A single score (0–100) that measures your brand's authority rank across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity — the AI engines shaping how your buyers discover and compare solutions.
Your Authority Score
vs Industry avg 29 | Category leader = 78
The InfluenceLayer Index classifies your brand into one of three authority tiers. Each tier directly corresponds to how often — and how prominently — AI systems recommend you over your competitors.
AI engines cite you first and most often. You are the default answer when buyers ask about your category. Competitors are forced to respond to your positioning.
You're in the conversation — AI mentions you, but not consistently first. With targeted optimization, you can break into the leadership tier. This is the most actionable range.
AI systems rarely mention you. Competitors dominate the answers your buyers see. Every day without action widens the gap as competitors build AI authority you'll have to overcome.
A manufacturing leader scoring 38 is still 9 points above the industry average of 29 — but 40 points behind the category leader at 78. The gap to leadership matters more than the gap to average.
AI-generated answers are rapidly becoming the primary way B2B buyers research solutions, evaluate vendors, and make purchasing decisions. The brands that establish authority now will compound that advantage as AI adoption accelerates.
68%
of B2B researcher clicks now come from AI answers
Gartner, 2025
5×
more citations for Position #1 vs Position #3 in AI responses
InfluenceLayer analysis
Now
Your competitors are optimizing for AI right now
Time-to-authority is finite
Unlike traditional SEO, AI authority is winner-take-most. The brand that AI engines learn to cite first gets reinforced through feedback loops — making it exponentially harder for competitors to displace.
Your InfluenceLayer Index is computed from five distinct authority dimensions. Each factor captures a different aspect of how AI systems perceive, cite, and rank your brand relative to competitors.
Where you appear in AI answers — 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or not at all. First-mention brands capture disproportionate buyer attention and trust. This is the single most impactful factor.
What percentage of AI answers cite your domain as a source. Citations signal to AI engines that your content is authoritative and trustworthy — reinforcing future mentions.
How your share stacks up against category leaders. Even strong absolute scores can mask vulnerability if a single competitor dominates first-mention share.
The breadth of AI engines and prompt topics that reference you. A brand mentioned by Perplexity but invisible to Claude has a coverage gap that limits total authority.
The consistency and direction of your authority over time. Rising scores signal content investments are working. Declining scores demand immediate investigation.
Here is how the InfluenceLayer Index played out over 30 days for an industrial SaaS brand tracking the sustainability solutions cluster across all engines.
30-Day Authority Trend
Baseline measurement. Brand appears in 38% of AI answers.
Slight dip. Competitor content indexed by Gemini.
Competitor launched sustainability content cluster. Citation share shifting.
4-point decline confirmed. Competitor now leads first-mention share in this cluster.
Root Cause Identified
The competitor published a 12-page sustainability content hub with structured H2 headings, industry data points, and FAQ sections — exactly the format AI engines prioritize for citation. Within 3 weeks, they captured first-mention position in 60% of sustainability-related prompts.
This is why monitoring matters. A 4-point drop might seem small, but it represents a meaningful shift in which brand AI systems cite first — and once a competitor establishes authority, the feedback loop makes it progressively harder to reclaim.
See Where You Stand
Run a free AI Authority Audit to see your score, how you compare against competitors, and the specific actions that will move the needle.