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Our Prompts Approach

The prompts behind every Gumshoe audit

  • Two distinct prompt types: open-ended visibility prompts and engineered sentiment prompts, matched to each audit
  • Written in your buyers' voice as real persona-style questions, not generic keywords
  • A platform-wide methodology applied across every audit and every major AI model
Gumshoe prompt library showing each buyer persona with the number of prompts and topics covered

How Gumshoe turns buyers into prompts

Prompts are only useful if they match how real buyers ask. Here is how Gumshoe builds them.

1

Start From Your Personas

Every prompt begins with a real buyer persona and the goals, questions, and pain points that come with it

2

Map the Topics That Matter

Gumshoe pairs each persona with the topics they care about, from pricing and features to trust and support

3

Generate Natural Prompts

Persona and topic combine into the kind of questions a real buyer would actually ask AI, not generic keywords

4

Run Them Across Models

Hundreds of prompts run through every major AI model so you see the full range of answers your buyers get

5

Turn Answers Into Visibility

Gumshoe measures how often, and how well, your brand shows up across those prompts and reports it back

Two kinds of prompts, one methodology

The prompt decides what AI will reveal. Gumshoe uses a different, purpose-built prompt set depending on what an audit needs to measure.

Visibility prompts

Open-ended. No brand names.

Visibility prompts ask the way a buyer searches before they have picked anyone. They never mention a company, so AI is not led toward any answer and you see which brands it recommends on its own.

Sample visibility prompt

"What are the best activewear brands for hot yoga and boutique fitness classes?"

Used in the Visibility, Content, and Citation audits

Sentiment prompts

Direct and head-to-head.

A standard visibility audit almost always looks positive, because open prompts rarely invite criticism. Sentiment prompts are engineered differently: direct brand-mention questions and head-to-head comparisons that give AI room to reveal what it actually thinks, good and bad.

Sample sentiment prompt

"What do reviewers say is wrong with Lululemon's leggings, and is Alo Yoga a better pick?"

Used in the Sentiment Audit

Every prompt speaks in your buyer's voice

Prompts are not written by us in marketing language. Each one comes from a synthetic buyer persona, phrased the way that buyer actually talks to AI.

Performance-Focused Fitness Enthusiast

"I lift heavy and do HIIT six days a week. Which brands make leggings that hold up to squats and don't go sheer?"

Value-Conscious Fitness Newcomer

"I'm just starting to work out and on a budget. Which activewear brands give the best value without falling apart?"

Adventure-Driven Outdoor Explorer

"I trail run and hike in changing weather and care about sustainable materials. What women's activewear should I look at?"

A persona expanded to show its generated prompts and the topics each one covers

Bad prompts produce bad insights

Most tools run shallow, keyword-style prompts, then report on shallow answers. Here is the gap between a typical competitor prompt and a Gumshoe prompt.

"I do barre and reformer classes most mornings and want pieces polished enough for coffee after. Which premium activewear brands fit that?"
"best activewear brands"
"As someone just starting a workout wardrobe on a budget, is Lululemon actually worth it or are there better-value brands?"
"is Lululemon good"
"For trail running and hiking in variable weather with sustainable materials, how does lululemon compare to Athleta and Vuori?"
"Lululemon vs other brands"

Competitor examples are illustrative placeholders, to be replaced with anonymized real prompts.

AI answers are only as good as the questions behind them

Gumshoe studied how models actually respond, then engineered a prompt methodology to get the truth, not a flattering headline. Most tools just run keywords. That is the difference between knowing how AI sees your brand and guessing.

Purpose-built per audit
Written by your personas
Engineered to surface real opinion

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between visibility and sentiment prompts?
Visibility prompts are open-ended and never name a brand, so they capture who AI recommends unprompted. Sentiment prompts are direct and comparative, engineered to surface genuine positive and negative opinion. Gumshoe uses the right set for each audit.
Why would a standard visibility audit always look positive?
Open-ended prompts rarely invite criticism, so any brand that appears at all tends to look good. That is why sentiment needs its own prompt design: direct brand-mention and head-to-head prompts that give AI room to be critical, which is where the real opinion shows up.
Who writes the prompts?
Every prompt is generated from a synthetic buyer persona and phrased in that buyer's voice, not written by us as marketing copy. See our personas approach for how those buyers are built.
Can I edit or add prompts?
Yes. Gumshoe suggests prompts from your personas and topics, and you can edit them, add your own, or focus on the questions that matter most. Prompts power the Visibility Audit and every other report.

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