Frequently Asked Questions
Hard questions about Gumshoe, GEO, and AI visibility — including the objections you are already thinking about.
Getting Started
What is Gumshoe?
Gumshoe is an AI search visibility platform. It shows you how AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity describe your brand when people ask for recommendations in your category.
We simulate real buyer conversations with 11 AI models using persona-driven prompts, then analyze the results for brand visibility, competitive positioning, citation sources, and sentiment.
What AI models does Gumshoe track?
Gumshoe tracks 11 models including ChatGPT (GPT-5.4), Google Gemini (Gemini 3 Flash), Google AI Overviews, Anthropic Claude (Opus), Perplexity Sonar, DeepSeek Reasoner, xAI Grok, and more. We add new models as they become relevant.
How do I get started?
Sign up at app.gumshoe.ai/go with your business email. Your first 3 reports are free, no credit card required. You can see AI visibility results within minutes. Read the GEO 101 playbook for a step-by-step guide.
How long does it take to run a report?
Most reports complete within a few minutes. Larger reports with many personas and models may take longer — you will receive a notification when results are ready.
Pricing and Value
How much does Gumshoe cost?
Pay-as-you-go with no subscription fees. Your first 3 reports are free with a business email. After that, reports cost $0.10 per conversation. No contracts, no commitments.
What does $0.10 per conversation actually get me?
Each conversation is a full prompt-to-response exchange with an AI model, using a specific buyer persona. A typical report runs 70 prompts across multiple models and personas, generating hundreds of conversations. Each one is analyzed for brand mentions, competitive positioning, citation sources, and sentiment.
How does this compare to enterprise SEO tool pricing?
Most enterprise SEO tools cost $500-2,000+ per month regardless of usage. Gumshoe is pay-as-you-go with no subscription. A comprehensive monthly monitoring program typically costs a fraction of what you spend on traditional SEO tools — and measures a channel those tools cannot see.
Methodology and Data
AI answers change every time. How can your data be reliable?
This is the core problem GEO measurement has to solve, and most tools ignore it. AI answers ARE non-deterministic — that is a fact, not a flaw.
Gumshoe captures variance by running hundreds of unique prompts — each submitted once per model — across multiple personas and topics. Visibility is the percentage of those conversations where your brand appears. Breadth across prompts, personas, and models is what makes the data reliable, not repeated sampling of the same question.
A single ChatGPT screenshot tells you nothing. Hundreds of structured conversations across multiple models and personas tell you everything. Read more about why this matters.
How is this different from me just asking ChatGPT myself?
Three problems with manual testing:
1. You are one person with one perspective. AI responses vary by how the question is framed, and you only frame it your way. Your buyers frame it differently.
2. You see one result. AI answers are probabilistic, so a single response tells you nothing about your actual visibility.
3. You cannot do it at scale. Meaningful measurement requires hundreds of conversations across multiple models, personas, and prompt variations. That is what Gumshoe automates.
Do you use browser scraping?
No. Gumshoe accesses every AI model through official APIs. This matters because: scraping violates most models' terms of service, scraped data is unreliable (browser sessions include personalization, caching, and UI variations that pollute results), and API access is more consistent, auditable, and compliant.
Read about our methodology for full details.
How often should I run reports?
For baseline measurement, one comprehensive report is enough to understand where you stand. For ongoing monitoring, monthly reports let you track trends. For competitive intelligence during active campaigns, bi-weekly or weekly reports give you faster feedback loops.
GEO vs. SEO
Can I just do SEO and get GEO for free?
Good SEO helps — clear, structured content is easier for AI models to parse. But SEO alone does not solve GEO. AI models draw from different sources, weight signals differently, and generate narrative answers rather than ranked lists. Brands with strong SEO can still be invisible in AI responses, and brands with mediocre SEO can dominate AI answers if they are well-represented across the sources AI models trust.
Does optimizing for AI hurt my Google rankings?
No. The actions that improve AI visibility — clear content structure, factual claims, authoritative third-party presence, strong citations — are the same things that help traditional SEO. GEO and SEO are complementary, not competing.
Is GEO real or just a marketing buzzword?
GEO is real in the same way SEO was real in 2005 — early, evolving, and already separating brands that pay attention from those that do not. The underlying shift is undeniable: AI models are becoming a primary channel for product research and recommendations. Whether you call it GEO or something else, the need to measure and influence how AI represents your brand is not going away. Read our detailed take on what GEO actually means.
For Agencies
Can I white-label reports?
Not yet, but it is on our roadmap. Today, agencies use Gumshoe reports as a data source for client deliverables. The reports are clear enough to share directly with clients, and many agencies do.
How do I pitch AI visibility monitoring to clients?
Lead with the gap: most clients have no idea what AI says about them. Run a free Gumshoe report for their brand and show them the results. The data sells itself — when a client sees their competitor mentioned 80% of the time while they appear in 15% of AI responses, the conversation shifts from "why should I care" to "what do I do about this."
What does a typical agency workflow look like?
Most agencies start with a baseline report for each client, then set up monthly monitoring. The workflow: (1) Run report with client-specific personas, (2) Review visibility scores and competitive positioning, (3) Identify content and citation gaps, (4) Recommend actions, (5) Measure impact on next month's report.
Objections We Hear
"AI search is too small to matter for my brand."
That was a reasonable position in 2024. It is not in 2026. AI-assisted search now accounts for a meaningful share of product research across most B2B and many B2C categories. More importantly, the users who rely on AI for recommendations tend to be early adopters and decision-makers — exactly the audience most brands want to reach. By the time AI search is "big enough" for everyone to care, the brands that moved early will own the narrative.
"I cannot influence what AI says about my brand."
You already do — you just do not know it. Every piece of content you publish, every review site that mentions you, every forum thread that discusses your product shapes how AI models understand your brand. GEO is about doing this intentionally rather than accidentally. You cannot control AI outputs, but you can systematically improve the inputs AI models use to form their responses.
"This sounds like SEO snake oil with a new name."
We understand the skepticism. The GEO space is new and some vendors are making wild claims. Here is what Gumshoe does NOT promise: we do not guarantee AI placements, we do not claim to "hack" AI models, and we do not sell magic.
We provide measurement. We show you exactly what AI models say about your brand, how often, in what context, and why. What you do with that data is up to you. That is the opposite of snake oil — it is transparency. See our methodology for full details.
Still have questions?
Reach out to our team or start with a free report to see AI visibility data for your brand.