine: ChatGPT (US English only at launch) or Google AI Overview (all 11 supported countries).
Type a short search-style query (e.g. best CRM, not What is the best CRM for small teams in 2026?).
Click Scan AI mentions and wait 10 to 20 seconds for results.
Read the three-arc spiral and the three detail tables below it.

How to phrase queries that return rich data

DataForSEO (our data provider) matches your seed against a cache of real prompt questions. Short, universal search-style phrases match the most prompts. Specific natural-language questions often return little or nothing.

Examples that work well:

best CRM
best noise-cancelling headphones
best SEO tool
how to start a podcast

Examples that match few or zero prompts:

What is the best CRM for SMB in 2026? — too specific
content marketing — too broad (matches every prompt that mentions the phrase)
best Italian restaurant Leeds UK — the city + country qualifier filters too aggressively

If a scan returns 0 results, your quota isn't charged. Try a shorter or more search-style phrasing.

Reading the spiral

The visualisation has three arcs radiating from the seed at the centre:

Top arc (teal): Brands — companies and products the engine named in its answers.
Right arc (yellow): Fan-outs — related sub-queries the engine expanded the seed into. Stem length encodes AI search volume on a log scale; zero-volume entries are model-internal noise.
Bottom-left arc (purple): Sources — real URLs the engine cited when composing answers.

Hover any node for the full label, mention count, and metadata. Each arc maps directly to one of the detail tables below the spiral.

ChatGPT vs Google AI Overview

The two engines have different strengths:

ChatGPT tends to surface more named brand entities (it answers conversationally). Locale: US English only at launch.
Google AI Overview tends to surface more cited sources (it's tied to real Google SERP results). Locale: all 11 DFS-supported countries.

Run the same query on both for a fuller picture. Each scan counts against your monthly quota.

AI overview

After a scan completes, click Generate AI overview for a 2 to 4 sentence summary of the patterns in the data. Useful for client reports or sharing with non-technical stakeholders.

Downloads

PNG exports the spiral with a DATA HIT logo + caption bar. Drops cleanly into client decks.
CSV exports all four data sections (brands, fan-outs, sources, demand) with scan metadata. Cited-source URLs are stripped of tracking parameters.

Quota and pricing

Free: sample-data preview only (no live scans).
Pro Solo (£19/mo): 50 scans per month.
Pro Agency (£49/mo): 250 scans per month.

Quota resets on the 1st of each UTC month. Cache hits on previously-scanned (keyword, country, engine) combinations don't count against your quota.

What we send to DataForSEO

Just the seed query, country, and engine. We don't send anything that identifies you. Results are cached server-side for 7 days under the (keyword, country, engine) key, so repeat scans return instantly.

Limitations

ChatGPT scans are US English only because DataForSEO's chat_gpt platform is US-locked at launch.
DataForSEO's index updates on its own cadence; a very fresh trending query may not yet have coverage.
Mention counts reflect what appeared in the sampled answers, not what the engine would surface for every visitor. Use scans as directional signal, not absolute truth.