The shift from search to AI
For two decades, brand visibility meant ranking on Google. You optimized for keywords, built backlinks, and tracked your position in search results.
That world is changing.
When someone asks ChatGPT "What's the best project management tool for remote teams?" or Claude "Compare Notion vs Coda," they're not getting a list of links. They're getting a synthesized answer - a recommendation, a comparison, an opinion.
That opinion is AI perception.
What AI perception actually is
AI perception is what language models believe and express about your brand. It encompasses:
What AI knows - The facts, features, pricing, use cases, and competitive positioning that language models have learned about your brand during training or can retrieve from the web.
How AI presents it - The sentiment, emphasis, and context AI uses when discussing your brand. Are you recommended enthusiastically? Mentioned in passing? Compared unfavorably to competitors?
What AI gets wrong - Hallucinations, outdated information, entity confusion, and gaps in knowledge that lead to inaccurate responses about your brand.
Why it matters now
Three factors make AI perception critical for businesses today:
1. Traffic is shifting - More research happens in AI interfaces before (or instead of) traditional search. Early estimates suggest 10-15% of search-like queries now start in ChatGPT or similar tools.
2. AI answers don't have page 2 - In Google, you might rank position 8 and still get clicks. In AI, you're either mentioned or you're not. There's no equivalent to scrolling down.
3. AI confidence masks uncertainty - When AI doesn't know something, it often guesses. These guesses are delivered with the same confident tone as verified facts.
The 6 dimensions of perception
VectorGap measures AI perception across six dimensions:
Accuracy - Does AI state correct facts about your brand?
Sentiment - Is the tone positive, neutral, or negative?
Visibility - Do you appear in relevant responses? How prominently?
Coverage - Are your key features and differentiators mentioned?
Credibility - Does AI cite sources? Use authoritative language?
Recommendation - Does AI actively recommend you, or just mention you?