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A scan is how Mentioned collects new visibility data for your brand. Mentioned sends each tracked prompt to four AI engines. Mentioned then records how your brand, and every competitor you track, appears in the answers.

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The four engines

The two Google surfaces answer inside a page of search results. The two assistants answer in a conversation. The two groups select and show their sources differently, so keep the split in mind when you read your citation results.

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When scans run

Scans run automatically. You do not start a scan and you do not schedule one.
  • Your first scan starts when you complete onboarding. A progress screen shows the time remaining. Most first scans finish within a few minutes.
  • Later scans run on the Cadence that you set for the project. See Cadence and credits.
Every scan uses the same tracked prompts. That consistency is what makes a change in your results meaningful.

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What Mentioned records

Mentioned reads every answer and records four things:
  • Whether the answer mentions your brand. See Mentions and Mention Rate.
  • Answer Rank. The position your brand holds when the engine gives a ranked or list-style answer. See Competitive Ranking.
  • Sentiment. Whether the answer describes your brand positively, neutrally or negatively. See Sentiment.
  • Cited Sources. The web sources that the engine referenced, and whether any of them point to your domain. See Citations and sources.
Mentioned runs the same analysis for every competitor in your project. Each answer therefore compares every brand in it on equal terms. Mentioned does not send a separate question for each competitor. To read how Mentioned analyses an answer, see How answers are analysed.

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Where the results appear

  • Analytics collects the scan data into your scores and trends: Brand Health Score, Competitive Ranking, Mention Rate, Sentiment, Visibility Momentum and Citation Score. See The dashboard.
  • Mentions holds every AI answer in full, with brand and competitor mentions highlighted, sentiment badges and cited sources. See Scan results.
Use the date range selector at the top right of the dashboard to view any period.
Keep a stable set of tracked prompts. Your scores come from prompt answers, so a change to the prompt set changes what Mentioned measures. Add a prompt when your business changes. Do not replace the whole set at one time.
A scan measures the prompts, AI engines, competitors and date range selected in your project. It does not measure the whole internet.