Understand why a brand appearing in an answer, a linked source and an Analytics referral should not be treated as the same measurement.
A mention names the brand
In the documented platform, a mention is detected when the brand name or domain appears in a sampled answer. That observation is tied to the exact question, engine, market and check. It is not a count of everyone who has seen the brand.
A citation links a source
A citation records a link to a page. A brand may be named without a website link, and a page may be cited without being the focus of the answer. Inspect the saved answer and destination rather than relying on a single aggregate score.
A visit requires a different source
GA4 can identify visits attributed to recognised AI assistants when the relevant information reaches the analytics setup. That is a separate observation. A cited page does not prove a visit, and referral reporting does not capture every possible AI-assisted journey.
The sampling method matters
API answers can differ from the consumer product. Prompt Research currently uses US English and questions largely drawn from People also ask, not private ChatGPT conversation logs. Keep these boundaries visible when presenting a trend.
Do not count errors as absence
A failed check has not established that the brand was missing. Preserve the failure state, investigate the reason and compare completed checks on a consistent basis.
Explore the connected tools
This guide explains the documented Ndovu workflow. Availability, permissions and provider coverage are reviewed for the deployment you use.