AEO is competitive. Share of voice is the one number that tells you whether you’re winning the answer or watching competitors take it.
Share of voice in AI answers is the proportion of relevant AI responses in which your business is cited, relative to competitors, for the questions that matter to you. It captures competitive position in a way absolute citation counts can’t: being cited in three of ten answers means something very different depending on whether competitors appear in one or in nine. Share of voice is the AEO metric that measures whether you’re winning or losing the competition for the answer, not just whether you’re present.
It matters because AEO is inherently competitive. The answer names a limited set of sources, so your presence is always relative to who else is named — and share of voice is how you measure that relativity.
An AI answer typically cites a handful of sources, not everyone relevant. So the real question isn’t “am I ever cited” but “how often am I the source the engine chooses over my competitors.” Share of voice answers that. Rising share — appearing in more of the relevant answers while competitors appear in fewer — is real competitive progress. Flat presence while a competitor’s share rises is losing ground even if your own citation count holds steady. This is why tracking competitors alongside yourself is essential: your position is meaningful only in relation to theirs.
Measure it by testing a consistent set of your key questions across the engines and recording, for each, who’s cited — you and which competitors. Your share is how often you appear relative to the field. To grow it, study the answers where competitors win: what sources does the engine cite for them, what qualities does it credit, where are they clearer or better corroborated than you? Then close those gaps. Growing share of voice is the competitive heart of AEO — it’s not enough to be present; the goal is to be the source the engine chooses more often than anyone else for the questions that drive your business.
The proportion of relevant AI responses in which your business is cited, relative to competitors, for the questions that matter. It measures competitive position, not just whether you're present.
Because AI answers cite a limited set of sources, so presence is relative. Being cited in three of ten answers means something different depending on whether competitors appear in one or nine. Share of voice captures that.
Test a consistent set of key questions across engines, record who's cited, then study the answers where competitors win — the sources and qualities the engine credits them for — and close those gaps to be chosen more often.
We measure your share of voice against competitors across the questions that matter — and build the plan to grow it.