# AEO Lite — Track My Brand in AI Search (3 Fields, No JSON) (`glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite`) Actor Beginner-friendly AEO Citation Monitor. Type your brand, pick your industry, click Start. Same 6-engine AI search tracking (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews) — minimal-input form for non-technical users. - **URL**: https://apify.com/glaciological\_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite.md - **Developed by:** [Alex Lowe](https://apify.com/glaciological_hexahedron) (community) - **Categories:** SEO tools, AI, Lead generation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $10.00 / 1,000 perplexity resolutions This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## AEO Lite — Track My Brand in AI Search Type your brand name, pick your industry, click Start. The Actor runs ~25 prompts customers might ask about brands like yours across 4 fast AI engines (Perplexity, Anthropic, xAI Grok, Google AI Overviews) and shows you exactly how each engine describes you, ranks you, and cites you. **No JSON. No engineering. ~$0.26 per first run.** ### 🎯 5-minute quickstart #### 1. Fill in 3 fields and click Start The form has 3 required fields and a few optional ones: | Field | What to enter | |---|---| | **Brand name** | The exact name customers know you as. e.g. `"Clash Coach AI"` or `"HubSpot"`. | | **Industry** | Pick the closest match: B2B SaaS, e-commerce, local services, agency, news/media, or fintech. | | **Competitors** *(optional)* | One name per line. We track how each is mentioned alongside your brand. | | **Brand website** *(optional)* | e.g. `acme.com`. Lets us flag when AI engines cite YOUR own pages as sources. | | **Country** | Default `US`. Change to bias responses toward another country. | That's it. Click **Start**. Cost: ~$0.26. Wall-clock: <90 seconds. #### 2. Watch records arrive in Storage → Dataset While the run executes, click **Storage → Dataset** in the run page. You'll see records appear as each AI engine responds. A demo run produces 16 records (~4 prompts × 4 engines). Each record has the full AI response, your brand's mention count, competitor mention counts, and every URL the AI cited. #### 3. The 4 numbers that matter When the run completes, look at any record: | Field | What it tells you | |---|---| | `brandMentions[].mentionCount` | How many times this AI engine mentioned your brand in this response | | `brandMentions[].rankPosition` | What position you appeared at if the AI listed multiple brands (1 = first) | | `competitorMentions[]` | The same for each competitor — direct comparison of how often you vs them get mentioned | | `citations[]` | Every URL the AI cited as a source. `isOwned: true` means the AI cited YOUR site. | If your brand has zero mentions across all records, see [**Why isn't my brand mentioned?**](#-why-isnt-my-brand-mentioned) below. --- ### 🔍 What does a record look like? Here's a real record from a Clash Coach AI run on Perplexity. Real data, annotated. ```jsonc { // What the AI was asked. "promptText": "What is the best AI coach app for Clash Royale players?", // Which AI engine answered. "provider": "perplexity", "model": "sonar", // Did the AI use live web search? "groundingUsed": true, // Wholesale cost we paid the AI provider for this single call. // (Excludes our pay-per-result charge.) "costUsd": 0.0007, // The full AI response, verbatim. You can re-read or re-parse if needed. "responseText": "Several AI-powered tools can help Clash Royale players...", // YOUR BRAND'S MENTIONS — Clash Coach AI was named once, ranked 4th // in the AI's enumerated list of coaching apps. The 'context' is the // surrounding text where the mention appeared. "brandMentions": [{ "brand": "Clash Coach AI", "mentionCount": 1, "rankPosition": 4, "contexts": [{ "text": "...Clash Coach AI offers AI-driven battle analysis...", "charStart": 312, "charEnd": 326 }] }], // COMPETITOR MENTIONS — Royale Buddy and RoyaleAPI were also mentioned. // Compare their mentionCount/rankPosition against yours to see where // you stand competitively. "competitorMentions": [ { "brand": "Royale Buddy", "mentionCount": 2, "rankPosition": 1 }, { "brand": "RoyaleAPI", "mentionCount": 1, "rankPosition": 3 } ], // CITATIONS — every URL the AI cited as a source for this answer. // You'll see "isOwned: true" when the AI cited YOUR own pages. "citations": [ { "url": "https://clashcoachai.com/features", "domain": "clashcoachai.com", "isOwned": true, // ← Your site got cited! "isCompetitor": false, "rankPosition": 2 }, { "url": "https://royaleapi.com/blog/best-coaching-apps", "domain": "royaleapi.com", "isOwned": false, "isCompetitor": true, // ← Competitor's site "rankPosition": 1 } ] } ```` The "winning" record looks like: **non-zero `mentionCount`** + **`rankPosition` ≤ 3** + **at least one `isOwned: true` citation**. That signals "the AI knows your brand, ranks you well, and pulls from your own content." *** ### What does this Actor do (full version) For each prompt × engine, AEO Lite: 1. Sends the prompt to the AI engine via its sanctioned API 2. Parses the response for **your brand's mentions** (count, list rank, surrounding text) 3. Captures **competitor mentions** in the same response 4. Extracts **every cited URL** with owned/competitor flags 5. Records cost, latency, transport, and grounding state One record per `(prompt × provider × run)`. The 4 fast engines (Perplexity, Anthropic, Grok, AI Overviews) cover the consumer/SMB AI search landscape. For ChatGPT and Gemini grounded coverage, use the [main AEO Citation Monitor](https://apify.com/glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor). ### Pricing Pay only for what you use: | Event | Price | |---|---:| | Perplexity record | $0.010 | | Google AI Overview record | $0.015 | | Anthropic / Grok record | $0.020 | | Gemini record (if you add it) | $0.025 | | OpenAI record (if you add it) | $0.075 + grounding bracket | Default 4-engine demo: ~$0.26 for 16 records. Add OpenAI or Gemini: scales with their per-record price. *** ### Operator FAQ #### 🔧 Why isn't my brand mentioned? If `brandMentions` is empty across most of your records, it's real signal — not a bug. Three quick fixes: 1. **Spell-variant check.** AI engines may say "Clash Coach" when your brand is "Clash Coach AI" or vice versa. Add every variant to the **Competitor names** field — wait, that's for competitors. For your own brand variants, you'll need the [main Actor](https://apify.com/glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor) which exposes the `brand.aliases` array. The Lite variant matches your `brandName` literally. 2. **Prompt phrasing.** Different prompts surface different things. "Best coaching apps" pulls product mentions; "How do I improve at X" pulls strategy advice. The lite Actor auto-generates ~25 prompts based on your industry, so you should see varied results — but if every category returns zero, the issue is below. 3. **Grounding sources.** Look at `citations[].domain`. If the AI is citing review sites and competitor blogs but never your domain, your brand isn't yet in the source pool the AI grounds against. AEO content work pays off here — get cited by the sites that show up in `citations[]`. #### 📅 How do I track my brand weekly? Apify Console → **Schedules** → **New Schedule**. Pick this Actor, set cron `0 9 * * 1` (Mondays 9am UTC), and use your filled-in input. Apify runs it weekly and stores each week's dataset. For multiple brands or clients, create one Schedule per brand. Apify charges per run, so 4 brands × weekly = 16 runs/month at this Actor's pricing. If you want **only changed records** between weeks (smaller datasets, easier to spot movement), use the [main Actor](https://apify.com/glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor) which exposes `deltaMode: true` — Lite doesn't expose this in v1. #### 📲 How do I get a Slack message after each run? Apify ships a built-in Slack integration. Console → **Integrations** → **Slack** → connect → pick this Actor → "Send notification on success." When a run finishes, the Actor sets a status message like *"Run complete: 16 records, $0.26 spent. Clash Coach AI cited 4 times. Top competitor: Royale Buddy (8 mentions)."* — that's what lands in your Slack channel. You can do the same with email (`Integrations → Email`) or any webhook (`Integrations → Webhook` for Zapier, Make, n8n). #### Other questions **Why are some engines off by default?** ChatGPT and Gemini grounded calls take 30-180 seconds each, which can push runs past the 5-minute Apify maintenance ceiling. The 4 default engines (Perplexity, Anthropic, Grok, AI Overviews) all complete in under 30s per call. Add ChatGPT/Gemini to the engines field for full coverage — accept the longer wall-clock. **What's the difference between this and the main AEO Citation Monitor?** Same engine, simpler form. Lite caps demo runs at 16 records and uses an enum-driven industry template. The main Actor exposes the full input shape (custom prompts, competitor aliases, sentiment tagging, prompt discovery from URL, delta mode). Switch to main when you outgrow Lite. **Can I monitor a person rather than a brand?** No. Anthropic and OpenAI's terms prohibit using their APIs for surveillance, tracking, or profiling of individuals. This Actor is for tracking public brands, products, and services in AI responses. **Where's the schema?** [`@apify-portfolio/aeo-schema`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@apify-portfolio/aeo-schema) on npm — same record shape between Lite and the main Actor. *** ### ToS attestation `acknowledgePublicBrandsOnly: true` is required. Anthropic's usage policy and OpenAI's terms forbid using their APIs for surveillance, tracking, or profiling of **individuals**. This Actor is for tracking **public brands** in AI responses. ### Schema reference [`@apify-portfolio/aeo-schema`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@apify-portfolio/aeo-schema) on npm — semver-stable Zod definitions of `AICitationRecord`. Use directly in TypeScript pipelines. # Actor input Schema ## `brandName` (type: `string`): The brand you want to track. We'll automatically match common spelling variants. ## `brandWebsite` (type: `string`): Used to detect when AI engines cite your own pages as sources. Just the domain, e.g., acme.com ## `competitorNames` (type: `array`): One competitor per line. We'll track them in the same AI responses alongside your brand. ## `industry` (type: `string`): Pick the industry that best matches your business. We'll generate ~25 prompts customers might ask about brands in your space. ## `category` (type: `string`): What kind of product/service is your brand? (e.g., 'CRM', 'running shoes', 'HVAC repair'). Used to fill prompt placeholders like 'best {category} for {audience}'. ## `country` (type: `string`): Bias AI responses toward a country. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (US, GB, DE, FR, JP, etc.). ## `engines` (type: `array`): Which AI search engines to check. All 6 covers the full landscape (~$0.36/prompt typical). Pick fewer for cheaper runs. ## `acknowledgePublicBrandsOnly` (type: `boolean`): REQUIRED. AI providers' usage policies prohibit using their APIs for surveillance or tracking of individuals. ## Actor input object example ```json { "brandName": "Clash Coach AI", "brandWebsite": "clashcoachai.com", "competitorNames": [ "Royale Buddy", "MetaDecks", "RoyaleAPI" ], "industry": "ecommerce-d2c", "category": "Clash Royale coaching app", "country": "US", "engines": [ "perplexity", "openai", "anthropic", "google-gemini", "xai-grok", "google-aio" ], "acknowledgePublicBrandsOnly": true } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "brandName": "Clash Coach AI", "brandWebsite": "clashcoachai.com", "competitorNames": [ "Royale Buddy", "MetaDecks", "RoyaleAPI" ], "category": "Clash Royale coaching app" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "brandName": "Clash Coach AI", "brandWebsite": "clashcoachai.com", "competitorNames": [ "Royale Buddy", "MetaDecks", "RoyaleAPI", ], "category": "Clash Royale coaching app", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "brandName": "Clash Coach AI", "brandWebsite": "clashcoachai.com", "competitorNames": [ "Royale Buddy", "MetaDecks", "RoyaleAPI" ], "category": "Clash Royale coaching app" }' | apify call glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=glaciological_hexahedron/aeo-citation-monitor-lite", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "AEO Lite — Track My Brand in AI Search (3 Fields, No JSON)", "description": "Beginner-friendly AEO Citation Monitor. Type your brand, pick your industry, click Start. Same 6-engine AI search tracking (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Google AI Overviews) — minimal-input form for non-technical users.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "LvkGDY5gpWsZyv6ov" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/glaciological_hexahedron~aeo-citation-monitor-lite/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-glaciological_hexahedron-aeo-citation-monitor-lite", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/glaciological_hexahedron~aeo-citation-monitor-lite/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-glaciological_hexahedron-aeo-citation-monitor-lite", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/glaciological_hexahedron~aeo-citation-monitor-lite/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-glaciological_hexahedron-aeo-citation-monitor-lite", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "brandName", "industry", "acknowledgePublicBrandsOnly" ], "properties": { "brandName": { "title": "Your brand name", "type": "string", "description": "The brand you want to track. We'll automatically match common spelling variants." }, "brandWebsite": { "title": "Your brand's website (optional)", "type": "string", "description": "Used to detect when AI engines cite your own pages as sources. Just the domain, e.g., acme.com" }, "competitorNames": { "title": "Competitor brand names (optional)", "type": "array", "description": "One competitor per line. We'll track them in the same AI responses alongside your brand.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "industry": { "title": "Your industry", "enum": [ "saas-b2b", "ecommerce-d2c", "local-services", "agency", "media-publisher", "fintech" ], "type": "string", "description": "Pick the industry that best matches your business. We'll generate ~25 prompts customers might ask about brands in your space.", "default": "ecommerce-d2c" }, "category": { "title": "Category (one short phrase)", "type": "string", "description": "What kind of product/service is your brand? (e.g., 'CRM', 'running shoes', 'HVAC repair'). Used to fill prompt placeholders like 'best {category} for {audience}'." }, "country": { "title": "Country", "type": "string", "description": "Bias AI responses toward a country. ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (US, GB, DE, FR, JP, etc.).", "default": "US" }, "engines": { "title": "AI engines to query", "type": "array", "description": "Which AI search engines to check. All 6 covers the full landscape (~$0.36/prompt typical). Pick fewer for cheaper runs.", "default": [ "perplexity", "openai", "anthropic", "google-gemini", "xai-grok", "google-aio" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "acknowledgePublicBrandsOnly": { "title": "I confirm I'm tracking a public brand, not an individual person", "type": "boolean", "description": "REQUIRED. AI providers' usage policies prohibit using their APIs for surveillance or tracking of individuals.", "default": true } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```