AI Search Visibility Tracker — Topic & URL Citation Tracking in Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini

Track whether your website's pages and content are being cited as sources when AI search platforms answer topic-based queries. Identify content gaps, measure citation rank position, and compare against competitor domains — all in one run, with no API keys required.

What This Actor Does

When someone asks Perplexity "how do I do keyword research?", the AI cites 5–8 source URLs. This actor finds out if your domain is one of them — and if not, identifies that as a content gap you can act on.

Unlike brand monitoring (which tracks name mentions), this actor tracks citation presence: is your domain used as an authoritative source when AI answers queries about your topics?

Key outputs per check:

• domain_cited — was your domain cited as a source?
• citation_rank — where in the source list did your domain appear? (1 = primary source)
• content_gap — did AI cite other domains for this topic but NOT yours?
• cited_page_url — which specific page from your site was cited?
• competing_domains — which other domains are being cited for your topics?
• visibility_score — 0–100 composite score across all keywords and platforms

Who Should Use This

• SEO teams doing AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) — measure whether your content optimizations translate to AI citation gains
• Content marketers identifying content gaps — find topics where AI answers using competitor pages instead of yours
• Website owners tracking AI search presence — see which pages AI platforms treat as authoritative sources
• Digital agencies reporting on AI content ROI — quantify citation rate improvements over time

What Makes This Different From Brand Monitors

Feature	AI Search Visibility Tracker	Brand Monitor
Input	Keywords / topics	Brand name
Detects	Domain / page citations	Name mentions
Key metric	Citation rank position	Mention rate
Content gaps	✅ Yes — finds uncited topics	❌ No
Page-level tracking	✅ Which pages get cited	❌ No
Competing domains	✅ Who else is cited per topic	✅ Competitor name mentions
Best for	SEO / content teams	Brand / PR teams

Output Data Table

Field	Type	Description
domain_cited	Boolean	True if any page from your domain was cited
citation_rank	Integer or null	1-based position in source list (1 = primary source)
domain_citation_count	Integer	How many pages from your domain were cited
cited_page_url	String or null	First page from your domain that was cited
cited_pages	Array	All cited pages from your domain
content_gap	Boolean	AI cited others but not you — high-priority gap
ai_coverage_ratio	Float	Your pages / total sources (e.g., 0.25 = 25% of sources)
competing_domains	Array	Other domains cited for the same topic
keyword	String	The keyword/topic this check was for
platform	String	perplexity, chatgpt, claude, or gemini
ai_answer_excerpt	String	First 300–600 chars of the AI's response
checked_at	ISO datetime	When the check was performed

Run Summary (Key Value Store)

After every run, the actor saves a LAST_RUN_SUMMARY record to the key-value store with:

• visibility_score (0–100): composite score across all keywords and platforms
• citation_rate: fraction of checks where your domain was cited
• avg_citation_rank: where your domain typically appears in source lists
• topic_coverage_rate: percentage of your keywords cited at least once
• content_gaps: list of keywords where your domain was never cited
• top_cited_pages: your most frequently cited pages (with citation counts)
• top_competing_domains: competitor domains ranked by how often they're cited for your topics
• keyword_scores: per-keyword breakdown with citation rate, avg rank, and content gap rate
• recommendations: 3–5 actionable steps based on your data

Pricing

$0.09 per keyword × query × platform check (plus standard Apify actor-start fee).

Example cost estimates:

Scale	Config	Total checks	Approx. cost
Quick audit	5 keywords × 3 queries × 2 platforms	30	~$2.70
Standard	10 keywords × 3 queries × 4 platforms	120	~$10.80
Deep audit	20 keywords × 5 queries × 4 platforms	400	~$36.00

All AI costs (Perplexity Sonar, OpenAI gpt-4o-search-preview, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini) are included — no API keys needed.

How to Use

Minimum input (quick start)

{
  "targetDomain": "ahrefs.com",
  "keywords": ["SEO", "keyword research", "backlink analysis"]
}

Full input with competitors and custom queries

{
  "targetDomain": "ahrefs.com",
  "keywords": ["SEO", "keyword research", "backlink analysis", "site audit", "rank tracking"],
  "competitorDomains": ["semrush.com", "moz.com", "backlinko.com"],
  "platforms": ["perplexity", "chatgpt", "claude", "gemini"],
  "queryTemplates": ["topic_authority", "how_to", "what_is", "comparison"],
  "maxQueriesPerKeyword": 3,
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.zapier.com/your-hook",
  "responseFormat": "detailed"
}

Python API example

import apify_client

client = apify_client.ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("khadinakbar/ai-search-visibility-tracker").call(run_input={
    "targetDomain": "yoursite.com",
    "keywords": ["your topic 1", "your topic 2"],
    "platforms": ["perplexity", "chatgpt", "gemini"],
    "maxQueriesPerKeyword": 3,
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    if item["content_gap"]:
        print(f"Content gap: {item['keyword']} on {item['platform']}")
    if item["domain_cited"]:
        print(f"Cited at rank {item['citation_rank']}: {item['cited_page_url']}")

JavaScript API example

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_API_TOKEN' });

const run = await client.actor('khadinakbar/ai-search-visibility-tracker').call({
    targetDomain: 'yoursite.com',
    keywords: ['your topic 1', 'your topic 2'],
    platforms: ['perplexity', 'chatgpt', 'claude', 'gemini'],
    maxQueriesPerKeyword: 3,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
const contentGaps = items.filter(i => i.content_gap).map(i => i.keyword);
console.log('Content gaps:', [...new Set(contentGaps)]);

MCP / AI Agent Usage

This actor is exposed as apify--ai-search-visibility-tracker in the Apify MCP server. Claude and other AI agents can call it directly:

Use the apify--ai-search-visibility-tracker tool to check whether ahrefs.com 
is cited as a source for "SEO" and "keyword research" on Perplexity and ChatGPT.

The actor accepts AI-friendly aliases for all inputs:

• targetDomain → also accepts domain, website, site, url
• keywords → also accepts topics, keyword, searchTerms, terms
• competitorDomains → also accepts competitors, competingSites

Query Templates

Template	Description	Example queries generated
topic_authority	Best resources / authoritative sites for X	"What are the best resources for learning SEO?"
how_to	Step-by-step guides for doing X	"How do I do keyword research? Step by step guide."
what_is	Definitions and explanations of X	"What is backlink analysis? Explain with examples."
comparison	Top tools and resources for X in 2026	"Best resources for site audit — compare options."
expert_picks	What professionals recommend for X	"What do experts recommend for rank tracking?"

AI Platform Coverage

Platform	Model	Search Method	Citation Type
Perplexity	sonar	Native Sonar search	Top-level citations[]
ChatGPT	gpt-4o-search-preview	Native OpenAI web search	Inline markdown + annotations
Claude	claude-sonnet-4.5	web_search_20250305 tool	message.annotations[] url_citations
Gemini	gemini-2.5-flash	Native Google Search grounding	groundingMetadata.groundingChunks[]

Scheduling for Trend Tracking

Run weekly to track AEO progress over time. Each run stores run_id in every record, so you can compare citation rates and citation rank across weeks.

Recommended schedule: Every Monday morning — gives you weekly trend data aligned with content publishing cycles.

Webhook Integration

When webhookUrl is set, the actor POSTs the full run summary JSON on completion. Connect to:

• Slack — get a weekly visibility score in your #seo channel
• Make.com / Zapier / n8n — trigger content team notifications when content gaps are detected
• Google Sheets — log weekly scores for trend tracking

FAQ

Does this track brand name mentions? No — it tracks whether your domain's pages are cited as sources. For brand name tracking use the ai-search-brand-monitor actor.

Which AI bots should I allow in robots.txt? Allow: PerplexityBot, GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, Googlebot. Blocking these prevents citation. Add an llms.txt file at your root listing key pages.

What is a content gap? When content_gap: true, the AI cited other sites for that topic but not yours. This means the topic is an opportunity: create better content and get it cited.

How is citation_rank measured? The position of the first URL from your domain in the AI's citation list. Position 1 = your site is the most prominently cited source. Lower numbers are better.

Why does my domain have low citation rate despite good SEO rankings? AI citation and search ranking are correlated but not identical. Common causes: your robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, your content lacks structured data (FAQ/HowTo schema), your pages are thin compared to what AI treats as authoritative, or your content isn't cited by other high-authority pages.

Legal Notice

This actor queries publicly accessible AI search APIs and does not scrape any website. It is intended for legitimate SEO research, content strategy, and website analytics purposes. Review the terms of service for each AI platform before commercial use.